Making ethanol from cassava is easy, Lampung BPPT researcher says

Making ethanol from cassava is easy, Lampung BPPT researcher says

Oyos Saroso HN, The Jakarta Post, Bandarlampung

Besides being a sugar producer, Lampung province also produces
cassava.

In 2004, there were 300,000 hectares of cassava fields in four
regencies. Even though Lampung's cassava fields are huge, most
Lampung farmers remain poor, with one hectare only producing a
maximum of 14 tons of cassava.

Several months ago, the price of cassava stood at Rp 120
(0.012 U.S. cents) to Rp 150 per kilogram. Last year, it was only
Rp 70 to Rp 90 per kilogram. Cassava now sells for Rp 315 per
kilogram, much to the relief of farmers.

With ample farmland in Lampung, the Starch Research Center at
the Lampung Agency for the Assessment and Application of
Technology (BPPT) is developing bioenergy fuel with cassava.

The research center started experiments on developing
bioenergy in 1980, when the Japanese government provided the
center with research equipment.

Besides using cassava as an alternative material to make
bioenergy, the center has done research on other materials,
including corn and sugarcane.

Before considering cassava, the center tried sugarcane, but
dropped the project as supply of sugarcane is limited. Sugar is
also a more profitable commodity than cassava.

"The economics of it could have be ignored for the sake of
research," said Arif Yudiarto, a researcher at Lampung BPPT.

Arif said that cassava was the most feasible choice as it was
relatively cheap and was 30 percent starch.

In Lampung, farmers do not need a lot of capital to plant
cassava. Nor is the plant vulnerable to disease.

"Some 1,000 kilograms of cassava can produce about 166 liters
of ethanol," said Arif. For research purposes, the center has
planted 600 hectares of land with cassava.

Making ethanol from cassava is easy, said Arif. The starch is
extracted from the cassava, which is then processed to produce
glucose. The glucose is put into fermentations tank and mixed
with a microbe (Saccharomyces Cerevisiae) for 48 hours and kept
at 33 Celsius to 35 Celsius. The glucose substance is then
distilled in order to isolate the ethanol.

Ethanol is the end result, which is mixed with Premium
gasoline to make gasohol.
The center has produced fuel grade ethanol, the level of which
is 96 percent. "We have been able to produce some 500 liters of
ethanol a day, or 150,000 liters a year," said Arif, adding that
the center was striving to produce ethanol with a 99 percent
level. The center hopes to be producing 200,000 liters of ethanol
per year by 2010.

If our experiment is successful, gasohol could enter the
market in 2010, said Lampung BPPT chief Agus Tjahjono.

"If gasohol gains popularity, farmers will also benefit from
it as demand for cassava will grow," said Agus.