TECNOCIENCIA CHIHUAHUA, Vol. XVII (3) e 1225 (2023)

https://vocero.uach.mx/index.php/tecnociencia

ISSN-e: 2683-3360

Artículo de Divulgación

The paradoxical availability of raw materials in the

bioethanol production

La paradójica disponibilidad de materia prima en la producción de

bioetanol

*Correspondencia: cnolasco@unpa.edu.mx (Cirilo Nolasco-Hipólito)

DOI: https://doi.org/10.54167/tch.v17i3.1225

Recibido:: 04 de junio de 2023; Aceptado: 05 de octubre de 2023

Publicado por la Universidad Autónoma de Chihuahua, a través de la Dirección de Investigación y Posgrado

Abstract

The production of bioethanol is influenced by economic, social, political, and technological aspects.

Technology has contributed to improving and simplifying the production process. On the other

hand, the global pandemic of SARS-CoV-2, better known as Covid-19, has affected the market as its

price has substantially increased. Raw material and transportation costs have also impacted the

international market. Therefore, more efforts are being dedicated to finding alternative raw materials

for bioethanol production. Agricultural waste or starches that are not used entirely for human

consumption have the potential to produce bioethanol, but paradoxically, they cannot be

commercialized. This report focuses on potential raw materials for bioethanol production and how

their possible commercial exploitation declines when they acquire a cost for their transformation

into higher value-added products. Price increases discourage investment in the diversification of

these raw materials

Keywords: bioethanol, cellulose, corn, fermentation, lignocellulose, starch.

Cirilo Nolasco-Hipólito1*, Octavio Carvajal-Zarrabal2, Kopli Bujang3, Cynthia Magaly Antonio-

Cisneros4, Jesús Carrillo-Ahumada4, Ibrahim Yakub5, María de Jesús García-Gómez1, Óscar

Núñez-Gaona1

1Centro de Investigaciones científicas, Universidad del Papaloapan, Circuito Central 200, Col. Parque

Industrial, 68301 Tuxtepec, Oaxaca, México.

2Área de Química y Bioquímica. Universidad Veracruzana, Calz Juan Pablo II, Costa Verde, 94294 Boca del

Río, Ver.

3Faculty of Agriculture and Applied Sciences. iCATS University College, Jalan Stampin Timur, 93350

Kuching, Sarawak, Malaysia.

4Ingeniería de Alimentos. Universidad del Papaloapan, Circuito Central 200, Col. Parque Industrial, 68301

Tuxtepec, Oaxaca, México.

5Department of Chemical Engineering and Energy Sustainability, Faculty of Engineering, Universiti Malaysia

Sarawak

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Resumen

La producción de bioetanol está influenciada por aspectos económicos, sociales, políticos y

tecnológicos. La tecnología ha contribuido a mejorar y simplificar el proceso de producción. Por otro

lado, la pandemia mundial del SARS-CoV-2, más conocido como Covid 19, ha afectado al mercado

ya que su precio ha aumentado sustancialmente. Los costos de materia prima y transporte también

han impactado el mercado internacional. Por lo tanto, se dedican más esfuerzos a encontrar materias

primas alternativas para producir bioetanol. Los residuos agrícolas o los almidones que no son

totalmente utilizados para el consumo humano tienen potencial para producir bioetanol, pero,

paradójicamente, no pueden comercializarse. Este reporte se enfoca sobre materias primas

potenciales para producir bioetanol y cómo decae su posible explotación comercial cuando adquieren

un coste por su transformación a productos de mayor valor agregado. Los aumentos de precios

desalientan la inversión en la diversificación de estas materias primas.

Palabras clave: bioetanol, celulosa, maíz, fermentación, lignocelulosa, almidón.

1. Introduction

The ethanol industry is a robust industry that has been developed over many decades.

