Economical and environmental assessment of electric power generation on small scale in Brazil using wet ethanol

Electricity production from renewable sources is an important option aiming the mitigation of greenhouse gases, especially in off-grid communities. Therefore, the aim of this study is to assess economically and environmentally scenarios related to the generation of electricity using wet ethanol produced from sugarcane on small scale. Thus, two scenarios were proposed considering six cases where ethanol fuel is produced in three different concentrations: 92% (E92W8), 90% (E90W10), and 80% (E80W20) by mass of ethanol. In Scenario 1, ethanol is utilized only to generate electricity (electricity consumed in production process and surplus of electricity for grid), while in Scenario 2 ethanol is consumed to provide electricity to the production process and the surplus of ethanol is used to replace gasoline in vehicles. A Life Cycle Assessment demonstrated an impact reduction in all impact categories when ethanol is utilized in electricity generation and/or to replace gasoline. The production and use of E90W10 for generation of electricity consumed in the process and for replacement of gasoline resulted in higher impact reduction with emission reduction of up to 49.5 ton of CO(2)eq per year. However, economic assessment proved that none of the cases presented feasibility, although the use of ethanol to replace gasoline is more attractive than its utilization in electricity generation. Nevertheless, off-grid communities can benefit from the options assessed in this study.

Automated summary

This study assesses the economic and environmental scenarios of using wet ethanol produced from sugarcane for electricity generation. The results show that using ethanol for electricity generation and replacing gasoline can reduce greenhouse gas emissions. However, none of the scenarios are currently feasible due to economic constraints. Nevertheless, off-grid communities can benefit from these options.