Ethanol from Cassava

Cassava ethanol production is growing on an international scale, with production being explored first in Thailand and more recently in Ghana and Nigeria (FAO 2004). The crop produces extremely high yields and boasts a high starch content, making it ideal for ethanol production.

Panama uses more than 80,000 barrels of oil per day, all of which is imported. Agro2 will provide sustainable fuel alternatives for the local market and increase energy independence while reducing roughly a third of gasoline’s per gallon fuel emissions.  In addition we will provide a sustainable source of income for local farmers.

We produce our alcohol in a hybrid system together with other products as flour, and peeled and waxed cassava.

Cassava ethanol processing consists of

• Grinding the raw product the into chips and mixing them with water to make a slurry
• Converting the slurry into sugar
• Fermenting the sugar and distilling the product into alcohol (Atthasampunna et al.).

By hybridizing our production and processing equipment we can streamline our operation, producing high-grade ethanol at a lower cost and reducing our emissions by taking advantage of waste heat to process the materials.