Abstract
Global economic development has led to the widespread use of fossil fuels, and their extensive use has resulted in increased environmental pollution. As a result, significantly more attention is being paid to environmental issues and alternative renewable energy sources. Bioethanol production from agro-industrial byproducts, residues, and wastes is one example of sustainable energy production. This research aims to develop a process and cost model of bioethanol production from spent sugar beet pulp. The model was developed using SuperPro Designer® v.11 (Intelligen Inc., Scotch Plains, NJ, USA) software, and determines the capital and production costs for a bioethanol-producing plant processing about 17,000 tons of spent sugar beet pulp per year. In addition, the developed model predicts the process and economic indicators of the analyzed biotechnological process, determines the share of major components in bioethanol production costs, and compares different model scenarios for process co-products. Based on the obtained results, the proposed model is viable and represents a base case for further bioprocess development.
Highlights
In the past few decades, sustainability has become a key consideration due to the depletion of fossil fuels and other natural resources, increased environmental awareness, and the social benefits of reducing environmental pollution [1–3]
DirectFor fixed capitalthe (DFC), working capital, and valtogether the direct fixed capital (DFC), working capital, and start-up and validation costs; idation costs; the directFor fixed capitalthe (DFC) is the sum of the total plant cost (TPC) and contractor’s fees and the is the sum of the total plant cost (TPC)
64.81%, return on investment—13.24%, payback time—7.55 years, and internal rate of return—6.99%. This means that the project is economically viable, with nearly 60% of the distillation stillage usable for animal feed
Summary
In the past few decades, sustainability has become a key consideration due to the depletion of fossil fuels and other natural resources, increased environmental awareness, and the social benefits of reducing environmental pollution [1–3]. Energy Directive (Directive EU 2018/2001) [6], a common framework was established for the promotion of energy from renewable sources in the EU, setting a binding target for the EU’s gross final consumption, being that the overall share of energy from renewable sources should be 32% by 2030. This legislation promotes the use of non-food crops for biofuel production, and has limited the amount of biofuels and bioliquids produced from food or feed crops. According to the Energy Development Strategy [7], the Republic of Serbia will require further sustainable energy development until 2030, based on activities that include intensive use of renewable energy sources
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