Sustainability assessment of large-scale ethanol production from sugarcane

2010 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
pp. 77-82 ◽  
Author(s):  
Consuelo L.F. Pereira ◽  
Enrique Ortega
Keyword(s):  
Ethanol Production ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Sustainability Assessment

scholarly journals Techno-Economic and Environmental Assessment of Biomass Gasification and Fischer–Tropsch Synthesis Integrated to Sugarcane Biorefineries

Energies ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (17) ◽  
pp. 4576 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jéssica Marcon Bressanin ◽  
Bruno Colling Klein ◽  
Mateus Ferreira Chagas ◽  
Marcos Djun Barbosa Watanabe ◽  
Isabelle Lobo de Mesquita Sampaio ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Large Scale ◽  
Sustainability Assessment ◽  
Greenhouse Gas Emission ◽  
Biomass Gasification ◽  
Tropsch Synthesis ◽  
Fischer Tropsch ◽  
Fischer Tropsch Synthesis ◽  
Energy Cane ◽  
Thermochemical Processes ◽  
Economic Analyses

Large-scale deployment of both biochemical and thermochemical routes for advanced biofuels production is seen as a key climate change mitigation option. This study addresses techno-economic and environmental aspects of advanced liquid biofuels production alternatives via biomass gasification and Fischer–Tropsch synthesis integrated to a typical sugarcane distillery. The thermochemical route comprises the conversion of the residual lignocellulosic fraction of conventional sugarcane (bagasse and straw), together with eucalyptus and energy-cane as emerging lignocellulosic biomass options. This work promotes an integrated framework to simulate the mass and energy balances of process alternatives and incorporates techno-economic analyses and sustainability assessment methods based on a life-cycle perspective. Results show that integrated biorefineries provide greenhouse gas emission reduction between 85–95% compared to the fossil equivalent, higher than that expected from a typical sugarcane biorefinery. When considering avoided emissions by cultivated area, biorefinery scenarios processing energy-cane are favored, however at lower economic performance. Thermochemical processes may take advantage of the integration with the typical sugarcane mills and novel biofuels policies (e.g., RenovaBio) to mitigate some of the risks linked to the implementation of new biofuel technologies.

Key drivers influencing the commercialization of ethanol-based biorefineries

1969 ◽  
Vol 16 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Anuj K Chandel ◽  
Om V Singh ◽  
Gajula Chandrasekhar ◽  
Linga Venkateswar Rao ◽  
Mangamoori Lakshmi Narasu
Keyword(s):  
Ethanol Production ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Fossil Fuels ◽  
Process Integration ◽  
Raw Materials ◽  
Cellulase Production ◽  
Bioethanol Production ◽  
Recent Developments ◽  
Key Drivers ◽  
The Cost

The imposition of ethanol derived from biomass for blending in gasoline would make countries less dependent on current petroleum sources, which would save foreign exchange reserves, improve rural economies and provide job opportunities in a clean and safe environment. The key drivers for successful commercial ethanol production are cheap raw materials, economic pretreatment technologies, in-house cellulase production with high and efficient titers, high ethanol fermentation rates, downstream recovery of ethanol and maximum by-products utilization. Furthermore, recent developments in engineering of biomass for increased biomass, down-regulation of lignin synthesis, improved cellulase titers and re-engineering of cellulases, and process integration of the steps involved have increased the possibility of cheap bioethanol production that competes with the price of petroleum. Recently, many companies have come forward globally for bioethanol production on a large scale. It is very clear now that bioethanol will be available at the price of fossil fuels by 2010. This article intends to provide insight and perspectives on the important recent developments in bioethanol research, the commercialization status of bioethanol production, the step-wise cost incurred in the process involved, and the possible innovations that can be utilized to reduce the cost of ethanol production.

