EGEE 439
Alternative Fuels from Biomass Sources

6.1 Ethanol Production - General Information

6.1 Ethanol Production - General Information

Back in Lesson 2, I included a chemistry tutorial on some of the basic constituents of fuels. In this lesson, we will be discussing the production of ethanol (CH3-CH2-OH) and butanol (CH3-CH2-CH2-CH2-OH) from starch and sugar. Ethanol, or ethyl alcohol, is a chemical that is volatile, colorless, and flammable. It can be produced from petroleum via the chemical transformation of ethylene, but it can also be produced by fermentation of glucose, using yeast or other microorganisms; current fuel ethanol plants make ethanol via fermentation.

The basic formula for making ethanol from sugar glucose is as follows:

C 6 H 12 O 6 2 C 2 H 5 OH+2CO 2 This equation is not rendering properly due to an incompatible browser. See Technical Requirements in the Orientation for a list of compatible browsers.

chemical structure of glucose
Chemical Structure of Glucose
Credit: Wikiwand

For fermentation, yeast is needed (other enzymes are used but yeast is most common), a sugar such as glucose is the carbon source, and anaerobic conditions (without oxygen) must be present. If you have aerobic (with oxygen) conditions, the sugar will be completely converted into CO2 with little ethanol produced. Other nutrients include water, a nitrogen source, and micronutrients.

Here in the US, the current common method of ethanol fuel production comes from starches, such as corn, wheat, and potatoes. The starch is hydrolyzed into glucose before proceeding with the rest of the process. In Brazil, sucrose, or sugar in sugarcane is the most common feedstock. And in Europe, the most common feed is sugar beets. Cellulose is being used in developing methods, which include wood, grasses, and crop residues. It is considered developing because converting the cellulose into glucose is more challenging than in starches and sugars.

The International Energy Agency (IEA) predicts that ethanol will constitute two-thirds of the global growth in conventional biofuels with biodiesel and hydrotreated vegetable oil accounting for the remaining part (2018-2023). Global ethanol production is estimated to increase by 14% from about 120 bln L in 2017 to approximately 131 bln L by 2027. Brazil will accommodate fifty percent of this increase and will be used to fill in the domestic demand (OECD/FAO (2018), “OECD-FAO Agricultural Outlook”).

Bar chart showing world ethanol production and trade from 2010 to 2027, with production consistently higher than trade.

Development of the world ethanol market.
Click here for a text description of the graph.

Development of the World Ethanol Market 2010-2027. All values are based on visual approximations
Year World Ethanol Trade in Billions of Liters World Ethanol Production in Billions of Liters
2010 6 104
2011 10 103
2012 9 101
2013 8 109
2014 7 115
2015 7 119
2016 9 118
2017 10 120
2018 9 123
2019 9 124
2020 9 125
2021 9 126
2022 9 127
2023 9 128
2024 9 129
2025 9 130
2026 9 130
2027 9 131
Credit: OECD/FAO (2018), “OECD-FAO Agricultural Outlook”, OECD Agriculture statistics (database), http://dx.doi.org/10.1787/agr-outl-data-en

World production of ethanol-based by country is shown below. The US produces the most ethanol worldwide (~57%), primarily from corn. Brazil is the next largest producer with 27%, primarily from sugarcane. Other countries, including Australia, Columbia, India, Peru, Cuba, Ethiopia, Vietnam, and Zimbabwe, are also beginning to produce ethanol from sugarcane.

pie chart of world ethanol production as described in the text
World ethanol production by country, in percent.
Click here for a text description of the image.

World Ethanol Production by Country
Country Percent (%)
US 57%
Brazil 27%
Europe 6%
China 3%
India 2%
Canada 2%
Rest of the World 3%

The figure below shows the growth of sugarcane in the world, in tropical or temperate regions. Sugar beet production in Europe is the other source of sugar for ethanol. It is grown in more northern regions than sugarcane, primarily in Europe and a small amount in the US. The next figure shows the growth of sugar beets in the world.

world map showing sugarcane production concentrated in central & South America, india & some in Africa, and Southern Asia
Sugarcane production around the world. The dark green represents the areas of greatest production.
world map showing sugar beet production concentrated in Europe with some production in rural United States
Sugar beet production around the world. The dark green represents the areas of greatest production.