Samuel Morey developed in 1825 a prototype of an internal combustion engine that ran on ethanol

and turpentine (Morey, 1926). The growth of the ethanol industry was rapid, and its boom increased

suddenly in 2006 when the president of the United States of America (USA), George W. Bush,

delivered his State of the Union Address, in which he said very clearly, “We must also change how

we power our automobiles. We will increase our research on better batteries for hybrid and electric

cars and on pollution-free cars that run on hydrogen. We’ll also fund additional research in cutting-

edge methods of producing ethanol, not just from corn but from wood chips, stalks, or switchgrass.

Our goal is to make this new kind of ethanol practical and competitive within six years” (Bush, 2006).

This statement was based on the issue that the USA depends too much on foreign oil, specifically

countries in conflict, which is affecting its national energy security. It cannot necessarily be

interpreted that fossil fuels would end and could be partially replaced by ethanol.

This led to the emergence of certain economic aspects; for example, the price of corn increased as a

result of the political mandate regarding the encouragement of the use of ethanol as fuel (Griffin &

Ariz, 2007). At the same time, many scientific reports begin with the argument that “The growth of

the world population is causing major problems, some of them related to the depletion of energy

sources” (Bhatia et al. 2012; Soltanian et al. 2020; Robak & Balcerek 2020). It is also reported that “fossil

fuels derived from petroleum are raw materials that are being depleted throughout the world due to

their overexploitation, causing an increase in their costs and byproducts” (Kasibhatta, 2020). This

phenomenon has promoted the development of sustainable, cost-effective, and environmentally

friendly energy sources such as biofuels (bioethanol, biodiesel, and biogas). In the case of the USA,

the federal government provides a series of subsidies to increase the consumption of biofuels

specially derived from corn ethanol (DOE, 2023). The subsidies include tax breaks, donations, loans,

and loan guarantees. The government also imposed a mandate to blend biofuels with gasoline and

diesel fuel. Supporters of biofuels argued that these policies lower gas prices, strengthen the

economy, and benefit the environment, but none of those statements proved to be true (Loris, 2017).

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It is important to clarify that this manuscript does not aim to provide an overview of the current state

of the ethanol industry in terms of process economics and raw material usage. Numerous papers

have already covered these aspects in detail, making it unnecessary to delve into them here (Mizik,

2021; Danelon et al., 2023; Gutierrez et al., 2023; Nimbalkar et al., 2023; Onu Olughu et al., 2023; Sica et

al., 2023). Instead, the following section focuses on illustrating cases where the cost of a raw material

transitions from being affordable to expensive when pursued for industrial applications, such as

ethanol production. This shift occurs due to various factors, including not only the availability of raw

materials but also the opportunities that arise for their commercial exploitation.

Therefore, this report highlights the untapped potential of abundant materials for ethanol

production, despite facing economic challenges. It begins by examining starch, which is categorized

as a first-generation (1G) raw material. Section 2.1 specifically discusses a unique case that occurred

in Malaysia in 2006.

2. Availability of raw materials for ethanol production

It is evident that each country must adjust its necessities to its geographical situation to have the

agricultural products that are most favorable for producing ethanol. Thus, for example, it is well

known that the USA uses mainly corn; Brazil uses sugar cane; European countries generally use

sugar beets; and some Asian countries, for example, Thailand, use potatoes, while Malaysia intends

to use sago starch (Chua et al., 2021). Many governments have a direct influence on the actions

required to motivate technology development for the promotion of specific crops. For example, in

the USA, the Biofuel Systems Division of the Department of Energy (DOE) sponsors and supports

the Biomass Ethanol Program. In 2019, the DOE announced more than $ 79 million in funding for

bioenergy research and development, including biofuels and bioproducts. With this type of subsidy,

in addition to financing from the private sector, the cost of biomass-derived ethanol is expected to

drop considerably.

In Mexico, there is the Law for the Promotion and Development of Bioenergy. This law promoted

the creation of the Bioenergy Commission, which is integrated by different sectors such as the

Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock, Rural Development, Fisheries, and Food (SAGARPA), the

Ministry of Energy (SENER), the Secretariat of the Environment and Natural Resources

(SEMARNAT), the Ministry of Economy (SE), and the Ministry of Finance and Public Credit (SHCP).

