Green Power: The Role of Sugarcane Biomass in Electricity Generation and Emission Reduction

Growing concerns over climate change and energy security have heightened the global focus on sustainable energy solutions. One promising approach involves generating electricity from sugarcane bagasse while increasing ethanol blending with petrol. India aims for a 20% ethanol blend by 2025–2026. This study presents mathematical modeling of electricity generation from sugarcane bagasse and examines the economic and environmental benefits of ethanol blending as a sustainable strategy. By utilizing sugarcane biomass, the research aligns with global and Indian efforts to reduce emissions and enhance renewable energy use through ethanol blending programme. Ethanol can be produced from Molasses C (case-1), B (case-2), and sugarcane juice (case-3), with electricity generation potentials of 90.91 TWh, 45.14 TWh, and 11.69 TWh annually, respectively. Economic benefits include savings of Rs.131.82 billion, Rs.65.45 billion, and Rs.16.95 billion per year, while emission reductions amount to 6.27 Mt CO<inf xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">2</inf>, 3.11 Mt CO<inf xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">2</inf>, and 0.81 Mt CO<inf xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">2</inf> annually compared to grid electricity.