Preface

**Section 4 Recent Approaches for Increasing Fermentation Efficiency of**

Chapter 6 **Progress in Second Generation Ethanol Production with**

Chapter 7 **Potential of Thermotolerant Ethanologenic Yeasts Isolated from ASEAN Countries and Their Application in High-**

Chapter 8 **Enhanced Ethanol Production of Saccharomyces cerevisiae**

Chapter 9 **High Hydrostatic Pressure Process to Improve Ethanol**

Chapter 10 **Metabolic Engineering of the Model Photoautotrophic**

**Optimization Strategies and Challenges 199**

**Induced by Cold Plasma at Atmospheric Air Pressure 157**

Ane Catarine Tosi-Costa, Cárita Turbay-Vasconcelos, Luiza Adami, Luiza Favarato, Maria Bolivar-Telleria, Tarcio Carneiro, Alexandre Santos, Alberto R. Fernandes and Patricia M.B. Fernandes

**Cyanobacterium Synechocystis for Ethanol Production:**

J. Tony Pembroke, Patricia Armshaw and Michael P. Ryan

Tomoyuki Kosaka, Noppon Lertwattanasakul, Nadchanok Rodrussamee, Mochamad Nurcholis, Ngo Thi Phuong Dung, Chansom Keo-Oudone, Masayuki Murata, Peter Götz, Constantinos Theodoropoulos, Suprayogi, Jaya Mahar Maligan, Savitree Limtong

Sean Michael Scully and Johann Orlygsson

**Lignocellulosic Ethanol 99**

**VI** Contents

**Thermophilic Bacteria 101**

**Temperature Fermentation 121**

**Section 5 Recent Advances in Ethanol Fermentation 155**

and Mamoru Yamada

Xiao-Yu Dong

**Production 177**

The world of bioethanol production reached 100 billion liters in 2017, with the United States (from corn) and Brazil (from sugarcane) being the main producers. Both countries produced 85% of total ethanol, and Brazil contributed with approximately 30% of world production. Brazil is the greatest sugarcane producer and the resulting ethanol represents 50% of total fuel used for transportation by light vehicles. Sugarcane is also the main crop for ethanol production in developing countries.

Sugarcane feedstock contributes to the highest energy balance of the industrial first-genera‐ tion bioethanol process and additional gains could be achieved when lignocellulosic sub‐ strate from this crop is used for second-generation ethanol production.

This book offers a broad understanding of bioethanol production from sugarcane, although a few other substrates, except corn, will also be mentioned. The 10 chapters are grouped in five sections. The Fuel Ethanol Production from Sugarcane in Brazil section consists of two chapters dealing with the first-generation ethanol Brazilian industrial process. In these chap‐ ters the reader is guided on the implantation of the first world national effort to change the energy matrix aimed at dependency on fossil fuel. Many important lessons were learned regarding politics and economic and technological difficulties related to this successful im‐ plantation. Undoubtedly, this experience would be useful for other countries that wish to use biomass for energy conversion. In this section the industrial process for ethanol produc‐ tion is also depicted in detail related to the physiological and technological traits of fermen‐ tation, stressing conditions imposed on fermenting yeast, and the limiting factor of ethanol productivity. Special attention is paid to bacterial contaminants, the major challenge of in‐ dustrial ethanol production.

The Strategies for Sugarcane Bagasse Pretreatment section deals with emerging physicochem‐ ical methods for biomass pretreatment, and the non-conventional biomass source for lignocel‐ lulosic ethanol production addresses the potential of weed biomass as alternative feedstock.

In the Recent Approaches for Increasing Fermentation Efficiency of Lignocellulosic Ethanol section, potential and research progress using thermophile bacteria and yeasts is presented, taking advantage of microorganisms involved in consolidating or simultaneous hydrolysis and fermentation processes. Finally, the Recent Advances in Ethanol Fermentation section presents the use of cold plasma and hydrostatic pressure to increase ethanol production effi‐ ciency. Also in this section the use of metabolic-engineered autotrophic cyanobacteria to produce ethanol from carbon dioxide is mentioned.

The first-generation industrial process is based on the cell recycling procedure (using both fed-batch and continuous versions), attaining high ethanol titers and productivities. As far as second-generation ethanol is concerned, three industrial Brazilian initiatives are being used for cellulosic ethanol production, and technical, mechanical, and microbiological prob‐ lems are been tackled, allowing a valuable opportunity to learn about this forthcoming new industrial bioprocess.

This book offers a broad understanding of bioethanol production from sugarcane. It covers a multitude of issues such as feedstock suitability for ethanol production, industrial fermenta‐ tion processes, limiting factors (temperature, acidity, yeast inhibitors, osmotic stress, yeast tolerance and efficiency, yeast selection, and bacterial contamination). Other aspects related to second-generation ethanol production are also described, such as pretreatment, enzymat‐ ic cellulose hydrolysis, selection of microorganisms, and pentose fermentation from sugar‐ cane bagasse and other biomasses.

> **Thalita Peixoto Basso and Luiz Carlos Basso** "Luiz de Queiroz" College of Agriculture University of Sao Paulo, Brazil

**Section 1**

**Fuel Ethanol Production from Sugarcane in**

**Brazil**

**Fuel Ethanol Production from Sugarcane in Brazil**

The first-generation industrial process is based on the cell recycling procedure (using both fed-batch and continuous versions), attaining high ethanol titers and productivities. As far as second-generation ethanol is concerned, three industrial Brazilian initiatives are being used for cellulosic ethanol production, and technical, mechanical, and microbiological prob‐ lems are been tackled, allowing a valuable opportunity to learn about this forthcoming new

This book offers a broad understanding of bioethanol production from sugarcane. It covers a multitude of issues such as feedstock suitability for ethanol production, industrial fermenta‐ tion processes, limiting factors (temperature, acidity, yeast inhibitors, osmotic stress, yeast tolerance and efficiency, yeast selection, and bacterial contamination). Other aspects related to second-generation ethanol production are also described, such as pretreatment, enzymat‐ ic cellulose hydrolysis, selection of microorganisms, and pentose fermentation from sugar‐

> **Thalita Peixoto Basso and Luiz Carlos Basso** "Luiz de Queiroz" College of Agriculture

> > University of Sao Paulo, Brazil

industrial bioprocess.