These institutions have a broad power to establish the national strategy for the promotion and

development of biofuels, a task that requires listening to the opinion of the Inter-ministerial

Commission for Sustainable Rural Development in relation to the production and marketing of

supplies (Becerra-Pérez, 2009).

2.1. Production of starch-based ethanol

This section aims to explain how the availability of raw materials and their costs impact a

production process, or at least an intention to produce value-added products. It is a case that explains

the use, handling, and conversion of sago starch to ethanol. Malaysia is a country with a starch

production of approximately 54,000 tons per year from a palm tree called "Sago" (Fig. 1).

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Source: Property of the authors

Figure 1. Sago palm trees

Figura 1. Palmeras sago

"In this figure, you can see the palm tree trunks. These trunks are cut to a length of 4 feet, regardless

of their diameter. This practice is necessary because the transportation vehicles cannot access the

dense jungle, so the trunks are instead transported by floating them down the river to the processing

mills. As indicated in Table 1, it takes approximately 6.86 trunks to make up one ton, with each trunk

incurring a cost of USD $ 18. Comprehensive plant studies have been reported covering all aspects

of agricultural science (Flach, 1997; SSPS, 2015; Ehara et al., 2018). Also stimulated by the 2006 ethanol

boom, the University Malaysia Sarawak (UNIMAS) and the Japanese company New Century

Fermentation Research Co. Ltd. (Necfer) signed a technology transfer agreement. Necfer would

generate the technology, UNIMAS would act as a technical advisor, and the project was awarded to

the company AARGYP Scientific Sdn. Bhd. (AGS) (Engormix, 2008). The Malaysian Ministry of

Science, Technology, and Innovation (MOSTI) was the provider of research funding. The contract

stipulated that the Malaysian government would be the owner of the technology for industrial

exploitation, and Necfer would collect royalties for being the intellectual owner of the technology.

The economic analysis without including operating expenses that predicted success for the

installation of a pilot plant with a capacity of 2000 L/day is presented in Table 1. The pilot plant

consisted mainly of three processes identified as sago starch hydrolysis, fermentation, and ethanol

purification. Sago starch is hydrolyzed using an α-amylase enzyme to liquefy it to produce dextrin.

The process also showed advantages because the electricity and the steam could be generated by the

concept of cogeneration (Cog.), as shown in Table 1. Subsequently, the α-gluco-amylase enzyme is

used for the saccharification process to produce glucose of high concentration, ready to be used in

the fermentation process. Necfer signed the technology transfer agreement for ethanol production

in continuous culture, which claimed to be the most efficient process in the world with an effective

cost of $ 148.0 per ton of ethanol produced. The technology was promising, as it was a fast and

compact process. The fermentation tanks were small in capacity compared to tanks that should be

used in a batch process. As it is known, one way to improve the processes is to seek better

technologies and control of operating parameters.

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Table 1. Estimated cost of ethanol production using Sago palms

Tabla 1. Costo estimado de la producción de etanol a partir de la palma sagú

Data from Necfer Corporation LTD and Herdsen Sago Chemicals, Pusa, Sarawak.

This section shows how better control of operating parameters results in a product with better

quality and higher substrate conversion efficiency. However, this improvement did not affect the

production cost significantly. It does not matter how much the technology is improved; the profit

cannot compensate the increase in the raw material price. Fig. 2A shows the kinetics of ethanol

fermentation in the original process before improving the technology.

Source: Property of the authors

Figure 2. Kinetics of CO2 produced during the ethanol fermentation. A). Original technology for monitoring the

flow of CO2. B) Improved technology for controlling and measuring the flow of CO2.

