Bioprocesses for biofuels: an overview of the Brazilian case

Abstract

Renewables are 46% in the Brazilian energy matrix, while the world scenario differs from this context to use only 13% of these resources. The biomass conversion using bioprocess has great potential to be applied in Brazil due to its large agroindustry which can produce a variety of feedstocks and byproducts that can be converted into biofuels and chemicals. The production of first-generation ethanol using sugarcane is a conventional technology in Brazil. This ethanol is the most competitive in the world, and Brazilian production reached 23.64 billion L in 2012/2013 season. Sugarcane bagasse generated from ethanol production and other biomasses obtained from forest and wood industries, crop residues, and grasses can be deconstructed to obtain sugars. These sugars may be bioconverted into second-generation ethanol and chemicals. Biodiesel is another biofuel that has been produced in Brazil. Although the commercial route to obtain biodiesel uses chemical conversion, there are researches investigating the biochemical route. Furthermore, some topics about microalgae use for biofuels are introduced. Therefore, this paper has the aim to present bioprocesses used in bioenergy production and the Brazilian overview on the conventional technology of first-generation sugarcane ethanol production. Moreover, bench studies and demonstration facilities that have been developed in the country regarding the advanced technologies are presented.

Advances in Microalgal Research in Brazil

“…An option to expand the cultivation of microalgae in Brazil is the integration of microalgae production to the sugarcane-ethanol industry [93,94]. Brazil is the leader producer of ethanol from sugarcane [95], and there are currently 400 sugarcane-ethanol production facilities in Brazil, mostly concentrated in Northeastern and Southeastern regions of the country [96]. Microalgae production and processing can be feasible coupled to sugarcane biorefineries as exemplified by Brasil et al [66].…”

Use of cultivars of low cost, agroindustrial and urban waste in the production of cellulosic ethanol in Brazil: A proposal to utilization of microdistillery

“…The main difference between them is that the latter uses simultaneous saccharification and fermentation, while Iogen's technology has separated saccharification and fermentation. The plant is located in Piracicaba (São Paulo) with investment of US$ 100 million (being US$ 85 million financed by BNDES) and may produce up to 40 million liters of cellulosic ethanol a year [238]. Raizen, which is the world's largest sugar and ethanol producer, plans to build nine mills producing cellulosic.…”

Sugarcane straw removal for bioenergy production: implications on plant and soil responses

“…This harvesting residue has a potential to be used as a feedstock for bioenergy production (e.g., second generation and cogeneration) Silveira et al, 2018). Second generation ethanol is pointed out to supply the national demand of this biofuel (Damaso et al, 2014).…”