Title:
Assessing Profitability of Bioenergy Production with Minimal Environmental Impact Biorefineries
Author(s):
Martinez-Victoria, S., Castro, C., Sanchez, A.
Document(s):
Paper
Poster
Abstract:
This paper shows that bioenergy production with biochemical-platform biorefineries designed to minimize the environmental impact and to maximize energy production can be as profitable as those biorefineries designed for maximum profit only. The tequila industry in Mexico is employed as a case study, due to its two-faceted role as a domestic economic driver (profit-driven) and a source of environmental hazards in the tequila-producing regions (minimal environmental biorefinery, MEIB). These scenarios are formulated as optimization problems with specific minimization functions. The optimization problems are solved with metaheuristics optimizing the operation and design of the acid pretreatment stage. The Total Production Cost (TPC) function is employed to compare both scenarios. The study employed a biorefinery that processes solid and liquid residues from tequila production, thus reducing their environmental impact. The biorefinery coproduces bioethanol and carbon dioxide from the agave bagasse. Vinasses are employed to produce electricity. Results show a TPC of 0.55 USD/L of bioethanol for profit-driven, 7% lower than the MEIB-driven scenario TPC (0.59 USD/L of bioethanol).
Keywords:
biorefinery, cost analysis, agroindustrial residues, pretreatment, environmental impact, optimization problem
Topic:
Industry Track
Subtopic:
Advances in Large Scale Gasification
Event:
29th European Biomass Conference and Exhibition
Session:
ICV.11.16
Pages:
1418 - 1422
ISBN:
978-88-89407-21-9
Paper DOI:
10.5071/29thEUBCE2021-ICV.11.16
Price:
FREE
