Brazil, ethanol production

Figure 1.3 Expansion of Brazil ethanol production and corresponding use of sugarcane (figure from OECD-FAO).

Ethanol in the past has been used commercially to synthesize dozens of other high-volume chemical commodities. However, at present, it has been substituted in many applications by less costly petrochemical feedstocks, e.g., ethylene. The availability of low-cost ethanol and the rising cost of ethylene, however, may change this scenario. For example, there is interest in producing ethylene from ethanol [71-73], while the opposite reaction is commercially current. Already, in markets with abundant agricultural products, but a less developed petrochemical infrastructure, such as the People s Republic of China, Pakistan, India, and Brazil, ethanol can be used to produce chemicals, including ethylene and butadiene, that would be produced from petroleum in the West. For example, ethanol may substitute alkenes for the alkylation of aromatics [82]. 

Figure 3.1 shows the world productions of ethanol and biodiesel between 1980 and 2007 (Demirbas, 2008a). Between 1991 and 2001, world ethanol production rose from around 16 billion hters a year to 18.5 billion hters. From 2001 to 2007, production is expected to have tripled, to almost 60 bilhon hters a year. Brazil was the world s leading ethanol producer until 2005 when U.S. production roughly... 

There is a need for continued increases in yields not only to feed a growing world population, but also for greater fuel production (OECD-FAO, 2007). For example, US ethanol production, predominately based on corn, is expected to double between 2006 and 2016 (Figure 1.1). By 2016, ethanol is expected to represent a full one-third of corn production. Corn used for fuel in China is expected to increase from 3.5 million tons in 2006 to 9 million tons in 2016 (Figure 1.2). Ethanol production in Brazil is predominately based on sugarcane and is expected to increase by 145% between 2006 and 2016 (Figure 1.3). 

Methanol production is not a "capital intensive" process as compared to other synfuel production systems. Fixed capital cost is between US 0.21 and 0.35 per liter/year of installed capacity. This investment cost is similar to that needed for ethanol production in Brazil. 

Worldwide ethanol production in 2005 was about 30 million tons (lOGgal), of which 90% was from only two countries, Brazil and USA, each with 13.5 million tons. Brazil gets more than 30% of its transport fuels from sugar-cane ethanol. The production in the EU was much lower, about 0.5 million tonnes, mainly for manufacturing ETBE. The EU target in biofuels is 5.75% in 2010, composed of 2/3 ethanol and 1/3 biodiesel [1]. 

Globally, the major ethanol producers are Brazil and the USA, which account for 62% of the annual world-wide ethanol production. In the USA the feedstock used is com whereas in Brazil sugarcane is the basis for ethanol production. Brazil is the... 

As both methyl and ethyl alkyl esters are considered biodiesel, the enzymatic transesterification of soybean oil with ethanol was studied in this work. In Brazil, the production of ethyl esters is a sustainable technology, as ethanol can be easily produced from fermentable sugar (biomass). 

In recent years, the worldwide trends toward scientific and technological advances in the field of new fiiels point to the importance of more efficient utilization of agro-industrial residues as raw material in the ethanol production process. In Brazil, sugarcane bagasse, the major byproduct of the sugar cane industry, seems to be economically viable for the production of environmentally friendly fuels. 

In Brazil, for similar reasons, the Dow Chemical Company and Mitsui Co Ltd are engaging in a 50/50 joint venture to cultivate sugarcane for the production of ethanol and subsequently ethylene. Initially a 350 000 tons ethanol production unit is planned, eventually leading to polyethylene production by 2015. This will take about 120 000 hectares of sugar cane aimed at providing a cheaper and less economically volatile ethanol feedstock (see http //www.biofuelsdigest.eom/bdigest/2012/03/22/dow-mitsui-to-finalize-brazilian-bio-based-polyethylene-jv/, accessed 8 July 2013). 

A classic example of a clarification process used in Brazil is that of ethanol production by yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae. The viability of ethanol production is based on the efficiency of the clarifying operation, which depends on the recycling of yeast to the fermentation reactor and, consequently, the maintenance of high cell concentrations in the culture medium. " Another relevant aspect for the appropriate process performance is the selectivity afforded by centrifugation, keeping bacteria in suspension while yeasts and other larger solids can sediment. The separation occurs due to the density difference between bacteria and yeast, the latter being removed from the supernatant due to their lower density. The partial removal of bacteria, the main contaminant, is a fundamental factor for an effective fermentation. ... 

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