Environmental sustainability assessment of bio-ethanol production in Thailand

Energy ◽  
2009 ◽  
Vol 34 (11) ◽  
pp. 1933-1946 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thapat Silalertruksa ◽  
Shabbir H. Gheewala
Keyword(s):  
Ethanol Production ◽  
Environmental Sustainability ◽  
Sustainability Assessment

scholarly journals Comparative genomics supports that Brazilian bioethanol Saccharomyces cerevisiae comprise a unified group of domesticated strains related to cachaça spirit yeasts

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ana Paula Jacobus ◽  
Timothy G. Stephens ◽  
Pierre Youssef ◽  
Raul González-Pech ◽  
Yibi Chen ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Saccharomyces Cerevisiae ◽  
Ethanol Production ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Iron Homeostasis ◽  
Alcoholic Fermentation ◽  
Vitamin B1 ◽  
Industrial Process ◽  
Gene Clusters ◽  
Fuel Ethanol ◽  
Genome Phylogeny

AbstractEthanol production from sugarcane is a key renewable fuel industry in Brazil. Major drivers of this alcoholic fermentation are Saccharomyces cerevisiae strains that originally were contaminants to the system and yet prevail in the industrial process. Here we present newly sequenced genomes (using Illumina short-read and PacBio long-read data) of two monosporic isolates (H3 and H4) of the S. cerevisiae PE-2, a predominant bioethanol strain in Brazil. The assembled genomes of H3 and H4, together with 42 draft genomes of sugarcane-fermenting (fuel ethanol plus cachaça) strains, were compared against those of the reference S288c and diverse S. cerevisiae. All genomes of bioethanol yeasts have amplified SNO2(3)/SNZ2(3) gene clusters for vitamin B1/B6 biosynthesis, and display ubiquitous presence of SAM-dependent methyl transferases, a gene family rare in S. cerevisiae. Widespread amplifications of quinone oxidoreductases YCR102C/YLR460C/YNL134C, and the structural or punctual variations among aquaporins and components of the iron homeostasis system, likely represent adaptations to industrial fermentation. Interesting is the pervasive presence among the bioethanol/cachaça strains of a five-gene cluster (Region B) that is a known phylogenetic signature of European wine yeasts. Combining genomes of H3, H4, and 195 yeast strains, we comprehensively assessed whole-genome phylogeny of these taxa using an alignment-free approach. The 197-genome phylogeny substantiates that bioethanol yeasts are monophyletic and closely related to the cachaça and wine strains. Our results support the hypothesis that biofuel-producing yeasts in Brazil may have been co-opted from a pool of yeasts that were pre-adapted to alcoholic fermentation of sugarcane for the distillation of cachaça spirit, which historically is a much older industry than the large-scale fuel ethanol production.

Technology Outlook and Sustainability of the Synthetic Natural Gas Production Process Derived From Coal

2013 ◽  
Author(s):  
Orlando M. Ramirez ◽  
Lesme Corredor
Keyword(s):  
Natural Gas ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Fossil Fuel ◽  
Sustainability Assessment ◽  
Energy Content ◽  
High Energy ◽  
Gas Production ◽  
Synthetic Natural Gas ◽  
Capital Costs ◽  
Technical Performance

Natural gas is the most environmental friendly fossil fuel with a high energy content and has a promising future within the energy consumption outlook. For this reason, its production from coal is gaining a significant interest, converting the most abundant, stable, and low price fossil fuel to synthetic natural gas (SNG). In this paper a technology outlook and a sustainability assessment of the technical, economical, and environmental factors is developed. It was found that the sustainability of the process depends mainly on the local price of coal and natural gas, as well as, emerging SNG technologies, also known as direct methanation. The conventional methanation process, the indirect methanation, has high capital costs but it is currently the only proven large scale technology. Although the emerging technology has not yet been tested at a commercial scale, it has a better technical performance with an net efficiency increase of more than 10 percent as results of the process stage reduction which should lead to lower capital costs requirements. Regarding the environmental performance, the conventional process produces large amounts of CO2, approximately 1.3 kg CO2 for each kg of coal, that has to be compressed and sequestered to meet the environmental targets.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document