Energetic shift of sugarcane bagasse using biogas produced from sugarcane vinasse in Brazilian ethanol plants

Highlights: • The energetic shift of sugarcane bagasse through vinasse biogas was calculated. • It is possible to shift all the available bagasse if more straw is consumed. • With increased straw consumption, 56.5–100% of the bagasse can be shifted. • The best scenario was power generation through high-pressure combined cycle. • Bagasse shift allows more ethanol production and less environmental impacts. - Abstract: Worldwide environmental policies demand each time more biofuel consumption and less emission. In this context, this work presents a 2G ethanol study as a mean to increase bioethanol production and availability. Currently, technologies use sugarcane bagasse for lignocellulosic ethanol production, which may unbalance the ethanol and sugar mill energy matrix, since bagasse and straw are the main fuel for power and steam generation. A possible solution is using biogas produced from vinasse biodigestion as a fuel instead of using biomass, enabling to shift a fraction of the sugarcane bagasse to 2G ethanol production and, at the same time, keeping power and steam production constant. This paper assesses that energy shift by analyzing ten different scenarios for power generation, comparing the amount of bagasse shifted, the increase in straw consumption, the increase in ethanol production and the reduction of environmental emissions in each scenario. The results show that, at least from the technical and environmental perspective, a combined cycle operating at a high pressure is the best alternative. It is possible to shift from 56.5% to 100% of the available bagasse using the combined cycle technology, which is also followed by an increase in straw consumption. In addition to that, the ethanol availability increase ranges from 28.5 to 50.4%. Moreover, the organic load disposal to the ground also decreases more than 90% compared to the conventional process due to the introduction of vinasse biodigestion.