Product

Unit

Amount per ton

Unit Price (USD)

USD / ton

Sago palm

Trunk

6.89

18.00

124.04

α -Amylase

0.86

11.00

9.80

Glucoamylase

0.86

11.00

9.80

PGK (106 U/g)

6.20

0.03

0.18

Defoamer

1.00

1.0

Electricity

KWH

Cog.

Steam

Ton

3.00

Cog.

Water

15.0

0.20

3.0

Waste treatment

15.0

Irrigation

Estimated cost

148.0

0.1

0.2

0.3

0.4

0.5

0.6

1500 1700 1900 2100 2300 2500 2700 2900 3100 3300 3500 3700 3900

CO2Flux (L/min)

Time (min)

0.1

0.2

0.3

0.4

0.5

0.6

0200 400 600 800 1000 1200 1400

CO2Flux (L/min)

Time (min)

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Figura 2. Cinética del CO2 producido durante la fermentación del etanol. A). Tecnología original para controlar

el flujo de CO2. B) Tecnología mejorada para controlar y medir el flujo de CO2.

The CO2 that is released during glucose metabolism is measured by a mass flow meter (Digital Mass

Flow Controller DF-200C series, Kyoto, Japan) and real time graphing. As can be observed the blue

curve reflects an undesirable variation in the CO2 flux. Another observation is that downward lines

happen because substrate feed is cut off. As fermentation is very fast, before the CO2 drop reaches

zero, the substrate flow is restored. When feeding substrate again, the metabolism is re-established,

but there is a greater effort of the microorganisms to get a steady state which is why it is observed

that the CO2 line is curved with high fluctuations, which causes the yeast to decrease its productivity.

The problem was to solve the metabolic phenomenon by finding the conditions for the variation of

CO2 to be at the minimum level. Fig. 2B shows the CO2 flow after improving the technology. The

ethanol production was 35 g/L.h at an average concentration of 8 %. The process is continuous and

is one of the fastest compared to those reported in the literature, taking the precaution of saying that

it is a private property of the company and not publishable. The microorganism used was

Saccharomyces cerevisiae CSI-1 (JCM 15097). All points favored the transfer of technology.

A press conference was held where the first sago-based ethanol production plant was announced

(Fig. 3), in addition to being announced in other media (Engormix, 2008). At the same time, the

company SP Chemicals Holdings Ltd. from Singapore invested capital to modify the starch

production process from a wet to a dry process. The technology was successful because it is obvious

that reducing the use of water in a process brings many benefits, such as avoiding costly wastewater

treatment. It happened that when trying to do tests on a pilot scale, a purchase and sale agreement

for sago palms was not reached between the company and the producers, which led to failure and

total losses. Here, the economic factor plays a very important role when it comes to moving raw

materials from one country to another. Malaysia produces sago starch and sells it to countries such

as Japan and Singapore. The situation is that Malaysia has the control of the sago starch-based

production plants. As a result of releasing news about the industrialization of sago starch, the market

was quickly affected, and when the pilot plant was under construction, the market price of starch

rose from $ 200 to $ 500 per ton in 2010 and reached $ 700 without transportation charges in 2018,

which was 35 % and 20 % more expensive than cassava and corn starches, respectively (Jong, 2018).

Calculations with the adjusted price, in addition to inputs, indicated that it was no longer affordable

to produce ethanol using sago starch as a raw material. The price of producing ethanol with sago

starch increased to $ 823 when the cost of ethanol in the international market was only $ 500.

Investors withdrew, and the project failed completely.

The pilot plant in Malaysia was completed and could only be tested once because there was no

interest from companies using glucose and ethanol. A little more research could be done to turn the

plant into the one that produces lactic acid for the food, chemical and pharmaceutical industries. In

this case, the cost of lactic acid is higher than that of ethanol used for fuel because the purity

requirements are more demanding. Market pressure had a huge influence on the commercialization

of sago when it was learned that sago would eventually acquire additional value as a diversified

product. In the end, Malaysia is just an exporter of sago starch, which is a disadvantage for the

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country because it could turn sago starch into higher value-added products such as maltodextrins,

glucose, flour products, and fermentation products.

