Does sugar yield drive lignocellulosic sugar cost? Case study for enzymatic hydrolysis of softwood with added polyethylene glycol

A major challenge with commercialising enzymatic processes for producing lignocellulosic sugars is reducing the production cost to commercially-acceptable levels. A commonly-held assumption is that higher sugar yields drive cost reductions, but high yields often come at a trade-off with other factors. Here we consider the enzymatic hydrolysis of a thermomechanically-pretreated Pinus radiata and evaluate the impact of adding polyethylene...