Sustainability assessment of electricity cogeneration from sugarcane bagasse in Jamaica

Cogeneration from sugarcane bagasse in Jamaica represents a significant opportunity to reduce CO2 emissions and its dependence on a fossil fuel-based energy matrix. Generation of electricity through cogeneration is a huge opportunity in countries where the sugarcane industry is in decline. This article draws on the findings of a case-study on electricity generation through cogeneration in Jamaica to provide some key messages that may be useful for policy-makers and the private sector to make electricity generation by cogeneration a more competitive option the for investors. To this end, this article analyses two scenarios: the first is a Baseline Scenario that assesses the impact of cogeneration technology already installed in a Jamaican sugarcane company where the cogeneration stage produces 2,2 MW; the second one considers that the cogeneration technology is changed to a new biomass based power plant upgrading the cogeneration stage in order to produce 5 MW of power from bagasse. The assessment was carried out by using a complete Life Cycle Assessment, Life Cycle Costing and Social Life Cycle Assessment. The results revealed that generation of electricity from cogeneration derived from bagasse is a suitable alternative adding economic, environmental and social value.Publicad

Jamaican bioethanol: an environmental and economic life cycle assessment

E10 is a blend of 10% bioethanol and 90% gasoline that can be used in the engines of most cars without causing damage. Currently for the E10 blend, Jamaica imports gasoline from Trinidad & Tobago and bioethanol from Brazil because the bioethanol production in Jamaica is at an early stage. However, the country has great potential for bioethanol production. In order to assess the environmental and economic feasibility of bioethanol in Jamaica, this paper presents an economic and environmental life cycle assessment for a case study in Jamaica in two different scenarios. The Baseline Scenario represents the use of E10 in the current conditions in which bioethanol comes from Brazil and gasoline from Trinidad & Tobago. Scenario I represents the use of E10 with bioethanol from Jamaica and gasoline from Trinidad & Tobago. The comparative environmental life cycle assessment revealed that the Baseline Scenario had better results than Scenario I in ten environmental categories. The economic assessment results in Scenario I were 7% higher than in the Baseline Scenario. Hence, the current context (Baseline Scenario) was identified as the scenario with the best economic performance. Therefore, the current situation in Jamaica (Baseline Scenario) scored better results than Scenario I from an environmental and an economical point of views. It is recommended to increase the bagasse cogeneration of Scenario I to lower the environmental impacts. To improve their productivity, it is necessary to improve the Jamaican sugar infrastructure by combining molasses and cane juice to produce bioethanol.Publicad