VIII Preface

cane bagasse and other biomasses.

**Chapter 1**

**Provisional chapter**

**Assessment of Sugarcane-Based Ethanol Production**

This chapter aims to explain how bio-ethanol has been drawn to become a successful alternative to partially replace petroleum as a source of liquid fuels in Brazil. A brief historical analysis about the production of bio-ethanol from sugarcane is presented. The motivation to start the production of the ethanol as biofuel in the 1970s and how the governmental policies have contributed to the ups and downs, successes, and failures of the sugarcane industry is shown. Then, the efficiency of the sector is addressed; firstly, the increasing efficiency of the agricultural sector is discussed, showing how the productivity per hectare has increased in the last decades and which improvements are further expected in a near future. Finally, the industrial process is discussed: the current efficiency in processing sugarcane to produce ethanol and the emerging technologies, not only to process sugarcane juice, but also to harness bagasse, vinasse, and sugarcane straw.

**Keywords:** Brazilian ethanol fuel, *Proálcool*, ethanol production, sugarcane ethanol,

The beginning of sugarcane cultivation in Brazil is related to the Portuguese occupation during the colonial period. Sugarcane crop met ideal soil and climate conditions, and it was used by the Portuguese to establish their settlement in Brazil. With the production of sugar, alcoholic beverages were produced by alcoholic fermentation of sucrose. The first studies on ethanol, as a fuel for internal combustion vehicles, started in the 1920s [1]. The characteristics of ethanol (liquid

**Assessment of Sugarcane-Based Ethanol Production**

© 2016 The Author(s). Licensee InTech. This chapter is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

© 2018 The Author(s). Licensee IntechOpen. This chapter is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use,

distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

DOI: 10.5772/intechopen.78301

Rubens Eliseu Nicula de Castro,

Rubens Eliseu Nicula de Castro,

http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.78301

Cláudio Augusto Oller do Nascimento and

Cláudio Augusto Oller do Nascimento

Additional information is available at the end of the chapter

Additional information is available at the end of the chapter

Rita Maria de Brito Alves,

Rita Maria de Brito Alves,

Reinaldo Giudici

and Reinaldo Giudici

**Abstract**

bio-ethanol

**1. Introduction**

#### **Assessment of Sugarcane-Based Ethanol Production Assessment of Sugarcane-Based Ethanol Production**

DOI: 10.5772/intechopen.78301

Rubens Eliseu Nicula de Castro, Rita Maria de Brito Alves, Cláudio Augusto Oller do Nascimento and Reinaldo Giudici Rubens Eliseu Nicula de Castro, Rita Maria de Brito Alves, Cláudio Augusto Oller do Nascimento and Reinaldo Giudici

Additional information is available at the end of the chapter Additional information is available at the end of the chapter

http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.78301

#### **Abstract**

This chapter aims to explain how bio-ethanol has been drawn to become a successful alternative to partially replace petroleum as a source of liquid fuels in Brazil. A brief historical analysis about the production of bio-ethanol from sugarcane is presented. The motivation to start the production of the ethanol as biofuel in the 1970s and how the governmental policies have contributed to the ups and downs, successes, and failures of the sugarcane industry is shown. Then, the efficiency of the sector is addressed; firstly, the increasing efficiency of the agricultural sector is discussed, showing how the productivity per hectare has increased in the last decades and which improvements are further expected in a near future. Finally, the industrial process is discussed: the current efficiency in processing sugarcane to produce ethanol and the emerging technologies, not only to process sugarcane juice, but also to harness bagasse, vinasse, and sugarcane straw.

**Keywords:** Brazilian ethanol fuel, *Proálcool*, ethanol production, sugarcane ethanol, bio-ethanol

#### **1. Introduction**

The beginning of sugarcane cultivation in Brazil is related to the Portuguese occupation during the colonial period. Sugarcane crop met ideal soil and climate conditions, and it was used by the Portuguese to establish their settlement in Brazil. With the production of sugar, alcoholic beverages were produced by alcoholic fermentation of sucrose. The first studies on ethanol, as a fuel for internal combustion vehicles, started in the 1920s [1]. The characteristics of ethanol (liquid

Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. © 2018 The Author(s). Licensee IntechOpen. This chapter is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

© 2016 The Author(s). Licensee InTech. This chapter is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons

fuel, high-energy density, and relatively safe handling) made it an important substitute for liquid fuel from petroleum in the Brazilian energetic matrix. In fact, the world overwhelming dominance of gasoline, diesel, and jet fuel for transportation clearly shows the preference for liquid fuels due to their high-energy density. Except for the ethanol, most of the liquid fuels in the world are petroleum based. As petroleum is not renewable, in the long term, it must be substituted by other kind of energy. Aside from that, the use of fossil energy results in the releasing of greenhouse gas emission, which contributes for global warming. Hence, society in general is looking for alternatives to avoid global warming and thus replace petroleum. Biomass, like the sugarcane, clearly represents a sustainable and low-cost resource that can be converted into liquid fuels on a large scale to have a meaningful impact on petroleum use.
