Ethanol economies of Cane
Achieving sustainability in agriculture requires taking into account many different factors: global climate, pollution, better use of industrial water, options regarding the use of fertilizers, pesticides, and herbicides, and also economic sustainability in terms of costs, competitiveness, and the number and quality of jobs created. The sugarcane industry is a good example of the integration of such concerns. It also illustrates what can be attained when people in developing countries receive the training they need to develop their own technologies.
Bioethanol has taken precedence as Prime Biofuel after lot of controversy erupted on international food shortages and spiraling food prices.
In spite of all the controversy Shrouding Biofuels, there has been universal acceptance & understanding that we need to continually look at alternate sources of fuels and feedstock's which are non food and this has seen visible interest for Sugarcane based Bioethanol to wheat, Maize and other food crops.
In July 2008 alone, big investments in sugarcane/ethanol production were announced across the globe in sugar producing countries in the order of over 500 million dollars. The preceding months saw planned investment in the billions of dollars in the sector. The International Energy Agency sees world Biofuels production rising from 1.35 million barrels a day in 2008 to 1.95 million barrels a day in 2013 – only five years away- and it is a safe bet that most of this increase will come from sugarcane ethanol. Dow Jones notes the sector seems impervious to the liquidity crunch with new investment being announced in Brazil despite high levels of existing debt.
Pressure is also mounting on the developed countries to free up current import restrictions on southern hemisphere ethanol. One estimate is that if Brazilian ethanol was to be freely imported into the US, the price of gasoline could drop by as much as 5 cents a gallon. These are compelling arguments, and General Motors is e.g. reportedly exploring the possibility of opening chains of ethanol stations across the US to deliver non-corn produced ethanol.
The International Energy Agency (IEA) plays the role of energy policy advisor to 27 member countries on issues related to providing "reliable, affordable and clean energy for their citizens". The IEA website posted a recent statement on the agency's views on the impacts of Biofuels on food/energy security, economic development and reduction of greenhouse gases, as well as the importance of sustainable Biofuels production.
Among the highlights of the statement are:
(1) Biofuels production using "first generation feedstocks" (such as grains for ethanol and oil seeds for biodiesel) may compete with food, feed and fiber production, although "currently less than 2% of global agricultural cropland is used for Biofuels production".
(2) Biofuels produced from "second generation feedstocks" (lignocellulosic biomass, such as woody biomass and vegetative grasses) have "considerable promise for eventually providing more sustainable types of Biofuels; however, support for research and development is important in order to lowerproduction cost.
(3) Ethanol production from sugarcane produced in tropical or subtropical countries like Brazil, Southern Africa, and India is a good example of properly managed production of sustainable Biofuels ("excellent characteristics in terms of economics, carbon dioxide reduction and low land use requirements").
(4) Biofuels are becoming increasingly important in meeting the global demand for transport fuel; in 2008, an estimated 55% of the growth in non-OPEC oil supply can be attributed to Biofuels.
Sugarcane is a tropical plant and does well under tropical conditions in the world.
"Sugarcane is a clean crop with high varietal resistance, which requires very little in the way of treatments. It is anti-erosive and thus helps preserve biodiversity in tropical and subtropical zones".
The structure, water use, fertilizer intake, sucrose content, and the very nature of sugar production in sugarcane are likely to undergo major changes with the modern tools of biotechnology and genetic modification. Field trials of GM sugarcane crops for these traits are being undertaken in Brazil and Australia.
Cane Technology Center (CTC), a research organization based in the state of Sao Paulo, Brazil is conducting field trials to test three varieties of genetically modified cane. According to CTC, these GM plants have been modified to exhibit sucrose levels 15% higher than those of ordinary sugarcane - for now, under laboratory conditions. However, if field trials are successful, the company may bring these plants to the market by the end of the decade. Scientists and engineers think that the ethanol yield of sugarcane can be doubled from 6000 liter/ha to more than 12,000 liter/ha within the next 15 years.
Other biotech Companies in Brazil also are interested in the potentially large market of GM sugarcanes and they are awaiting approval from the Brazilian authorities to conduct field trials with several sugarcane varieties. University of Queensland, Australia, has applied to the Gene Technology regulator of the Australian government for a limited and controlled release of GM sugarcane.
The Bureau of Sugar Experiment Stations Ltd is seeking to introduce mainly four modified traits: shoot architecture (shoot number, stalk size, and height), water use efficiency, nitrogen use efficiency and marker gene expression (antibiotic resistance and reporter genes).
