Jul 21, 2010
Brazil Moving Ahead on Cellulosic Ethanol Research
Author: Michael Cordonnier/Soybean & Corn Advisor, Inc.
Currently, cellulosic ethanol is too expensive to compete with sugarcane based or corn based ethanol, but that may change soon in Brazil. The Brazilian National Laboratory for Bioethanol Science and Technology (CTBE) located in Campinas, Sao Paulo, in the process of building a R$ 24 million pilot plant designed to develop new technologies for economic cellulosic ethanol production. The plant should be ready for start up operations sometime next year.
According to the Union of Sugarcane Industries in Brazil (Unica), the average cost of producing sugarcane based ethanol in Brazil is currently between R$ 0.70 to 0.75 per liter (US$ 1.52 to 1.62 per gallon), but the current cost of producing cellulosic ethanol, or what is called second generation ethanol, is R$ 3.50 per liter (US$ 7.60 a gallon). Therefore, in order to make second generation ethanol competitive with sugarcane based ethanol, the cost of production needs to be reduced five-fold.
The purpose of the pilot plant is to develop the technology necessary to greatly reduce the cost of production of second generation ethanol. The key for economical cellulosic ethanol production will be reducing the cost of the enzymes needed to break down the cellulose into fermentable sugars. The U.S. and Canada have already built pilot plants to make cellulosic ethanol, but their cost of production is also very high. It's now a race to see who can develop the necessary technologies to greatly reduce the cost of production.
In Brazil, the initial feedstock for cellulosic ethanol production is expected to be bagasse, which is the material left over from the sugarcane stalks once the juice has been extracted. Brazilian scientists feel that the utilization of sugarcane byproducts could increase total ethanol production from a field of sugarcane by 30% to 40%. For each unit of energy expended to produce sugarcane based ethanol in Brazil, 9.3 units of energy are returned. With the production of cellulosic ethanol made from sugarcane byproducts, that increases to 10 units of energy returned. Currently, much of the bagasse is burned to produce the electricity needed to operate the sugar mill.
Embrapa, the Brazilian agricultural research agency, is also conducting research to develop new sugarcane varieties that are high in both sucrose and in cellulose as well.
Brazil has been committed to ethanol production for nearly 40 years. As a result, the country has the production and distribution networks already in place for increased ethanol usage. The country also continues to build a demand base for ethanol consumption by selling million of new flex fuel cars and trucks. Additionally, ethanol does not have to overcome an acceptance problem with the motoring public in Brazil. In fact, it is the fuel preferred by most motorists in Brazil.