Abstract
The Ma bamboo (Dendrocalamus latiflorus Munro) covers 152,300 ha in Taiwan, roughly of 7.2 % the overall forest area. This study calculated the energy and mass balance of Ma bamboo as a feedstock for bioethanol production. Several processes included acidic steam explosion, alkaline steam explosion, bleached, unbleached kraft pulps, enzyme hydrolysis, and simultaneous saccharification and fermentation (SSF) for fuel ethanol production from bamboo were studied through energy consumption and energy production. The energy analysis of the compacting fermented residue was also evaluated.
Results show that the post-fermentation residues possessed high heating values. The net energy value of acidic steam explosion pulp, alkali steam explosion, kraft pulp, and bleached pulp is -1.75, 4.42, -2.71, and2.90 MJ/kg chip. The alkali steam explosion has highest net energy value and is equivalent to 50.22 MJ/kg ethanol. The net energy gains could be achieved for the processes with greater ethanol yields: acid steam explosion and fully bleached pulps. SSF could produce 220 ML/t of starting biomass of bioethanols from acidic steam explosion pulps and 148 ML/t of starting biomass of bioethanols from alkaline steam explosion pretreatment pulps annually.
