Abstract
Most of the fruit and vegetable production ends up as agricultural waste. The waste is generated not only from fruits and vegetable residues that cannot be consumed directly, such as seeds, peels, and stems, but also from the result of inefficient post-harvest processing, in addition to the perishable nature of fruits and vegetables. Those wastes undoubtedly become a problem to the environment because it contributes to gas emissions production. Meanwhile, those wastes contain lignocellulose, starch, or sugar, which can be processed into bioethanol. As is known, bioethanol is an alternative in dealing with the problem of dwindling fossil energy. So, this chapter will overview various fruits and vegetable waste potential as raw materials for bioethanol production and the processing steps such as hydrolysis, fermentation, distillation, and dehydration. Besides, it will suggest future research about bioethanol production from fruits and vegetable wastes.
TopBioethanol Demand
Bioethanol is a type of ethanol produced through a fermentation process. This clear and colorless liquid is widely used in the cosmetics, pharmaceutical, perfume, food beverage industries, and transportation industries. Because it has a high-octane rating (Yukesh Kannah et al., 2020) and low lead, sulfur, and carbon monoxide (Sudiyani et al., 2019), bioethanol is increasingly used as a fuel. It has been named one of the alternative energies in meeting the demand for world energy, which increased yearly. The latest data on (U.S. Energy Information Administration, 2022) reported that from 2015 until 2019, the energy consumption grew from 567.329 to 601.04 quad Btu, where the average annual energy requirement was 584.4934 quad Btu.Of the total energy consumption, fossil energy still dominates. At the same time, based on projection data, it is said that around 2060, the world's fossil energy reserves will be exhausted (Saleem, 2022).
Therefore, currently, alternative energy sources such as bioethanol are being maximized. This utilization will undoubtedly encourage an increase in the consumption of ethanol fuel grade in the world market. This phenomenon has been confirmed in data by (U.S. Energy Information Administration, 2022), which showed a proportional increase in fuel ethanol consumption every year. Fortunately, this figure can still be met by the amount of existing fuel ethanol production. In value, the world fuel ethanol production increased from 2.189 to 2.448 quad Btu, while the consumption accrued from 2.212 to 2.422 quad Btu. In addition, the average annual fuel ethanol production was 2.300 quad Btu, while the consumption was 2.274 quad Btu. Therefore, it confirms that the opportunity to use bioethanol as fuel still has a large gap.
Bioethanol as a vehicle fuel has been applied by mixing it with gasoline. This blending fuel is known as “E.” For example, if the mixture contains 5% bioethanol and 95% gasoline, the resulting mixture is called E5. The number following the letter represents the percentage of bioethanol used in the mixture. This mixed fuel has been widely used in Brazil, the US, and Europe, where the E5-E25 can be used directly without any engine modifications to the vehicle. Meanwhile, mixing higher ethanol content, namely E85 to E100, has also been carried out for flex-fuel vehicles (Hossain et al., 2021; Siciliano et al., 2021).
Key Terms in this Chapter
General National Energy Plan: This is a government policy related to energy planning management related to the implementation and implementation of energy policies of all related sectors in order to achieve predetermined targets.
Distillation: This is the process of separating a mixture of liquida based on the difference in its boiling point.
Biomass: This is all organic compounds derived from algae, agriculture, and organic waste.
Greenhouse Gasses: This is a gas that absorb and emit radiant energy within the limits of thermal infrared thus causing the greenhouse effect.
Adsorption: The process of absorbing a fluid in an absorbent substance and forming a thin layer on its surface.