INTEGRATED ENERGY BALANCE OF THE PRODUCTION OF QUALITY “CACHAÇA” AND BIOFUEL

Abstract

The production of small-scale farm fuel alcohol is a viable economic activity, but in Brazil, there are few studies on the energy balance of its production. In the present work, the energy balance of the integrated production of quality “cachaça” and fuel alcohol at the farm level was carried out, as well as the determination of technical coefficients in a microdistillery in Minas Gerais (Zona da Mata), Brazil, for the production of sugar cane, cachaça and farm fuel alcohol. The productive capacity of this microdistillery in the analyzed period was 5,271.63 liters of cachaça and 658.95 liters of farm alcohol per day. Energy expenditure in the production of sugar cane (agricultural phase) was 245.14 MJ per ton of cane (MJ TC-1), with 80% of the total of this energy going to the production of cachaça and 20% for the production of sugarcane fuel alcohol. The energy expenditure for the production of cachaça and fuel alcohol from sugar cane was 30.44 MJ TC-1 (industrial phase), of which 80% went to obtain cachaça and 20% for the farm fuel alcohol. The energy output / input ratio was 4.61 (fuel alcohol + excess bagasse). Much of the energy demand is due to the use of nitrogen fertilizers and diesel oil. The farm alcohol produced had a renewability index of 0.27, showing it to be a renewable fuel.