Potential utilization of cassava pulp for ethanol production in Indonesia

Abstract

Cassava is one of the major crops produced in Indonesia. Cassava grows in all provinces in Indonesia. In the last decade, even though cassava plantation area is decreased, cassava production and its productivity in Indonesia have been on the increase steadily. The tendency of using cassava for ethanol production would affect supply of cassava for food. Cassava pulp, a by- product of tapioca industry is one of the potential biomass that can be used for ethanol production because it contains starch and fiber in significant amounts which could be further converted to ethanol. A large scale of tapioca plant having production capacity of 20 ton tapioca flour per day has a potency to produce 8.7 kL of ethanol per day. Conversion of cassava pulp to ethanol can be accomplished through different kinds of processes such as physical, chemical, biological process or combinations of those processes. The utilization of cassava pulp for ethanol production would be beneficial since the material is abundantly and continuously available in many big tapioca industries and could help in solving the problem of waste disposal of tapioca industry. However, comprehensive studies are still needed for establishment of bioethanol industry from cassava pulp. Key words: Cassava, cassava pulp, utilization, starch, fiber, ethanol.