The potential of lignocellulosic ethanol production in the Mediterranean Basin

This review provides an overview of the potential of bioethanol fuel production from lignocellulosic residues in the Mediterranean Basin. Residues from cereal crops, olive trees, and tomato and grape processing are abundant lignocellulosic wastes in France, Italy, Spain, Turkey and Egypt, where their use as raw materials for ethanol production could give rise to a potential production capacity of 13 Mtoe of ethanol. Due to the lack of sufficient amounts of agricultural residues in all of the other Mediterranean countries, use of the cellulosic content of municipal solid waste (MSW) as feedstock for ethanol fuel production is also proposed. A maximum potential production capacity of 30 Mtoe of ethanol could be achieved from 50% of the 180 million tons of waste currently produced annually in the Mediterranean Basin, the management of which has become a subject of serious concern. However, to make large-scale ethanol production from agricultural residues and MSW a medium-term feasible goal in the Mediterranean Basin, huge efforts are needed to achieve the required progress in cellulose ethanol technologies and to overcome several foreseeable constraints.