Converting municipal waste into automobile fuel: Ethanol from newspaper

As their is an increase of global demand in oil, the production of bioethanol from renewable agricultural feedstocks is also on the rise. This bioethanol is commonly used as a fuel additive in "E10 gasohol" which can also be used in clean burning ethanol-rich fuel blends (E85) or even neat (E100). The bioethanol production needs the conversion of biomass into fermentable sugars which involves the cultivation of sugar crops or starch crops. The crystallinity of the cellulose can be disrupted by the process of hydrolysis but must be used with a solvent so as to dissolve the cellulose. The waste cellulosic material is dissolved in 75%H₂SO₄ which will then be reprecipitated to give a quasi-amorphous suspension of cellulose. Some of the experiment being discussed include: the saccharification of newspaper, the product analysis by thin-layer chromatography, fermentation, and the distillation.