Banana and plantain as sources of bioethanol

Executive Summary

The international debate focused on the advantages or disadvantages of biofuels motivated the development of this Project considering, in this case, the high productivity by area of bananas and plantains and the particular fact - in the case of export bananas - of a high percentage of rejection that could be used as energy. Five objectives were set within the framework of a public / private alliance:

1. Definition and implementation of critical parameters for the selection of banana and plantain genotypes with the capacity to produce bioethanol, using productivity and adaptability criteria in small producer systems.
2. Construction of two micro plants in Ecuador (farmers) and Costa Rica (producers cooperative) for the production of bioethanol as pilot cases.
3. Economic, social and environmental feasibility studies on the potential of decentralized bioethanol production by small farmers. Results were not conclusive as they are site specific and depending on production system.
4. A strong training component for farmer’s associations and state entities.
5. Based on online catalogs, the information generated was organized in real time, from the selection of banana and plantain production plots to the commercialization of the bioethanol produced.

The project contributed significant information to the global debate and its potential impact will depend on future policies and options by governments and enterprises.

The technological solution

The technological solution presents feasibility under certain circumstances -for instance, in some genotypes of bananas and plantains and specific production systems- by means of fermentation and distillation to produce ethanol. While with cereals the biofuel production process is made from starches, in the cases of cane, beets and bananas and plantains sugars are the starting point. Although it is possible to these species to produce biofuels, market forces or other technological alternatives will determine its feasibility in the future.

Results

Beneficiaries

The project generated information and knowledge benefits for many actors, in the case of professionals, a total of 11 undergraduate degree theses in industrial engineering were supported. With regard to producers, it is estimated that some 3,600 received information on the results and technologies generated. Two articles on post-harvest quality in indexed Latin American magazines stand out as scientific publications.

Sustainable Development Goals

Main donors