First-generation feedstock for bioenergy production

Abstract In the last century, a series of problems related to the environment, mainly due to polluting emissions such as CO2, CH4, and N2O, led to revaluation of a series of factors, including that of emissions from motor vehicles. To overcome the problem, new types of less polluting biofuels based on ethanol blends with fossil fuels, have been developed. United States, with the production of ethanol from corn, and Brazil, with the production of ethanol from sugarcane, currently drive the market for the world production of bioethanol, thanks mainly to government subsidies. Despite this, some problems related to energy loss during industrial processes and to the linkage of the first-generation feedstock with both biofuel and food for human consumption, are leading to the development of new-generation feedstocks which exploit lignocellulosic or algal biomasses. This chapter is a brief review of the methods of production of ethanol in the United States and Brazil, giving the generic economical and statistical data of the processes.