Korea has little starchy biomass available for ethanol production
and also has an unfavorable climate for the cultivation of energy
crops. Therefore, various waste biomasses containing forest
residues, agricultural residues, food wastes, municipal wastes,
and animal wastes must be utilized for the production of cellulosic
ethanol. In recent, the total quantity and energy potential of waste
biomass in Korea have been reported (Kim et al., 2010). According
to this report, forest residues have been produced about 7 million
tons a year, but the economic feasibility for ethanol production is unproven due to the high cost of collection and transport from
the mountainous regions.