Greenhouse gas savings potential of sugar cane bio-energy systems
Journal article
Authors/Editors
Strategic Research Themes
No matching items found.
Publication Details
Author list: Nguyen T.L.T., Gheewala S.H., Sagisaka M.
Publisher: Elsevier
Publication year: 2010
Journal: Journal of Cleaner Production (0959-6526)
Volume number: 18
Issue number: 5
Start page: 412
End page: 418
Number of pages: 7
ISSN: 0959-6526
Languages: English-Great Britain (EN-GB)
View in Web of Science | View on publisher site | View citing articles in Web of Science
Abstract
One of the major justifications for bio-energy systems is their low greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions compared to fossil-energy ones. Transforming a sugar mill into a bio-energy plant would contribute to climate change mitigation via the extraction of renewable electricity and ethanol. This study takes the case of the sugar industry in Thailand and identifies scenario options that offer GHG reduction benefits. Improving efficiency in electricity generation from sugar cane residues e.g. excess bagasse and cane trash is such a beneficial option. Furthermore, extracting ethanol in a so-called bio-refinery, where the co-product stillage is utilized for energy, tends to magnify the potential benefit. The largest savings potential achieved with extracting ethanol from surplus sugar versus current practice in the sugar industry in Thailand amounts to 14 million tonnes CO2e a year. This cannot be realized in practice until the carbon debt from land conversion is repaid, which takes 4.5-7 years, assuming that the land converted is grassland. ฉ 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Keywords
Bio-energy, Renewable electricity tend
Contact Information