JERUSALEM, June 11 (Xinhua) -- Israeli researchers have generated ethanol from agricultural wastes to produce disinfectants amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the Tel Aviv University (TAU) said on Thursday.
Ethanol, well known as alcohol, is the most common disinfectant and is used to make popular disinfectant products such as alcogel and septol.
In a study funded by the Israeli Ministry of Science, researchers from TAU and the northern University of Haifa produced ethanol from a variety of waste types, such as urban and agricultural trimming, straw, paper waste and paper sludge, using ozone gas pre-treatment.
The method is based on innovative technology, which enables the oxidation and decomposition of lignin, one of the waste components.
This is a polymeric compound which inhibits the process of converting waste to ethanol.
This method is intended to help solving the disinfectants shortage in Israel, because of the difficulty to import alcohol for disinfectants amid the coronavirus pandemic.
According to the researchers, the new ozone-based method is simple, inexpensive and clean, not requiring the use of hazardous substances.
"With this method, farmers will not have to burn agricultural waste. It also offers environmental and social benefits to the community, and most importantly it will protect public health from pandemics", the researchers concluded. Enditem
