Impacts of utilization patterns of cellulosic C5 sugar from cassava straw on bioethanol production through life cycle assessment.

Abstract Integrated processes of whole plant cassava bioethanol production using full components including cellulosic C5 sugar are proposed. The impacts of different utilization patterns of cellulosic C5 sugar on bioethanol production are investigated by life cycle assessment. Results show that for cassava straw bioethanol, process using cellulosic C5 sugar performs better, and the NER, renewability and GWP (global warming potential) are 0.94, 1.09 and 2929 kg CO2 eq. The integrated process WPC-2 that the cellulosic C5 sugar mash is fermented together with the cassava starch, is a better cellulosic C5 sugar utilization pattern with NER 1.49, renewability 2.20 and GWP 1579 kg CO2 eq. The process WPC-2 shows the potential to approach cassava bioethanol in terms of energy and environmental emissions. The downstream products are investigated and the E85 fuel from WPC-2 has higher application potential.