ABSTRACT
Ethanol from sugar cane is certainly the most promising first-generation biofuel (IEA, 2008) from economic, energy and environmental perspectives: it has a highly positive energy balance, high yield per hectare, low production costs and excellent greenhouse gas (GHG) abatement potential. Nevertheless, more than half of world ethanol production is based on grains as feedstock (mainly US), which fares poorly in comparison to sugar cane. For countries already producing sugar from sugar cane, rising market demand would make it economical to use some of the intermediate products (juice, syrup and molasses) to expand the production of ethanol. The technology for such undertaking is mature and widely available and the experience from Brazil and elsewhere could be quickly disseminated to other cane-producing countries. Optimal distillery configurations and related modifications in sugar factories can be adapted to the country specificities in terms of size, level of automation, equipment design and operating strategies. This chapter focuses on the techno-economic and environmental aspects of ethanol production from cane resources, with special reference to the experiences from Brazil and the lessons that might be learned in expanding ethanol production in African countries. The chapter also demonstrates the versatility of cane in producing fuel ethanol to diversify global energy supply in the transport sector.
