Abstract

Sugarcane has been tapped as a source of sugar and molasses for the production of bioethanol in the Philippines. The increasing demand in bioethanol due to the rising consumption of gasoline, the surplus sugar and molasses would not be able to meet future demands. In the harvesting and processing of sugarcane, residues like that of sugarcane leaves (SCL) and sugarcane bagasse (SCB) are generated. These residues are composed of sugar-based fibers, which may be utilized in producing bioethanol. Despite sugarcane residues being among the abundant crop residues generated, assessment on their potential for bioethanol production have been scarce. An initial assessment of the potentials of utilizing SCL and SCB produced in the Philippines and their contribution when utilized as raw material for bioethanol production is provided in this work. The geographical scenario of the Philippines was also taken into consideration. The limitations that could potentially be brought about by the competing use of available resource for bioenergy generation are also discussed. It is hoped that this work will provide a simple approach in providing or generating quantitative baseline information for consideration in future policies to avoid potential competition and emphasize on the need for appropriate allocation of available resources.

摘要

甘蔗已被用作菲律宾生产生物乙醇的糖和糖蜜的来源。由于汽油消费量的增加，对生物乙醇的需求不断增加，多余的糖和糖蜜将无法满足未来的需求。在甘蔗的收获和加工过程中，会产生甘蔗叶 (SCL) 和甘蔗渣 (SCB) 等残留物。这些残留物由糖基纤维组成，可用于生产生物乙醇。尽管甘蔗残留物是产生的大量作物残留物之一，但对其生物乙醇生产潜力的评估却很少。这项工作提供了对利用菲律宾生产的 SCL 和 SCB 的潜力及其在用作生物乙醇生产原料时的贡献的初步评估。菲律宾的地理情况也被考虑在内。还讨论了竞争使用可用资源进行生物能源发电可能带来的限制。希望这项工作能够提供一种简单的方法来提供或生成定量基线信息，以供在未来政策中考虑，以避免潜在的竞争，并强调适当分配可用资源的必要性。