Publication

Biomass logistics and environmental impact modelling for sugar-ethanol production

François Maréchal
2019
Journal Articles

Abstract

The goal of this paper is to evaluate the supply of sugarcane to mills and also the supply of green harvesting residues to second-generation ethanol plants under three different strategies: chopping, baling and integral harvesting. A dynamic model was developed in order to simulate the biomass flow along the main activities within sugar-ethanol supply chain. Weather, geographical and operational constraints were considered for calculating the biomass availability. The model is able to quantify the production of sugar and first-generation ethanol from mills, electricity surplus from co-generation and second generation ethanol with the aim of evaluating operational, economic and environmental indicators. In this study it was found that the integral harvesting is the best strategy for supply the residues in terms of cost (5.90 USD/dry t), energy inputs (56.89 MJ/dry t) and carbon emissions (4.18 kg CO2/dry t). The low resources utilization due to the inappropriate harvest-load-transport synchronization creates bottlenecks that decrease the system throughput, leaving the door open for further improvements. (C) 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

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https://infoscience.epfl.ch/entities/publication/4bb0a92c-621b-4e67-a923-149cecbc5149

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François Maréchal
2019
Journal Articles

Abstract

Official source

https://infoscience.epfl.ch/entities/publication/4bb0a92c-621b-4e67-a923-149cecbc5149

About this result

Related concepts (12)

Ethanol fuel in Brazil

Brazil is the world's second largest producer of ethanol fuel. Brazil and the United States have led the industrial production of ethanol fuel for several years, together accounting for 85 percent of the world's production in 2017. Brazil produced 26.72 billion liters (7.06 billion U.S. liquid gallons), representing 26.1 percent of the world's total ethanol used as fuel in 2017. Between 2006 and 2008, Brazil was considered to have the world's first "sustainable" biofuels economy and the biofuel industry leader, a policy model for other countries; and its sugarcane ethanol "the most successful alternative fuel to date.

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Ethanol fuel is fuel containing ethyl alcohol, the same type of alcohol as found in alcoholic beverages. It is most often used as a motor fuel, mainly as a biofuel additive for gasoline. Several common ethanol fuel mixtures are in use around the world. The use of pure hydrous or anhydrous ethanol in internal combustion engines (ICEs) is only possible if the engines are designed or modified for that purpose.

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Cellulosic ethanol is ethanol (ethyl alcohol) produced from cellulose (the stringy fiber of a plant) rather than from the plant's seeds or fruit. It can be produced from grasses, wood, algae, or other plants. It is generally discussed for use as a biofuel. The carbon dioxide that plants absorb as they grow offsets some of the carbon dioxide emitted when ethanol made from them is burned, so cellulosic ethanol fuel has the potential to have a lower carbon footprint than fossil fuels.

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