Wits University researchers have found a way to produce biofuel from plants such as maize and sugar cane that could slash production costs.They’ve developed a technology that cuts the energy requirements of bio-ethanol production by as much as 40%. Interest from the private sector could result in its commercialisation.Bio-ethanol is the world’s most common biofuel. Its use has been slowed by fears that the energy needed to make it may be greater than the energy content of the fuel.Research headed by Neil Stacey has shown that it is not necessary to purify ethanol fully before blending it with petrol.The purification of ethanol has traditionally been water-intensive, making it unpopular in a dry country like SA. A big portion of the cost of bio-ethanol production is tied up in the distillation process that separates ethanol from the water that makes up most of the fermentation product.This ethanol is seldom used as a fuel on its own; it is blended with petrol. Stacey argues that sinc...
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