The Research Institute of Innovative Technology for the Earth (RITE) and Honda subsidiary Honda R&D collaborated to establish the basic technology to produce ethanol fuel from cellulose and hemicellulose – the primary ingredients of the fibrous part of plants, including inedible leaves and stalks of plants such as rice straw.

Previous efforts to convert plant waste matter to ethanol have proved a challenge with little success, but Honda has uncovered a process that substantially reduces the harmful influence of fermentation inhibitors.

Honda said yesterday the process succeeded through utilisation of RITE strain, a micro-organism developed by RITE that converts sugar into alcohol, and by application of Honda engineering technology, enabling a significant increase in alcohol conversion efficiency, in comparison to conventional cellulosic bioethanol production processes.

Existing bioethanol production faces supply limits as it is produced primarily from the sugar and starch of sugarcane or from corn.

“Expansion of biomass utilisation holds enormous potential as a major step forward toward the realisation of an energy sustainability society,” Honda said.

Future plans for the partners include pursuing research for mass production and a demonstration project within a pilot plant to assess the social compatibility and economic efficiency of the new bioalcohol production system.

Depending on the outcome of the research, Honda and RITE intend to establish a biorefinery for production of not only ethanol but also various industrial commodities, including automotive materials from plant matter.