Sugar cane biomass ethanol production from

For both the cases of methanol production and the use of vehicle-mounted gasifiers, additional investments will be associated with facilities and equipment for harvesting and transport of the biomass to the conversion sites. In the case of ethanol production from currently produced sugar cane juice or molasses, the conversion facilities would be constructed adjacent to sugar mills that already are receiving the biomass raw material. Thus, additional investments for harvesting and transport equipment would not be required. 

Both in the USA and the EU, the introduction of renewable fuels standards is likely to increase considerably the consumption of bioethanol. Lignocelluloses from agricultural and forest industry residues and/or the carbohydrate fraction of municipal solid waste (MSW) will be the future source of biomass, but starch-rich sources such as corn grain (the major raw material for ethanol in USA) and sugar cane (in Brazil) are currently used. Although land devoted to fuel could reduce land available for food production, this is at present not a serious problem, but could become progressively more important with increasing use of bioethanol. For this reason, it is important to utilize other crops that could be cultivated in unused land (an important social factor to preserve rural populations) and, especially, start to use cellulose-based feedstocks and waste materials as raw material. 

Currently, ethanol is produced from sugar beets and from molasses. A typical yield is 72.5 liters of ethanol per ton of sugar cane. Modem crops yield 60 tons of sugar cane per hector of land. Production of ethanol from biomass is one way to reduce both the consumption of erode oil and environmental pollution. Domestic production and use of ethanol for fuel can decrease dependence on foreign oil, reduce trade deficits, create jobs in rural areas, reduce air pollution, and reduce global climate change carbon dioxide build-up. 

At current crude oil prices, the production of ethanol from biomass is not profitable, either. Whether produced from beets, sugar cane, or com, it can become competitive only if it is subsidized. And these subsidies would only be forthcoming for political reasons to please their farmer voters, the French, Brazilian, and United States governments... 

Bioethanol (ethanol from biomass) is nowadays the largest fermentation product obtained from sugar cane. In fact, bioethanol seems to be the most promising alternative energy source to be used as a fiiel, either alone or as mixture in gasoline. Besides, from bioethanol, many chemicals products may be produced, making the sugar cane-based feedstock process... 

Ethylene for the manufacture of polyethylene is derived from cracking various components of petroleum oil such as the gasoline fraction, gas oil, or from hydrocarbons such as ethane. While petroleum remains the predominant source of the monomer at the present time, it can also be produced using biomass. In fact ethylene has been commercially derived from molasses, a by-product of sugar cane industry, via the dehydration of ethanol. 

Apart from its use as a fuel, biomass gains increasing interest as feedstock for the chemical indusfry. The Brew project in which different biomaterials were assessed focus towards their potential in that sector [33]. A special role is played by the integration into the production of plastics, for which bio-based ethanol and subsequently polyethylene presents one alternative. As already stated, ethanol can be obtained from different sources. However, it seems that all data in the literature on greenhouse gas emissions and energy use for fermentation of Brazilian sugar cane and subsequent refinement to ethanol are based on the reports of one single researcher [34]. This is of course a limitation for the LCA. 

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