In the USA, nearly 200
operating plants churned out an estimated 13.3 billion gallons of
ethanol from corn starch in 2013 (2014 Ethanol Industry Outlook,
www.ethanolrfa.org). Various agricultural residues [corn stover,
wheat straw (WS), rice straw, barley straw, sugar cane bagasse],
processing byproducts (corn fiber, rice hulls), and energy crops
(switchgrass, miscanthus) are available as low cost lignocellulosic
feedstocks for conversion to fuel ethanol (second generation biofuel). WS is one of the most abundant agricultural residues in the
world