Sugarcane wastes could be a source of ethanol

Brazilian scientists from the National Institute of Bioethanol Science and Technology (INCT) have discovered mechanisms in polysaccharide cell walls that could triple the production of ethanol from sugarcane by taking advantage of bagasse and harvest residues.

Brazilian scientists from the National Institute of Bioethanol Science and Technology (INCT) have discovered mechanisms in polysaccharide cell walls that could triple the production of ethanol from sugarcane by taking advantage of bagasse and harvest residues.

The INCT team unveiled mechanisms that make sugarcane cell walls resistant to a chemical reaction caused by an enzyme that uses water to break down molecules (enzymatic hydrolysis). “If we know the cell wall, the enzymes and their mechanisms, we can take a triple leap in science - underlines Marcos Buckeridge, co-author of the study and coordinator of the INCT, and adds: - If we can do it with sugarcane, we can do it with corn and other grasses used to generate bioenergy in the world ”.

The finding, published in June 2013 in BioEnergy Research, was presented during the Brazil-China symposium for Scientific Collaboration held last April and represents a step towards obtaining second generation (2G) cane ethanol, that is, , that manufactured from raw materials that are not food sources.

"There is great potential for ethanol production if we use all the energy from the plant," says Marcos Buckeridge, coordinator of the National Institute of Bioethanol Science and Technology, in Brazil. Currently only sucrose from cane juice is used, which represents one third of the biomass. “Bagasse and waste are the other two thirds. Thus, we could triple the production of ethanol ”, he adds.

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Year 2 / Number 2 / December 2014

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