Biomass conversion to butanediol by simultaneous saccharification and fermentation

The efficient biological conversion of all the available sugars in biomass residues to fuels and chemicals is crucial to the efficiency of any process intended to compete economically with petrochemical products. Both hemicellulose- and cellulose-derived carbohydrates from wood and agricultural wastes can be converted to 2,3-butanediol by simultaneous saccharification and fermentation. This approach results in improved butanediol yields and process productivities, and also enables biomass substrates, after a simple pretreatment (steam-explosion), to be directly used for efficient butanediol production.