The proposed trial will take place in 15 sites in Queensland between September 2008 and December 2014, and will involve experiments to assess the agronomic properties of the GM sugarcane under field conditions and to analyse sugar production and quality. Promising lines would be selected for propagation for possible future commercial development, subject to further approvals.
Results of the trial will be the basis for future commercial developments and for the possibility of using the transgenic lines in future breeding programmes. The GM sugarcane in this trial will not be consumed by humans nor by livestock. Currently, a comprehensive Risk Assessment and Risk Management Plans are being prepared, which will be released for public comment soon.
Sugarcane is hard to grow, and it takes 10 to 15 years to produce a new variety by conventional selection. Yet sugarcane is sensitive to abiotic stresses such as frost or aluminum toxicity. Approaches such as transgenesis and marker-assisted selection may thus prove essential.
Five years ago, a scientific association in the state of Sao Paulo initiated a major genomics programme. Instead of building a big new facility employing hundreds of people, it established ONSA, a network of 65 labs, five bioinformatics centers, and 80 data mining groups dedicated to genome sequencing and analysis. This network was the first to sequence the genome of a plant pathogen, Xylella fastidiosa, which affects almost 30% of the 200 million orange trees in Brazil. Since then it has turned to other genomes of interest to Brazilian farmers – other pathogens but also sugarcane and eucalyptus. It has even made a contribution to human cancer EST sequencing.
By sequencing over 240,000 sugar cane expressed sequence tags (EST) a database has been developed containing a wealth of genetic information related to plant resistance and/or tolerance to biotic stresses (viruses, bacteria, fungi, and a multitude of herbivores) and abiotic stresses (such as drought, cold, and aluminum toxicity). This information will help scientists to develop improved sugar cane varieties and therefore increase the use of this crop for sustainable energy production.
This work is being done in Brazil by Brazilian researchers trained abroad and in Brazil. It has attracted the interest of investors willing to supply money for the creation of biotechnology start-ups. This illustrates once again that the training of scientists and engineers is key to helping developing countries help themselves.
How does cane accumulate sucrose? Put simply, sugarcane forms and then stores sucrose via a four-step process:
1. CO2 is absorbed by the plant leaves.
2. Following a series of chemical reactions, sucrose is formed in the leaves.
3. This newly formed energy is transported via the plant's vascular system.
4. Sucrose is then stored in the cells that surround the vascular system (making up the cane stem).
"It appears that a number of factors influence how much sucrose is formed during accumulation and this is largely determined by the plant's individual DNA" .
"We believe that some plants have more efficient enzymes that synthesise sucrose; in other plants the genes that encode the sugar 'transporters' seem to be regulated differently to ensure storage of higher quantities of sucrose.
Worldwide sugarcane occupies an area of 20.42 million ha with a total production of 1333 million metric tons (FAO, 2003). Sugarcane area and productivity differ widely from country to country (Table 1). Brazil has the highest area (5.343 million ha), while Australia has the highest productivity (85.1 tons/ha). Of 121 sugarcane producing countries, fifteen countries (Brazil, India, China, Thailand, Pakistan, Mexico, Cuba, Columbia, Australia, USA, Philippines, South Africa, Argentina, Myanmar, Bangladesh) 86% of area and 87.1% of production (Table 1). Of the total white crystal sugar production, approximately 70% comes from sugarcane and 30% from sugar beet.
Table 1. Sugarcane In The world: Area, Production And Productivity
Country /Area
(million ha) / Production (million tons) / Productivity(Tons/ha)
Brazil / 5.343 / 386.2 / 72.3
India / 4.608 / 289.6 / 62.8
China / 1.328 / 92.3 / 65.5
Thailand / 0.970 / 64.4 / 66.4
Pakistan / 1.086 / 52.0 / 47.9
Mexico / 0.639 / 45.1 / 70.6
Colombia / 0.435 / 36.6 / 84.1
Australia / 0.423 / 36.0 / 85.1
USA / 0.404 / 31.3 / 77.5
Philippines / 0.385 / 25.8 / 67.1
Indonesia / 0.350 / 25.6 / 73.1
Cuba / 0.654 / 22.9 / 35.0
South Africa / 0.325 / 20.6 / 63.4
Argentina / 0.295 / 19.2 / 65.2
Myanmar / 0.165 / 7.5 / 45.4
Bangladesh / 0.166 / 6.8 / 41.2
WORLD / 20.42 / 1333.2 / 65.2
Bioethanol when blended with Petrol acts as oxygenate to burn Hydrocarbons completely reducing emissions, particulates and noxious gases.
