With government of India’s emphasis on promotion of research and development activities in the field of eco-friendly biorefineries, the Central Sericultural Research and Training Institute (CSRTI) in Mysuru has taken up a pilot scale project to produce bioethanol and biohydrogen from mulberry shoots and silkworm excrement.
CSRTI Director S. Gandhi Doss said a team of scientists from the Institute is presently working on the project and the results of the laboratory-level experiments were awaited.
The project began at CSRTI laboratories in Mysuru in April 2023 and the experiments on production of ethanol had shown good results. The studies were continuing with regard to production of biohydrogen.
The studies at CSRTI assume significance in the wake of the government of India’s plans to step up blending of bioethanol with petrol as part of the efforts to reduce dependence on fossil fuels.
Carbon di oxide levels in the earth’s atmosphere has been rising to alarming levels over the past few decades and the major source of carbon dioxide emissions include fossil fuel combustion for both transportation and industrial processing.
During silkworm rearing, the larvae consume mulberry leaves and leave behind the shoot and its litter. Currently, more than 10 lakh tonnes of mulberry shoot and a couple of thousand tonnes of silkworm litter is generated annually in India. “The mulberry shoot and silkworm litter contains more than 50 per cent of cellulose, which is the raw material for production of biorefineries”, said CSRTI Scientist Dr Yeruva Thirupathaiah.
Hence, he said it was a good option to use silkworm rearing waste residues for production of 2G second generation bioethanol and biohydrogen.
After conducting tests on production of bioethanol, the scientists are eagerly looking forward to the tests underway for production of biohydrogen. For, biohydrogen is considered a more attractive alternative renewable fuel than bioethanol because its combustion generates water instead of greenhouse gases, said Dr Thirupathaiah.
If production of bioethanol and biohydrogen from silkworm rearing waste is found to be economically viable, CSRTI plans to collaborate with industry for its production on a commercial scale on an experimental basis.
If successful, scientists at CSRTI believe that the technology can not only be used be used by startups for production of bioethanol and biohydrogen, but also add value for the sericulture industry in the country.
