Sugar alcohols, annual production

TABLE 2.1 Annual Production Volume and Prices of Simple Sugars and Sugar-Derived Alcohols and Acids as Compared to Some Petrochemically Derived Basic Chemicals and Solvents... 

Gasohol boosts octane rating and reduces emissions of carbon monoxide. From a resource viewpoint, because of its photosynthetic origin, alcohol may be considered a renewable resource rather than a depletable fossil fuel. Ethanol is most commonly produced biochemically by fermentation of carbohydrates. Brazil, a country that produces copious amounts of fermentable sugar from sugarcane, has been a leader in the manufacture of ethanol for fuel uses, with an annual production rate of about 24 billion liters. However, due to sugarcane crop shortfalls in 2009-2010, Brazil actually had to import some ethanol from the United States in early 2011 to make up for a deficiency in this fuel. 

Sugar cane, as cut, consists of the cane itself, the leaves and the tops. At present the tops, which contain on a dry basis about 44% carbohydrate, 7% protein, 32% fiber, 2% fats and 10% ash, are turned back into the ground. This procedure may, however, be wasteful. Fertilizers must be used, but it might be possible to extract other products from the cane tops before they are used for this purpose. To give one example, the tops may be fermented to yield alcohol. Lonkar and Rao have outlined a process whereby dry leaves ( trash ) can be converted into paperboard or wrapping paper, a process which could be applied on a scale such that a factory dealing with 9,000 tons of trash annually could turn out 3,000 tons of paperboard. 

Production and Marketing Administration, Sugar Reports, Molasses Issue, annual, 1948-. Supply and utilization of ethyl alcohol. 

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