Bioethanol production from biomass: perspectives in Mexico

Departamento de Biotecnología, Facultad de Ciencias Químicas, Universidad Autónoma de Coahuila, Blvd. Venustiano Carranza s/n, Col. República, Saltillo, Coahuila, México.

C.P. 25280leopoldo.rios@uadec.edu.mx

On February the 21st 2014,in Beijing, China, a newtype of environmental alertwas issued.

Orange Alert

The concentration ofparticulate matter PM2.5

reached 400 µg/m3. TheWHO recommends that theair quality should not exceed25 µg/m3 .

Mexico City16/May/2017; PM2.5

BIOENERGY is renewable energymade available from materials derivedfrom biological sources. It´s thematerial derived from recently livingorganisms, which includes plants,animals and their byproducts, such as,manure, garden waste and cropresidues, etc., It is a renewable energysource based on the carbon cycle.

Bioethanol

Figure 1. Main ethanol producing Countries (Gupta and Verma, 2015).

56%

39%

5%

40,625 ML

57,199 ML

Mexico: 80.71 ML

Bio

eth

ano

l1st Generation

2nd Generation

3rd Generation

Sugar crops

Extraction

Sugar Juice

Purification and supplementation

with nutrients

Fermentation

Distillation

Ethanol

BagasseGeneration of

electricity

Filter cake fertilizer

Yeast

CO2

Vinasse

Figure 2. Schematic diagram of ethanol production from sugar biomass

1st Generation

Lignocellulosic biomass2nd Generation

Processing(drying and

grinding)

Preparation of slurry (10 – 15%

dry solid)

Pretreatment of slurry

Detoxification

Hydrolysis

Fermentation

Productrecovery

water

Acid orenzymes

Physical orchemical

orbiological

agents

Fermentingmicroorganism

ETHANOL

Yeast

Vinasse

Solid waste

Liquor

Figure 3. Schematic diagramof etanol production fromlignocellulose.

Lig

no

cell

ulo

sic

b

iom

ass

Corn stover

Corn cob

Wheat straw

Rice straw

Sugarcane bagasse

Sweet sorghum bagasse

Barley straw

Pine (soft wood)

Yellow poplar (hard wood)

Switchgrass

Municipal solid waste (MSW)

Figure 2. Potential of some lignocellulosic biomass for bioethanol production.

Biomass Ethanol yield (L/ton) Potential yield (L/ha)

1st Generation

Sugarcane 70 - 90 6,470 – 6,660

Corn 370 -470 4,180

Sorghum stalk juice 40 - 86 2,062 – 2,595

Sorghum grain 380 1,099

Barley 345 -

Wheat 376 - 435 1,001 -1,700

2nd Generation

Sorghum bagasse 250 1,796 -6,591

Corn stover 450 4,400

Corn cob 510 -

Wheat straw 490 -

Table 1. Comparison of different biomass with regard to the etanol yield.

Zabed et al., 2017

Feedstock Company/PlacePretreatment

methodReference

Corn stover

Abengoa/ Hugoton,

Kansas, USA.

1st step: Diluted acid;

2nd step: Steam

explosion

Abengoa

Bioenergy

DuPont/ Nevada, Iowa,

USA.Ammonia and steam

Valdivia et al.,

2016

POET-DSM/ Emmetsburg,

Iowa, USA.

Two steps of diluted

acid

Valdivia et al.,

2016

Sugarcane bagasse GranBio/ Alagoas, Brasil Steam explosion Lane, 2014

Wheat strawBeta Renewables/

Crescentino, ItaliaSteam explosion

Valdivia et al.,

2016

Table 2. 2G ethanol industrial scale production plants, feedstock and pretreatment

methods used.

Hugoton, Kansas, USAProduction 2014: 94 million of liters of ethanol

Nevada, Iowa, USAProduction 2016: 113 million of liters of ethanol

Emmetsburg, Iowa, USAProduction 2016: 95 million of liters of ethanol

Alagoas, BrasilProduction 2016: 82 million of liters of ethanol

Crescentino, ItaliaProduction 2016: million of liters of ethanol

Potential of bioethanol production from agroindustrial residues in

Mexico

Pri

ma

rycr

op

resi

du

es

Barley

Common beans

Chickpea

Lentil

Fava bean

Rice

Wheat

Canola

Cotton

Corn

Safflower

Sesame

Sorghum

Soybean

Tabacco

Sugarcane

Groundnut

Figure 3. Main primary crop residues (straw/stalk/leaves) in Mexico.