Figure 3. Press conference announcing the premiere bioethanol production from sago starch.

Figura 3. Rueda de prensa para anunciar el estreno de la producción de bioetanol a partir de almidón de sagú.

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2.2. Availability of sugarcane to produce ethanol

There is no doubt that the most widely available and abundant raw material in Mexico is

sugarcane (CONADESUCA, 2021). Sugarcane is used to produce sucrose as a multipurpose

sweetener. The process generates molasses as a by-product, which still contains a residual amount

of fermentable sugars. The cost of sugar cane per ton was USD $ 40.2 in 2019 and USD $ 45.6 in 2020

(CONADESUCA, 2020), which was quite satisfactory for farmers. Few mills produce ethanol directly

from sugarcane juice since they have their own distillery; however, they can use either juice or

molasses. Other companies are independent and produce ethanol only from molasses. Molasses

production during the 2015-2016 harvest was 1,975,715 tons at a cost of USD $ 174.3 per ton

(CONADESUCA, 2016). During the authors’ visit to the distillery of La Gloria sugar mill in the state

of Veracruz, it was reported that when the cost of molasses increases to close to $ 200, the plant stops

producing ethanol and molasses is sold as raw material for animal feed.

On the other hand, the Ministry of Economy reported that for the October 2019 to September 2020

cycle, the USA imported up to 1.65 million metric tons of Mexican sugar, the highest quantity since

2014 (SECOM, 2020). Carlos Blackaller Ayala, President of the National Sugarcane Farmers Union,

considered that despite the drought in 2021, there was the availability of molasses (a by-product of

sugar extraction), which is the raw material to make ethanol (Gómez-Mena, 2020). However, the

demand has increased dramatically given that ethanol has been diverted to be used as an additive

in the preparation of sanitary gels in stopping the spread of the viral infection by Covid-19

(PMFarma, 2020).

Therefore, ethanol use may be diverted from biofuel production towards different priorities. Ethanol

could find a free path when there is a surplus in sugarcane production (Becerra-Pérez, 2009).

Although there is bioethanol fuel on the market, it has not spread to the entire Mexican territory. Fig.

4 shows a map of the distribution of ethanol fuel (also known as oxyfuel) stations produced by the

company Grupo Báltico.

In Fig. 4, it can be observed that the presence of oxyfuel stations corresponds to the areas where

mainly sugar cane is grown and near consumer markets close to transportation routes; although it is

recommended that oxyfuel only be used in vehicles equipped with oxyfuel combustion technology.

The behavior of the market for ethanol is volatile and sensitive to factors such as variations in the

cost of oil, the effects of climate and agriculture issues on the availability of raw materials, and most

recently, the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic was very significative regarding the economics of the

process. The ethanol industry is under recovery path.

A situation arises where gasoline prices fell or at least remained stable, but on the contrary, ethanol

stopped being competitive because it rose to never-before-seen prices of up to 51.0 pesos MX per

liter or even more due to high demand (Martínez-Riojas, 2020). During the pandemic, it was difficult

to use ethanol as a biofuel because companies that produce it obtained a much greater economic

benefit by diverting production to the pharmaceutical industry.

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Figure 4. Oxyfuel stations in Mexico (Fuente google maps)

Figura 4. Estaciones de oxicombustión en México (Fuente google maps)

It is very certain that the global demand for ethanol for use in the pharmaceutical industry does not

exceed the demand for consumption as biofuel, which is true, but that effect is negligible if the new

price of ethanol is considered. In the words of the markets, it does not matter who demands more

but rather who pays the best. Given the current situation in Mexico with raw materials, the most

viable option to produce biofuels is sugar cane. Now that the pandemic situation has been mitigated

the price of ethanol drops again to less than USD $ 1 per liter to be considered once again as a fuel

additive to gasoline. However, Senator Raúl Bolaños Cacho emphasized in his report to the Senate

of the Republic regarding his participation in the 2022 National Ethanol Conference held in New

Orleans, USA, that in Mexico, there are reservations about the use of ethanol as a fuel. The senator

points out that this is because there is not widespread confidence in ethanol as a biofuel. Firstly,

because the ethanol-gasoline blend is not suitable for all vehicles, and secondly, because there is no

technical or scientific evidence to ensure the reliability of its use for public health or the environment

(Bolaños-Camacho, 2022).

