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| A detailed comparative analysis of biomass conversion efficiency for ethanol and methane is provided according to the conversion yield and energy consumption of the two conversion processes. The results demonstrate that net energy yield for methane is 0.50-0.83MJ/MJ fuel more than ethanol during biomass conversion, as all small biomolecule including hydrolysate from carbohydrate, protein and fat can be digested to methane, and only carbohydrate hydrolysate can be fermented to ethanol; the energy consumption for evaporation of less residue in digestion is less than in fermentation, and the energy consumption in removing CO2 from biogas through freezing for methane purification is much less than that in removing water from bioethanol through distillation for purification of ethanol. It was demonstrated that the comparative analysis is more credible than Life Cycle Analysis in screening conversion method for biomass. |
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| Keywords:Digestion, Fermentation, Life Cycle Analysis, Comparative Analysis, Net Energy Yield, Biomass |
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