Se

con

da

rycr

op

resi

du

es

Corn Cobs

Rice husk

Groundnut shells

Cotton gin trash

Coffee cherry pulp

Agaves bagasse

Sugarcane bagasse

Figure 4. Main secundary crop residues in Mexico.

In the legal context, there is a law inMexico that promotes theproduction of biofuels. To avoid foodsecurity issued, this law prioritizethe use of biomass for human andanimal consumption and soilimprovement.

Reference Primary cropresidues(million

tons/year) dry weight

Secondary cropresidues(million

tons/year) dry weight

Main residues

Valdez-Vazquez et al.

(2010)a

60.13 16.50

Corn stoverSorghum straw

Sugarcane straw/stalkWheat straw

Rios and Kaltschmitt

(2013)b

41.3 11.12

Sugarcane bagasseCorn cobs

Agaves bagasseCoffee pulp

Table 3. Main primary and secundary agroindustrial residues in Mexico.

aEstimation 2006 production.bEstimation 2010 production.

Bioenergy and ethanol potential wasassumed tan only (50%a and 60%b) ofbiomass is available for conversion.

Figure 5. Geographical distribution of agricultural residues in Mexico.

Corn stover and Corn cobs: SinaloaSorghum straw: TamaulipasBarley straw: Baja California NorteWheat straw: Baja California Norte, SonoraBean straw: OaxacaCotton Straw and gin trash: Baja California Norte, Chihuahua, CoahuilaAgaves bagasse: JaliscoCoffee pulp and husk: Oaxaca, Chiapas.Sugarcane tops/leaves and bagasse: Sinaloa, Veracruz, Quintana Roo.

ton/year (dry weight)

Valdez-Vazquez et al. (2010)

RangeBiomasa potential

(ton drymatter/year)

Bioenerypotentiala (KW)

Ethanol potentialb (L/year)

A 280,320 – 2,181,021 10,000.1 – 77,805 33,638,000 – 261,723,000

B 140,160 – 280,320 5,000.1 – 10,000 16,819,000 – 33,638,000

C 28,000 – 140,160 999.1 – 5,000 3,360,000 – 16,819,000

D 5600 – 28,000 200.1 – 999 672,000 – 3,360,000

E 140 – 5,600 5.1 – 200 17,000 – 672,000

F 0 – 140 0 - 5 0 – 17,000

aAverage calorific value of 15 MJ/kg of dry matter and 15% of conversion efficiency.

bAverage factor of 240 L/ton of lignocellulosic biomass.

Table 4. Bioenergy potential divided into ranges.

Bioenergy and ethanol potential is assumed tan only 50% of biomass can beconsidered available for conversion.

* Baja California, Campeche, Chiapas, Chihuahua, Guanajuato, Hidalgo, Jalisco,Oaxaca, Quintana Roo, San Luis Potosí, Sinaloa, Sonora, Tabasco, Tamaulipas,Veracruz

Agroindustrial residues in Mexico 2006: 76.63 million tons/year (dry weight)

50%

38.31 millones de ton (base seca) =

9,194,400,000 L of ethanol

Rios and Kaltschmitt (2013)

Agroindustrial residues in Mexico 2010: 52.42 million tons/year (dry weight)

60%

31.45 millones de ton (base seca) =

7,548,000,000 L of ethanol

Valdez-Vazquez et al. (2010)

However

According to recent studies reported by Reyes Muro et al. (2017),an estimate of 31.1 million tons of corn stover were generated.29.4 million tons were used as animal feed and only theremaining 1.8 million tons (5.78%) can be used as biofuelfeedstock.

• Woody biomass (forest management).• Non woody forestry residues.• Residues from the wood processing industry.• Municipal solid waste (MSW)

• Microalgae (3rd generation)

Other alternatives

CONCLUSIONS

Mexico has the potential to become animportant bioetanol producer, however, ithas to overcome several economic, socialand political factors to do so.

Whats needed?

• Increase research of bioetanol production processes based in abiorefinery concept.

• The develop of new and more efficient cellulolytic enzymaticcomplex (indigenous technologies).

• Biomass and availability data update.

• Biorefinery map location selection and capacity productionaccording to biomass availability.

• Promotion of investment in construction of industrial scalebiorefineries.

Political will

THANKS