Environmental and economic analysis of bioethanol production from sugarcane molasses and agave juice

In this article, sugarcane molasses and agave juice were compared as potential feedstocks for producing bioethanol in Mexico in terms of their environmental impact and economic factors. Life cycle assessment (LCA) using SimaPro was carried out to calculate environmental impacts by using a cradle-to-gate approach. A preliminary economic analysis was performed to determine the economic feasibility of the studied options. Also, capital goods costs were obtained using the Aspen Plus economy package. Moreover, a sensitivity analysis was involved to compare the environmental and economic viability of producing bioethanol from sugarcane molasses and agave juice. LCA results revealed that cultivation and fermentation were the most harmful stages when producing bioethanol from sugarcane molasses and agave juice, respectively. Furthermore, when it was derived from agave juice rather than sugarcane molasses, it had more environmental benefits. This was ascribed to the lower consumption rate of fertilizers, pesticides, and emissions given off from the former. Regarding financial aspects, the preliminary analysis showed that producing bioethanol was not economically viable when grid energy alone was used. However, if power from the grid is partially replaced with renewable energy, producing bioethanol becomes economically feasible, and sugarcane molasses is the most suitable feedstock. Graphical abstract

Characterization and selection of native yeast isolated from natural fermentation for the production of the artisanal beverage bacanora

Bacanora is a Mexican distilled beverage made from agave, similar to tequila and mescal, produced with an artisanal process. Therefore the organoleptic characteristics of different bacanora vary highly. The aim of this study was to characterize and select native yeast involved in this artisanal process of fermentation. An initial pre-selection based upon the phenotypic characteristics of 580 strains of yeast was done, and then with fermentation characteristics with agave juice, to select some strains which satisfy with desirable. The Saccharomyces cerevisiae yeasts produced at the end of the fermentation 8.27 ± 0.24 g/L of biomass, 25.51 ± 1.19 g/L of ethanol, with a volumetric productivity of ethanol of 1.76±0.17 g/L/h. While for the three strains non-Saccharomyces the parameters were 3.86 ± 1.14 g/L, 15.56± 1.68 g/L and 0.484±0.06 g/L/h respectively. In the mixed culture of three S. cerevisiae, all remained at the end, but one of them predominates and of non-Saccharomyces yeasts, Torulaspora delbrueckii was the predominant yeast, this according with PFGE results. The results showed that the native yeasts are adapted to the agave juice used for production of bacanora and these yeasts would contribute to improve the ethanol yields and the organoleptic characteristics of Bacanora.

Natural Materials to Absorb Water from Environment

In nature, there is a large number of materials to be discovered, all with different characteristics and for certain functions. In the case of plants, they are responsible for collecting, taking care and protect water naturally.In Mexico there are different plants of the cactus family, which catch and retain water for their existence, so some plants collect more volume of body water than they have. It is very important for this investigation.In Mexico and throughout the continent there is a common cactus or chumbera that easily adapts to the environment and very rampant in this country, so that its study and analysis makes it one of the most important natural systems for this research, because 95% of it is water and the other 5% is organic material.Later, the common Maguey or agave plant is analyzed, which is important for the history of ancient Mexico, this long before the Spaniards arrived in America. The agave juice and whole plant were an important part of Mexican culture [1], even today is used in many regions and is an important part of the economy in this country.Last but not least is the barrel cactus plant, which surprisingly lets us see how natural systems build structural and formal elements in order to the creation and configuration of new materials that can significantly help to collect water.