From Trash to Treasure! Sugarcane Plant in Olímpia, SP, Produces Electricity and Biofuel From Ethanol Production Waste

Written by Roberta Souza

Published on 25/10/2022 at 10:45

Foto: reprodução TV TEM

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The Residue of Ethanol Production at a Sugarcane Mill in SP Has Turned Into a Luxury Article for Energy and Biofuels! The So-Called Vinhaca Has Been Used to Produce Inputs Sustainably

The search for alternative sources of energy is one of the major concerns of the current world. Fertilizers have become a source of energy, such as vinhaca, a residue left over from ethanol production, which has been exponentially used for energy and biofuel production.

At a sugarcane mill in Olímpia (SP), this proposal to transform the residue from “Waste to Luxury” took two years to complete and has been in operation since July of this year. According to Jonas Gutierres, executive manager of agro-industrial operations, inside a bubble called a biodigester, there are microorganisms that consume vinhaca and, as a result, produce biogas.

When the decomposition of energy occurs from the ethanol residue, the chemistry that originates biogas happens, resulting in mechanical energy that activates a generator, subsequently developing electrical energy. The generation capacity is 1 megawatt/hour, enough to supply, on average, 330 homes during that time.

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POWER PLANT USING SUGARCANE

Utilization of Sustainable Electric Energy and Biofuel from Ethanol Residue

The use of sustainable electric energy generates a savings of 10% to 15% on the electricity bill. In Brazil, sugarcane biomass represents 16.4% of the internal energy supply, according to data from the energy research company.

In addition to the energy generated from the residue of ethanol production, it is also possible to develop fuel from biogas. Jonas explains that the process for producing biomethane is similar to that of compressed natural gas (CNG). The difference is that CNG has a fossil origin, like gasoline and diesel, while biomethane is 100% renewable.

The goal of the mill is to replace 100% of the diesel used by the truck fleet with biomethane by 2030. Today, the group uses an average of 77 million liters of diesel, which represents 10% to 15% of the company’s budget. In addition to savings, this switch also generates environmental benefits.

From Trash to Treasure! Sugarcane Plant in Olímpia, SP, Produces Electricity and Biofuel From Ethanol Production Waste

The Residue of Ethanol Production at a Sugarcane Mill in SP Has Turned Into a Luxury Article for Energy and Biofuels! The So-Called Vinhaca Has Been Used to Produce Inputs Sustainably

POWER PLANT USING SUGARCANE

Utilization of Sustainable Electric Energy and Biofuel from Ethanol Residue

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From Trash to Treasure! Sugarcane Plant in Olímpia, SP, Produces Electricity and Biofuel From Ethanol Production Waste

The Residue of Ethanol Production at a Sugarcane Mill in SP Has Turned Into a Luxury Article for Energy and Biofuels! The So-Called Vinhaca Has Been Used to Produce Inputs Sustainably

POWER PLANT USING SUGARCANE

Utilization of Sustainable Electric Energy and Biofuel from Ethanol Residue

In the cold desert of Ladakh, where it hardly rains, engineer Sonam Wangchuk created the ice stupa, a tower that freezes winter water and stores it for irrigating crops in the spring, a simple engineering feat that mimics nature.

Libya built over 4,000 kilometers of underground pipelines to bring water from the Sahara to coastal cities in a project that the government itself called the Eighth Wonder of the World.

Almost 6,000 residents live concentrated along a single street nearly 9 km long in the interior of Poland. Houses form a continuous row, and behind them, narrow agricultural strips emerge, creating one of the most unusual rural patterns in Europe.

Chinese woman planted trees for decades while sand buried part of her house, received $5,000 from an American in 1999, and helped transform the desert into a forest of 8 million trees in China.

Desert sand, previously discarded for being too smooth for concrete, becomes an ecological brick in the United Arab Emirates, dispensing with Portland cement, curing at room temperature, and attempting to transform dunes useless for construction into raw material for a new arid engineering.

Described by astronauts as one of the most unlikely natural phenomena on Earth, the Okavango Delta spreads over up to 15,000 square kilometers in the middle of the desert and transforms Botswana into a living labyrinth of channels, islands, and flooded areas.

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