Economic and environmental assessment of integrated 1st and 2nd generation sugarcane bioethanol production evaluating different 2nd generation process alternatives

Abstract

Integration of second generation ethanol production from lignocellulosic material with first generation ethanol production from sugarcane juice may foster its environmental and economic feasibility. Since sugarcane bagasse and trash may be used as energy feedstock in bioethanol production process, the amount of surplus lignocellulosic material that could be used for second generation bioethanol production is related to the processes energy consumption. In this work different process configurations for second generation were evaluated through simulation with Aspen Plus. Bearing this in mind, economic and environmental analyses are based on simulation results. Evaluated process alternatives presented different impact trends on sustainability indicators, indicating also that they may lead to higher ethanol output, higher economic returns and lower environmental impacts, pointing out that improvements are required in the ethanol production process for a sustainable energy future.