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Modeling a Village-scale

Nipa Bioethanol Industry


Fiorello B. Abenes, Ph.D.
STRIDE Faculty and Institutional Development Manager
Professor Emeritus, CalPoly University Pomona
CLSU-MMSU Visiting Professor

Primary Ethanol Feedstocks

Primary Ethanol Feedstocks


corn starch US
sugarcane juice Brazil
83.4%

Coconut (Cocos
nucifera)

Palmyra (Borassus
flabellifer)

Sugar palm (Arenga


pinnata)

Nipa (Nypa
fruticans)

Nypa fruticans

Sap contains 10-20%


sugar
Can be tapped for 100
days for 50 years
Very efficient converter of
solar energy to sugar
Tapping is an ancient
technique, practiced for
centuries

17-21 Sept, 1770, Captain James Cook


arrived in Savu, Indonesia, and recorded
use of palm sugar:

I have already observed, that it


is given with the husks of rice to
the hogs, and that they grow
enormously fat without taking any
other food: we were told also, that
this syrup is used to fatten their
dogs and their fowls
Voyages, by Captain James Cook

Natural Nipa Stands


Indonesia 700,000 ha
Papua New Guinea 500,000 ha
Malaysia 20,000 ha
Philippines 8,000 ha (20,000 total
Mangrove areas)
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8,000 ha of
Philippine Nipa can
potentially supply
96,000,000 L of
bioethanol.

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Nipa can supply up to 25% of the 2015 bioethanol


demand
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How can a distributive Nipa bioethanol


production fit under a centralized
production system

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T or F
Ethanol up to 190 proof (95% strength) can be produced by distillation.
Removal of the last 5% water from an ethanol solution requires complex methods.
Hydrous (water containing) ethanol can be used neat (at 100% rate) in a modified
gasoline engine.
If the ethanol is to be blended with gasoline at any rate, the ethanol must be completely
anhydrous (dry) - 200 proof. Otherwise, separation of the fuels will occur.
https://www.doe.gov.ph/energy-resources-alternative-fuels/biofuels/bioethanol

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Azeotropic ethanol
gasoline blend
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Green Futures
Innovation, Inc.
Bioethanol and cogeneration plant in San Mariano, Isabela
Total cost = Php 6,000,000,000
Utilizes sugarcane from 11,000 ha = 180,822 L/day
Capacity to produce 200,000 liters of anhydrous alcohol per
day
Excess capacity = 19,178 L per day

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Nipa Biorefineries in Cagayan


Nipa Stand = 1000 ha
Potential Ethanol Production 1 ha = 12,000 L of
ETOH/yr
100 distributive biorefineries
Cost per biorefinery = Php 200,000
Total Php 20,000,000

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Freakonomic
Modeling a Nipa
Biofuels Industry
(rational utility maximization
model)
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Sweet SorgumSweet
Sorghu
m

Nipa Sap
Process

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Nipa can supply


more ethanol than
traditional
feedstocks per unit
of land area

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Capital Cost
Capital cost per Liter:
GF = 6,000,000/200,000 L = Php 30,000/L
NP = 200,000/57 L = Php 3,508/L

Nipa distributive biorefineries are 8.5X less


expensive than GF centralized biorefinery

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Land Utilization
Land requirement per Liter:
GF = 11,000/200,000 = 550 sq m/L of arable land
NP = 1,000/11,400 = 877 sq m/L of mangrove

Nipa and Sugarcane are non-competitive in


land use

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Feedstock
Availability
Sugar cane is seasonal; 7 months to grow
and harvest
Nipa Sap is available year round; each nipa
palm can be tapped for 100 days

Nipa and Sugarcane are


complementary and enables GF
to smooth out supply chain

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Process improvements
Increased frequency of pre-treatment (i.e.
beating) of stalks before tapping
Choose Longer stalks
Choose Younger palms
Increased frequency of tapping (2X/day) more
than doubles the yield
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Process improvements
Increase anaerobic fermentation time
Reflux distillation process

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The Model can be replicated in all areas


where there are BOTH Nipa stands and a
large-scale biorefinery.
Biorefineries can sign supply contracts
with Nipa ethanol producers in the same
manner that they contract out sugar cane
production

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Php 11.1 Million F/S


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Thank you!

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