Sugarcane and Straw Harvesting for Ethanol Production

Brazil is currently confronted with the perspective of significant increase on ethanol fuel demand. This forecast is based on three main points: i) the success of flexible-fuel vehicles that can run on any proportion of gasoline (E20-E25 blend) and hydrous ethanol (E100), together with the mandatory E25 blend throughout the country which allowed ethanol fuel consumption to achieve more than 50% market share of the gasolinepowered fleet; ii) Brazilian exports of ethanol (the world’s largest exporter) as function of the growing worldwide interest for blending ethanol-gasoline For example, in 2008 Brazil exported 4.85 billion liters, representing 18% of the production, and almost 50% of the global exports; iii) Brazilian option for biodiesel production using ethanol in the transesterification of vegetable oils. A detailed analysis of the Brazilian ethanol production potential carried out by the Interdisciplinary Center for Energy Planning-NIPE, UNICAMP, shows that Brazil can produce 102 billion liters by 2025 to meet 5% of the projected world gasoline demand if an aggressive research agenda is conducted (CERQUEIRA LEITE et al., 2009). This important production expansion can become a reality through the implementation of new plants, opening new sugarcane areas, but will demand, in parallel, a concentrated effort to increase overall productivity e.g. liters of ethanol/ ha/year of planted sugarcane. This increase can be achieved primarily through two technological routes. The first route is by improvements in the SUGARCANE AND STRAW HARVESTING FOR ETHANOL PRODUCTION