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Eco Tech: Brazil turns sugarcane juice into conventional diesel

sugarcane

Eco Factor: Low-cost way to convert sugarcane juice into useful fuel.

Colorado-based Amyris Biotechnologies opened up a demonstration plant with a capacity of more than 10,000 gallons a year in Campinas, Brazil, to demonstrate large-scale production of hydrocarbons, rather than ethanol, from sugarcane processed using its engineered microbes, which will convert sugarcane into conventional diesel fuel. With the hope of using Brazil’s existing biofuel infrastructure, the company will make hydrocarbons to produce diesel and other chemicals to sell in the country and possibly in the United States and Europe in 2011.

Due to the problem relating to feedstock, Brazil served as a main attraction to the company over US and corn, as it is widely known for running large number of cars on sugarcane-based ethanol and for the massive availability of sugarcane. Not only that, Brazilian sugarcane is cheaper than US corn, it is also a head on environmental measure, as its processing is less expensive and the leftover waste is useful in producing electricity.

People might get driven by the greenness of the fuel, as burning of this fuel produces no sulfur, less carbon monoxide, and fewer nitrogen oxides, particulates, and other emissions, compared with petroleum diesel. Though it seems eco-friendly, on calculating the amount of land this technique will consume for growing sugarcane, it is an absurdly inefficient use of resources. Without overlooking this obvious environmental problem, this energy resource may seem impractical and completely un-scalable to many.

Via: Treehugger

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