Published Paper Details:

Using bio-ethanol blended gasoline fuel for automobiles can significantly reduce petroleum use and exhaust greenhouse gas emission. Bio-ethanol can be produced from different kinds of raw materials. These raw materials are classified into three categories of agricultural raw materials: simple sugars, starch and lignocellulose. Bio-ethanol from sugar cane, produced under the proper conditions, is essentially a clean fuel and has several clear advantages over petroleum-derived gasoline in reducing greenhouse gas emissions and improving air quality in metropolitan areas. Conversion technologies for producing bio-ethanol from cellulosic biomass resources such as forest materials, agricultural residues and urban wastes are under development and have not yet been demonstrated commercially.The implementation of the Brazilian sugarcane ethanol program always included a continuous assessment of its sustainability. The possibilities for increasing production in the next years must consider the exciting promises of new technologies (that may lead to 50% more commercial energy/ha, from sugarcane) as well as environmental restrictions. The greenhouse gases emissions associated with the expansion are analyzed in the next sections.