Gasohol production[edit]

The 1970s rises in the oil price hit oil-importing developing countries, such as Brazil, especially hard and prompted the initiation of the BRAZILIAN NATIONAL ALCOHOL (or Gasohol) PROGRAMME. The concept was simple -namely to use yeasts to ferment Brazil's plentiful supply of sugar cane into alcohol and so create a relatively cheap, renewable home-produced fuel.

The actual process entails a number of stages[edit]

Growing and cropping sugar cane.
Extraction of sugars by crushing and washing the cane.
The crystallizing out of the sucrose (for sale) leaving syrup of glucose and fructose called molasses.
Fermentation of the molasses by Saccharomyces cerevisiae to yield dulute alcohol.
Distillation of the alcohol to give pure ethanol, using the waste bagasse as a power source.^[1]

Brazilian cars have been converted to using the fuel, either entirely or mixed with petrol. (some petrol is added to all alcohol fuels to stop people drinking them.) What makes the programme so successful in Brazil is that the sugar cane is not only a source of the fermentation substrate, but also a fuel for the distilleries. Once the sugar is extracted from the sugar cane, the fibrous waste called BAGASSE, can be dried and burnt as a power source for the distillery.^[2]

References[edit]

^ The U.S. liquor, The U.S. liquor. "The production of Gasohol and Alcohol". The U.S. liquor. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |url= (help)
^ Malan, Llana (2012). Basic Science. Polytechnic of Namibia. p. 103.

[1] The U.S. liquor, The U.S. liquor. "The production of Gasohol and Alcohol". The U.S. liquor. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |url= (help)

[2] Malan, Llana (2012). Basic Science. Polytechnic of Namibia. p. 103.

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