Feedstock availability and Scale is critical for successful blending, Sugarcane has proven to be the most successful feedstock.
With little controversy of Food Diversion to Fuel and Sugarcane Distillation moving towards second generation, Technological advancements, Carbon, Energy and Water foot print models being worked out we foresee Optimization deriving Enhanced Yields. Recent New Developments in Agronomy, Harvesting, Crushing whole Cane, Improved Distillation Practices using better Enzymes, catalysts have been Improving Capacities of Ethanol Production.
Governmental Support & Incentives are very much essential to Mandate and successfully implement Blending Targets.
Vietnam, Thailand, Indonesia, India, Pakistan Bangladesh, China are some of the Asian countries that actively promote ethanol production from cane molasses for fuel blending. Besides these, studies have revealed that Australia, Mauritius, South Africa are also fairly attractive. Apart to Price of Ethanol Commodity, factors of Carbon Footprint of Hydrocarbons, Logistic Implications of Transporting Hydrocarbons and its Distillates, Particulate emissions from using Hydrocarbons either leaded or using MTBE oxygenate which has shown impacts on Water bodies in leakages need to be seriously looked in to. We have to adhere to Kyoto Protocol to reduce CHG Emissions.
Visible was effect of dependence on Hydrocarbons and its Impact on Economies which is swift and Unpredictable, making life of Ordinary populace more miserable.
Renewable like Bioethanol minimize such Risks, apart to generating Rural Employment and improving Rural Livelihoods manifold.They also reduce Emissions and enable a platform to avail Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) in reducing Methanation, also on Co2 reductions and also in generating CNG out of Distillation Sludge.
Sugarcane Crop is believed to be Sequestering Co2. New Cultivars and Methodologies are being studied at Southern Cross University of AU on Sugarcane Sequestration.
With Targets’ of 5% and 10% blending mechanisms of most of Nations we could see thousand of Crores of each nation Currencies being saved moving away from Hydrocarbons or minimizing its usage.The other Economic benefit of Local Employment, infrastructure Development, 3PLogistics, CDM all accrue to Millions/ Billions of USD.
With International Trade and Shipping becoming dearer each day Self dependence for Energy Needs is a must. Energy Needs of each Nation keeps enhancing and to cater to them each nation should have its own Energy/ Biofuel Policy in Place.Other form Energy in this Sector is Power from Cogen, i.e. burning Bagasse the biomass along with Coal in a Boiler to cater to Industry's usage and sale of excess to Grid.
Biomass is becoming precious alike Metals each year with prices spiraling and Sugarcane with almost double Cellulose content Compared to other Crops and also with Whole Cane Crushing including Trash and Biotechnology modifications in cane would see better yields of Bagasse per Ton of Cane Crushed.
Bagasse has apart to Cogen is seeing utilization in 2nd Generation Distillation of C5 where Lignocelluloses material is broken and converted to Sugars.Bagasse is also being used to produce Bioplastics which Compost and Degrade below 100 days and a possible CDM Template.
Sugarcane has seen an Unlimited Potential and to encourage farmers Derive advantage they need to be taught to better existent practices and move towards automating Agronomy, harvesting, Mapping, Optimizing use of water, fertilser and other Crop management techniques.
Key to Success of Future energy needs is to achieve energy without conflict of Interests for water, land, food and such Initiatives to develop guidelines have been initiated at BSI/RSB/RSPO.
The Biofuels industry in the APEC region consists of two distinct sectors, ethanol and biodiesel. Fuel ethanol production within the region in 2007 was estimated at approximately 27,600 million liters, mainly produced in the United States; China; Canada; Australia; and Thailand.
Biofuels in the APEC region are produced from a variety of first-generation feedstock using well-established conversion technologies. For ethanol production, these include: starches from grains (cereals, feed, and grains), tubers (cassava and sweet potatoes), sugars from crops (sugar beets, sugarcane, and sweet sorghum), and food-processing byproducts (molasses, cheese whey, and beverage waste).Second-generation feedstocks for ethanol production include lignocellulosic material, such as crop and forest residues.
Economies with large-scale agriculture and forestry operations such as Canada; the United States; and China have set up demonstration projects using lignocellulosic biomass for ethanol production