Production of butanol from starch-based waste packing peanuts and agricultural waste

We examined the fermentation of starch-based packing peanuts and agricultural wastes as a source of fermentable carbohydrates using Clostridium beijerinckii BA101. Using semidefined P2 medium containing packing peanuts and agricultural wastes, instead of glucose as a carbohydrate source, we measured characteristics of the fermentation including solvent production, productivity, and yield. With starch as substrate (control), the culture produced 24.7 g l⁻¹ acetone–butanol–ethanol (ABE), while with packing peanuts it produced 21.7 g l⁻¹ total ABE with a productivity of 0.20 g l⁻¹ h⁻¹ and a solvent (ABE) yield of 0.37. Cell growth in starch, packing peanuts, and agricultural wastes medium was different, possibly due to the different nature of these substrates. Using model agricultural waste, 20.3g l⁻¹ ABE was produced; when using actual waste, 14.8 g l⁻¹ ABE was produced. The use of inexpensive substrates will increase the economic viability of the conversion of biomass to butanol, and can provide new markets for these waste streams. Journal of Industrial Microbiology & Biotechnology (2002) 29, 117–123 doi: 10.1038/sj.jim.7000285 Received 14 November 2001/ Accepted in revised form 07 June 2002