The potential of dewaka banana stems as raw materials for bioethanol

Abstract

Increasing production and consumption of fossil fuels encourage the use of renewable energy. Renewable energy that does not have the potential to disrupt the stability of the availability of other materials is the use of waste. One type of waste that has been researched into bioethanol is banana waste in the form of stems, leaves, skins, and weevil. Dewaka banana is one type of banana that grows in Merauke, has a large enough size so that it has the potential to produce a lot of waste and tastes sour. Dewaka banana production in 2019 was 7,087 tons and produced waste in the form of Dewaka banana stems as much as 28,546.96 tons. The water content of Dewaka banana stems is 93.42%, and taking into account the yield loss of ± 10%, there will be 1,690.55 tons of dry waste. The amount of waste can produce 148,092.27 liters of bioethanol in a year based on the best research results from Roni, et al. Dewaka banana stems can be processed and reused into bioethanol as an alternative energy raw material.