At some point, I'm sure we will. The difficulty is in the conversion of cellulose to glucose/xylose.Originally Posted by drguitarum2005
Glucose/xylose can be fermented quite easily into ethanol, after all, that's how we get our beers and wines. It can even be fermented into lactic acid which can, in turn, be polymerized and made into polylactic acid (PLA) which is the most basic form of bioplastics.
Anyhoo, the conversion of cellulose to glucose/xylose does take place when in contact with certain enzymes. These enzymes are found in the stomachs of cows and the digestive systems of termites (other creatures have similar enzymes too). The problem is obtaining enough of these enzymes to make a full scale plant. Not only is the problem in making enough, but making enough affordable.
My senior design project at Montana State was to, with a team, design a full scale polylactic acid plant from scratch. It took two semesters to complete, but when we were done, it gave some pretty cool insights into where the future can take us. The largest problem that we tackled was the amount and cost of enzymes available when we started (late 2006). We addressed the issue by making a simple assumption that they were affordable and plentiful. When that IS the case, then the project was a huge success.
So, to bring this back to your initial question, we can't use them yet until a process of converting cellulose into fermentable sugars is made cheap and easy.
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