Potenciales y Viabilidad del Uso de Bioetanol y Biodiesel para el ...

Key Points
Potenciales y Viabilidad del Uso de Bioetanol y Biodiesel para el Transporte en México (SENER-BID-GTZ)
Task 6: Potentials in relation to sustainability criteria
• Replacing 10% of the gasoline in Mexico with ethanol could be accomplished with ~1
M ha, using suitable crops; land is available without competition for food production.
• Water use for irrigation must be controlled, using whenever possible rainfed
production; irrigation efficiencies must be improved, as well as protection to the
springs and water ways. Water withdrawal for industrial use can be minimized, and the
discharged water quality controlled.
• The use of stillage for ferti-irrigation must be a priority; however it needs suitable
planning (and a specific legislation) to avoid water contamination. For sugar cane, the
trend toward green cane harvesting will mitigate the environmental impacts of sugar
cane burning, which also requires planning and regulation.
• Efficient disease and pest-resistant variety supply programs are required, as wel as
adequate agricultural extension services.
• Impacts in fossil energy utilization are shown below, for 10% blend of ethanol and
gasoline, as percentage of the total energy consumption for each category, in Mexico.
So, sugar cane ethanol replaces 10% of the gasoline and 1.8% of the electricity used in
Mexico, and uses 1% of fuels (Diesel, Natural gas and Fuel Oil).
Gasoline substituted
% total gasoline
Electricity substituted
% total electricity
(D+NG+FO) used,
% total (D+NG+FO)
Sugar cane 10 1.8 1.
Corn 10 7.8
Sugar beets 10 5.1
Sweet Sorghum 10 2.6
Wheat 10 5.1
Cassava 10 10.2
(D + NG + FO): diesel + natural gas + fuel oil
For the Scenarios 1, 2 and 3-b all the values would be respectively 10.5 %, 23% and
59% of the above.
• For the same Scenario (10% ethanol blended), the GHG emissions for the life cycle of
ethanol production and use and the avoided emissions in Mexico are:
Corn
Sugar Cane
Sugar beets
Sweet Sorghum
Wheat
Processes, kg CO 2 eq. / l
anhydrous ethanol
1.8
0.43
1.4
0.7
1.8
Mitigation, Mexico; Scenario 3
10 6 t CO 2 eq. / year
3.9
10.6
5.4
8.2
3.9
7