Unleashing the biornergy potential from the sugarcane biomass
| MSI07P4258 | |
| Autrey, L. J. C. Kong Win Chang, K. T. K. F. Mungaroo, R. Ramdoyal, K. Lau, A. F. | |
| Unleashing the biornergy potential from the sugarcane biomass | |
| Renewable Energy for sustainable development in Africa, 18-21 June 2007, Réduit, Mauritius. Presentations and abstracts (CD-ROM) | |
| Renewable Energy for sustainable development in Africa, 18-21 June 2007, Réduit, Mauritius | |
| paper presented | |
| 2007 | |
| Powerpoint presentation | |
| En | |
| En | |
| Endowed with the C4-photosynthetic pathway, sugar cane is among the most efficient species for the synthesis of dry matter per unit area. Appreciation of this characteristic of sugar cane in generating biomass and therefore energy (electricity and ethanol) in the context of sugar price reduction, prompted the development of new breeding programmes in several research institutes across the world. Whereas Brazil is converting about 50 per cent of its cane production to ethanol, the West Indies have developed clones containing about 20-26 per cent fibre and 130-140 t of biomass ha-1 and project to exploit commercially one of these varieties as fuel cane, in order to provide renewable source material for its power plant. At the Mauritius Sugar Industry Research Institute (MSIRI), the breeding programme which was formerly geared towards maximum sugar production regardless of the biomass content, is now laying emphasis on the introduction of new wild cane germplasm and multipurpose clones to develop new types of cane. It is assumed that the whole sugar cane plant will be increasingly used for electricity generation while juice and molasses will be converted to ethanol, the gasoline of the future. Ethanol can be used directly as such by the vehicles or it can be used to produce biodiesel. The different types of cane that would be produced are namely: high quality (moderately high fibre and high sucrose), high fibre (high fibre and moderate sucrose) and energy cane (high fibre and low sucrose). In 2005 the Mauritian sugar industry exported 835 GWh of electricity to the national grid of which 301 GWh were produced from bagasse. Reform of the industry will enable the four remaining sugar factories or clusters to produce not only sugar but also electricity and ethanol. By 2012 it is expected that around 700 GWh could be exported to the national grid using bagasse solely. If all the trash and cane tops are brought to the factories for conversion to electricity, then an additional 250 GWh could be produced. To put these developments in perspective, the total electricity sold by the national grid from all sources, namely coal, oil, hydro, biomass, which was 2015 GWh in 2005, will reach some 3000 GWh by 2012 to meet increasing demand for energy. To enhance bio-energy production, bagasse gasification technologies are also being investigated by the International Sugar cane Biomass Utilization Consortium (ISBUC). Should the gasification technologies materialize, then it is expected that instead of 700 GWh produced from the bagasse obtainable from the present sugar cane varieties using the current steam cyle, some 1630 GWh would be obtained. The corresponding figures for high quality cane, high fibre cane and energy cane would be 895, 1535, 2160 GWh using the steam cycle and 2110, 3390 and 4640 GWh for the gasification technologies. Research is also underway at the MSIRI for hydrolyzing bagasse so than it can be used as feedstock for producing ethanol and bioplastics. At present, if all the molasses produced by Mauritius are fermented, around 33000 tonnes of ethanol could be produced. If a mixture of 10 per cent ethanol : 90 per cent gasoline is used as fuel in vehicles, 9000 tonnes of ethanol would be sufficient and 23,000 tonnes would be available for export or transformation into other products. Currently the world bioethanol production is around 48 billion litres per year with Brazil producing one-third of it. Should the OECD countries substitute 20 per cent of their gasoline needs by 2020 with ethanol, the equivalent of 18 Brazils would be necessary over the next decade. Sugar cane is probably the best crop to meet this challenge. | |
| sugarcane bagasse biomass cogeneration bioenergy ethanol electricity bioplastics gasification renewable energy sugarcane byproducts coproducts | |
| Mauritius | |
| Cane sugar manufacture | |
| By-products utilization | |
| 2007-07-11 | |
| En | |
| LIB | |
| CAT | |
| ST PB |