Cane2Fuel: Feasibility of Producing Biofuel from Sugarcane Waste
- $1.26m Funded by ARENA
- $1.94m Total project cost
Summary
The Cane2Fuel: Feasibility of Producing Biofuel from Sugarcane Waste project used an integrated approach to investigate the technical and commercial feasibility of producing biofuel from sugarcane bagasse, which is a by-product of the sugar production process.
Key results
The project concluded that it is not currently economic to produce biofuels from sugarcane bagasse. This assessment is expected to change in the short to medium-term as conversion technologies improve and become more affordable, biomass sources become more plentiful and the growing need for low-carbon transport fuel drives the uptake of biofuel production technologies.
Need
A cost-effective and reliably sufficient supply of suitable plant material (called biomass) is required for sustainable biofuel production.
Learn more
Report: Cane2Fuel: Feasibility of Producing Biofuel from Sugarcane Waste
A report on the technical and commercial feasibility of producing biofuel from sugarcane bagasse, which is a by-product of the sugar production process.
Project innovation
The Cane2Fuel: Feasibility of Producing Biofuel from Sugarcane Waste project used an integrated approach to investigate the technical and commercial feasibility of producing biofuel from sugarcane bagasse, which is a by-product of the sugar production process.
The project developed methods to identify and categorise which sugarcane varieties were the most suitable for conversion, and identified how these could affordably be grown on a large enough scale to be a reliable supply for biofuel production.
Benefit
The project provides a foundation for the future development of technologies to convert sugarcane waste into biofuel.
Methods were developed for the measurement of sugarcane biomass parameters in the laboratory, plant breeding sites and in factory processes using near-infrared (NIR) technology.
These methods will enhance the breeding, selection and production of suitable sugarcane varieties for conversion to biofuel, and are also applicable for the analysis of a range of biomass sources in addition to sugarcane.
