Workshop Ethanol in the Americas

University of Florida, Gainesville, November 9th, 2017

 

The first session of the Workshop Ethanol in the Americas (programme in the annex) started with the participants introduction and Prof Dorota Hamman, the Agricultural & Biological Engineering Dept Chairman, the workshop host, presentation. Prof Lee Lynd, from Dartmouth College, made the first presentation on the workshop topic, explaining the Global Sustainable Bioenergy – GSB goals. Prof. Luís Cortez from UNICAMP,  then explained the sequence of presentations to follow. They were about the LACAf Project, basically covering Latin America potential production of sugarcane bioenergy. In the LACAf Project two countries were studied in more detail: Colombia and Guatemala. In the case of Colombia on site studies were made to produce agronomic maps to determine sugarcane production potential in the new expansion areas.

Prof Luiz Horta, from UNICAMP, presented the topic “why bioenergy should be produced in Latin America?”. Then Dr Marcelo Moreira from Agroicone presented “how much sugarcane bioenergy could be produced?” which included the maps of new areas in Colombia, basically the Llanos Orientales region. Then, Dr Tássia Junqueira, from CTBE, presented the results obtained at the Virtual Biorefinery simulations and Prof Luis Cortez, from UNICAMP, covered the question “how sugarcane bioenergy could be produced?”. The morning session ended with a good discussion.

In the afternoon, the first presentation was from Dr José Luiz Olivério from DEDINI, a major equipment manufacturer from Brazil, presenting the industry´s contribution to improve bioenergy sustainability. Prof K T Shanmugam from University of Florida presented results about Development of Catalysts for the Production of Bioproducts. Prof Zhaohui Tong from University of Florida presented Aspects of Production of Biofuels for Aviation using sugarcane bagasse and Dr. Keith Kline from ORNL presented Aspects of Sustainability of Bioenergy. Dr. John Sheenan did not attend the workshop.

In the sequence we had Prof José Rincón´s presentation about Bioenergy Plan for Latin America. Prof Rincón was also representing IANAS in our workshop. Then we had Prof Pratap Pullamanapalli from University of Florida presented a very interesting topic: waste water treatment from 2G etanol. The last presentation was delivered by Dr Sergio Trindade and covered diferente aspects of bioenergy trade.

The workshop 2nd day had to be cancelled due to the fact that the Veterans Day holliday was exceptionally celebrated on Nov 10th this year. The University of Florida had its doors closed and we had an informal morning meeting in our hotel with the participation of several speakers.

The main conclusions of our workshop were:

- Yes, Latin America and Carribean countries can increase its sugarcane bioenergy production increasing its energy security and promoting socio-economic development. Colombia was studied in more detail and confirms our initial hypothesis;

- Presently, there is a window of opportunity for biofuels and sugarcane ethanol is a good candidate for that;

- There was general consensus that sustainable bioenergy production can also improve food security. The example of Brazil should be taken in consideration;

- Development of second generation ethanol technology should be pursued in an attempt to increase sustanability of biofuels. The full utilization of feedstock resources is a key aspect of biofuel sustainability;

- Since the great majority of Latin America and Caribbean countries have a mature sugarcane industry, many of them producing fuel ethanol, it would be higly desirable to promote the socalled “Brazilian Model” in most of these countries. There would be an immediate reduction of sugar supply but a correspondent creation of an ethanol market in the continent, promoting regional economies and generating more jobs.

-    Brazil, in the other hand, should look for a diferent model to follow. Maybe a good option is to intensify its beef production using the sugarcane bagasse and other available inputs, such as yeasts and molasses.

- At the end of the meeting, there was discussion of the possibility of creating some kind of a fuel ethanol initiative, associated with the GSB, led by Brazil and the US with the participation of all American countries. The objective would be to promote socio-economic development, improve energy and food securities and also contribute to reducing GHG emissions.

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