Cellulose as Source of Energy - Cellulose is the most abundant organic material on the earth and is a major component of all plants. If fuel alcohol can be derived from cellulose, this will be a very flourishing industry. Each cellulose molecule consists of a few hundred to several thousand glucose units linked together.
If cellulose can be degraded into glucose, the latter can be easily used for the production of fuel alcohol. Several fungi are known which possess the enzyme cellulase and, therefore, can degrade cellulose into glucose.
However cellulose in woody plants is intimately associated with lignin in the form of lignocellulose.
An enzyme ligninase has also been discovered, which can degrade lignin