2.3. Ethanol production from corn

In the case of corn and Mexico, this discussion ends very soon because in Mexico there is very

little opportunity to produce ethanol from corn (ZafraNet, 2011). There are two main reasons: white

corn is designated for human consumption and yellow corn is designated for animal feed. In another

aspect, corn harvest per hectare is very low, being around 3-4 tons; this last factor takes away

economic competitiveness. More worrisome is that Mexico, being the sixth largest producer of corn

in the world, is the first importer of corn in the world (GCMA, 2020). This is simply a consequence

of the fact that Mexico is a country with a corn culture. Then, economically it is not feasible to

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produce ethanol from corn in Mexico. Contrary to this, most of the world’s corn-based ethanol

production is performed in the United States.

There is a scientific controversy in the study of input and output energy balance in ethanol

production. For many years, the group of scientists led by David Pimentel has argued that the

production of biofuels, especially ethanol, is not feasible from an energy and economic point of view

(Pimentel, 2003, 2009). However, an opposing view generated in 2002 and updated in 2004 says

verbatim, “The debate is over: ethanol is a net energy winner” (Wang & Santini, 2002). This report

was written in cooperation with the United States Department of Agriculture, which confirmed that

the production of fuel-grade ethanol produces significantly more energy than that used in its

production, with the clarification that the other by-products must be considered (Durante & Sneller,

2009), but this assertion refers exclusively to ethanol production using corn. Supporting this

argument is that ethanol has been shown to reduce greenhouse gas emissions when compared with

conventional gasoline (Scully et al., 2021). A concentration of 10 % corn-derived ethanol blends

provided a 20 % CO2 reduction, while biomass-derived ethanol could result in a nearly 100 % CO2

reduction.

Ethanol is the cheapest way to increase octane in gasoline (Gaspar, 2019) because it contains oxygen,

which contributes to the combustion process; this causes gasoline to burn more completely

(Ciolkosz, 2014). Another important argument for why the ethanol industry has been considered

feasible is made by considering the by-products obtained from the processing of corn (DOA, 2020).

These by-products are considered to balance the energy balance, so they help to conclude that

ethanol production is a thermodynamically favorable process. The most important of these by-

products are: condensed distillers soluble, corn distillers oil, dried distillers grains, distillers dried

grains with solubles, distillers wet grains, 65 % or more moisture. modified distillers wet grains, 40

to 64 % moisture.

In the US, corn farmers have incentives and have improved their cultivation techniques. Distillers

also have incentives for their installed production capacity. Corn production in the US is between 10

and 12 tons per hectare (Becerra-Pérez, 2009), which is much higher than in most corn-producing

countries. In the case of Mexico, for several years the country has ceased to be self-sufficient in corn

production, and there is a need to import from the United States and Brazil (Moreno-Sáenz et al.,

2016). Table 2 shows the states with the most corn production, although it is not enough to satisfy

national demand, which is why it is dismissed as a raw material to produce ethanol (SIAP, 2020).

Table 2. Corn grain production spring-summer cycle 2018 vs 2019*P/ 2020 (thousands of tons)

Table 2. Producción de maíz en grano ciclo primavera-verano 2018 vs 2019*P/ 2020 (miles de toneladas)

2018

2019

Annual (%)

Variation

(%) Participation

(2019)

National

18,881

17,911

-17.50

100.0

Jalisco

3,584

3,519

-22.21

14.17

Michoacán

1,952

1,907

-19.24

9.42

México

1,926

1,826

8.48

9.21

Guanajuato

1,694

1,703

20.65

8.55

Chihuahua

1,477

1,415

-20.87

8.16

Rest

8,248

7,541

-22.85

50.49

Source: (SIAP, 2020)(*Preliminary data of the 2020 report).

