Ethanol fuel

Viresco Solutions is a consulting firm based in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Its core business is greenhouse gas offset policy development and implementation, greenhouse gas emissions quantification, sustainable supply chain development, environmental offset methodology development, and providing technical assistance to others undertaking carbon offset project development. Its clients include industry and non-governmental associations, large private sector companies, and local, provincial and federal governments.

Global demand for climate technologies is growing fast and every region is keen to drive local economic development and grow local industries that can meet a portion of this demand both locally and for exports.

Alcohol burning stoves based on ethanol can be used for cooking, water heating and heating of buildings. The technology can be applied in households, institutions (e.g. schools) and industries where it is used for boiler heating. Ethanol is produced from sugar plants or other sources of biomass. An advantage of the technologies is that ethanol burning does not have the air pollution problems of simple biomass burning for cooking purposes. As ethanol provides a higher heat flux with no soot or smoke, cooking and hot water production can take place faster and pollution free.

Alcohol burning stoves based on methanol can be used to supply a cooking service, water heating and heating of buildings. The technology can be applied in households, institutions (e.g. schools) and industries where it is used for boiler heating.

With the surge in bio-based activities around the globe, a new concept called bio-refining starts to emerge. IEA Bioenergy Task 42 on Biorefineries defines biorefining as “the sustainable processing of biomass into a spectrum of marketable products and energy”. A bio-refinery combines/integrates a series of biomass conversion technologies to produce a range of products and (base-)materials, such as food, feed, chemicals, materials, oil, gas, heat and/or electricity. The concept is similar to a conventional oil-refinery where multiple petroleum products and fuels are produced.

Since about 1.5 billion people in the world use traditional stoves for cooking (and heating), efforts to improve the efficiency of cookstoves have been increasingly popular in the developing world. Improved stoves come in different forms and sizes. 

IIGE is a research institute that promotes development, innovation and transmission of technology focused on energy efficiency and renewable energy. The institute aims to contribute to the sustainable development of the Ecuadorian society, through the implementation of energy efficient and energy renewable policies and projects.

This publication aims to set the stage for the discussion about both challenges and concerns of sugarcane ethanol by providing the scientific context, the basic concepts and the approach for understanding the debate on biofuel-related issues. This book largely limits itself to sugarcane ethanol and its contribution to climate change mitigation and the environment.

The Global Environment Centre Foundation (GEC) is an entity that supports the UNEP’s International Environmental Technology Centre (IETC), based in Japan. GEC is dedicated to the transfer of environmentally sound technologies, in both developing countries and countries with economies in transition. The foundation aims to contribute to Japan’s international efforts on the environment, sharing project collaborations as well as promoting Japan’s rich conservation knowledge and experience in developing nations.

En la actualidad, pocos son los obstáculos a los que se enfrenta la comunidad mundial que puedan compararse en magnitud con el de la malnutrición, una condición que afecta directamente a una de cada tres personas. La malnutrición se manifiesta de muy distintas maneras: retraso en el crecimiento y el desarrollo de los niños; personas esqueléticas o propensas a las infecciones; personas con exceso de peso o que corren el riesgo de contraer enfermedades crónicas debido al consumo excesivo de sal, azúcar o grasas; e incluso personas con carencias de vitaminas o minerales de importancia.