title: Bioethanol from lignocelluloses: Status and perspectives in Brazil.
abstract: The National Alcohol Program--PróAlcool, created by the government of Brazil in 1975 resulted less dependency on fossil fuels. The addition of 25% ethanol to gasoline reduced the import of 550 million barrels oil and also reduced the emission CO(2) by 110 million tons. Today, 44% of the Brazilian energy matrix is renewable and 13.5% is derived from sugarcane. Brazil has a land area of 851 million hectares, of which 54% are preserved, including the Amazon forest (350 million hectares). From the land available for agriculture (340 million hectares), only 0.9% is occupied by sugarcane as energy crop, showing a great expansion potential. Studies have shown that in the coming years, ethanol yield per hectare of sugarcane, which presently is 6000 L/ha, could reach 10,000 L/ha, if 50% of the produced bagasse would be converted to ethanol. This article describes the efforts of different Brazilian institutions and research groups on second generation bioethanol production, especially from sugarcane bagasse.
authors.affiliation: Bioprocess Engineering and Biotechnology Department, Federal University of Paraná, Curitiba, PR, Brazil. soccol@ufpr.br
authors.forename: Carlos Ricardo
authors.initials: CR
authors.lastname: Soccol
authors.forename: Luciana Porto de Souza
authors.initials: LP
authors.lastname: Vandenberghe
authors.forename: Adriane Bianchi Pedroni
authors.initials: AB
authors.lastname: Medeiros
authors.forename: Susan Grace
authors.initials: SG
authors.lastname: Karp
authors.forename: Marcos
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Buckeridge
authors.forename: Luiz Pereira
authors.initials: LP
authors.lastname: Ramos
authors.forename: Ana Paula
authors.initials: AP
authors.lastname: Pitarelo
authors.forename: Viridiana
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Ferreira-Leitão
authors.forename: Leda Maria Fortes
authors.initials: LM
authors.lastname: Gottschalk
authors.forename: Maria Antonieta
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Ferrara
authors.forename: Elba Pinto
authors.initials: EP
authors.lastname: da Silva Bon
authors.forename: Lidia Maria Pepe
authors.initials: LM
authors.lastname: de Moraes
authors.forename: Juliana de Amorim
authors.initials: Jde A
authors.lastname: Araújo
authors.forename: Fernando Araripe Gonçalves
authors.initials: FA
authors.lastname: Torres
mesh_terms: D000821:Animal Feed; D000818:Animals; D018533:Biomass; D001709:Biotechnology / Q000379:methods / Q000639:trends*; D001938:Brazil; D002482:Cellulose / Q000737:chemistry; D003247:Conservation of Natural Resources; D004736:Energy-Generating Resources; D000431:Ethanol / Q000737:chemistry*; D006868:Hydrolysis; D008031:Lignin / Q000737:chemistry*; D031786:Saccharum
chemical_list: C036909:lignocellulose; D000431:Ethanol; D002482:Cellulose; D008031:Lignin; C027433:bagasse