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2.4. Production of ethanol from lignocellulosic materials

For decades, it has been argued that lignocellulosic biomass are the most abundant materials on the

planet. While this is true, the problem that has been studied most is obtaining the energy that is

stored in them. Here we report on the case of sugarcane bagasse and sweet sorghum in a context to

understand how this matter can have another purpose, not necessarily that of producing ethanol.

Nowadays, many mills are changing their energy consumption systems and are opting for the

concept called cogeneration, although this concept is not new because several sugar mills have used

bagasse as fuel for boilers to generate energy (Bhutani et al., 2020; Kamate & Gangavati, 2009). This

situation means that the availability of bagasse decreases its priority to be converted to ethanol.

Research done to produce ethanol from bagasse has a detractor in its original conception, that is,

obtaining energy from agricultural residues. For example, the Adolfo López-Mateos Sugar Mill in

the city of Tuxtepec, Oaxaca, received an investment of 60 million dollars in 2016 to implement

cogeneration technology (Flores, 2016). The plant was inaugurated on February 27th., 2018. This

means that currently, this mill produces its own energy by burning bagasse and therefore saves a

great deal on the purchase of fuel that they have been using for decades. To carry out the

cogeneration process, bagasse is burned in a 250 Ton/h steam boiler and generates around 40

megawatts of energy, the same as the Tres Valles Sugar Mill in the Veracruz state, which also

generates 40 megawatts of energy. It is evident that important changes are taking place in the way

of looking at lignocellulosic residues. The idea of producing bioethanol is moving away from these

companies, or at least the availability of the supposed raw material at zero cost or minimum cost has

diminished.

In the case of sweet sorghum, information and experience in Mexico are scarce. The main obstacles

to the development of 2G biofuels are the high production costs in the pretreatment stage, the high

cost of the enzymes used to hydrolyze the lignocellulosic material, and the difficulty of converting

5-carbon sugars into ethanol. To achieve this purpose, it is necessary to apply a lot of energy to try

to break the structure of these materials. Despite the complications of producing 2G ethanol, this

technology is being studied by a group of researchers, for instance, the group from the Technological

Institute of Veracruz. This group has succeeded in scaling up an ethanol production process using

sweet sorghum bagasse. The process has been successful in its demonstration stage and is awaiting

investors who might bet on the development of this technology. The challenge is that sweet sorghum

is not cultivated at the same rate as sugarcane. Therefore, great efforts are necessary to encourage

the farmers to change their agricultural practices to sweet sorghum.

Conclusion and perspectives

The ethanol industry is a robust and well-established market. The feasibility of ethanol production

relies heavily on the cost and availability of raw materials. Among the available options, sugarcane

stands out as the most feasible material due to its high production volume and existing

infrastructure. While sweet sorghum juice shows promise, its cultivation needs to be actively

encouraged. Moreover, lignocellulosic materials such as corn stubble, sugarcane bagasse, and sweet

sorghum bagasse have the potential to serve as raw materials for producing fermentable sugars. To

ensure the availability of these biomass sources, effective management systems must be

implemented in collaboration with farmers. While cane molasses can still be considered as a viable

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raw material source, cane juice is preferred for ethanol production as it facilitates easier treatment of

effluents. Paradoxically, the abundance of raw materials becomes a hurdle when industrial

exploitation becomes feasible, resulting in increased raw material prices. Therefore, making the

ethanol production process economically viable requires not only the implementation of advanced

technologies to enhance efficiency and productivity but also an increase in the yield of raw materials

per hectare of land cultivation.

Conflict of interest

The authors confirm that they do not have any type of economic advantage or private relationship

that could interfere or prevent the publication of this work.

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