Tonon Bioenergy 18/7/16

Today we trekked out to Tonon Bioenergy, an ethanol plant about 3 hours northwest of Sao Paulo. Unlike the jungled mountains of the Henry Borden hydroplant, the area around Tonon was primarily farm land, with rolling hills covered with crops and livestock. In a way, it reminded me of upstate New Hampshire and Vermont, with long, straight highways splitting fields and mountains. If it wasn't for the palm trees, I could almost convince myself it was the northeast. This is the obvious location for an ethanol plant, as plenty of open and fertile farmland is needed for the endless sugarcane fields.

Sugarcane Juice Extraction Process

The the process begins with harvested sugarcane. The juice is then extracted from the plant, mainly by crushing. This first process yields nearly 70% of the sugarcane juice. An additional four steps are needed to extract the remaining 30%, leaving bagasse (the dry, organic remnants) while the canejuice is pumped to large tanks elsewhere on the plant. The bagasse is then sent to a boiler where the water is boiled, producing steam, which in turn powers a turbine and creating electricity. This power is used throughout the entire plant, and the excess is sold to the grid (which is around 40 MW). The collected sugarcane juice is then fermented and distilled, which is then separated into two groups: one which is further processed into ethanol, while the rest is made into the sugar products we use on a daily basis. Sugar is one of (if not the) largest export in Brazil, and a large source of Tonon Bioenergy's profits.

The plan'ts campus was impressive in scale. The machinery was huge, with sprawling catwalks and boilers several stories high. The entire place smelled like incredibly potent sugar, leaving a sweet/mostly terrible smell. At times I nearly gagged. The thought of drinking a Coke while walking through this campus made me want to throw up, but I'm sure (I hope) you'd get use to it if exposed to that sensory overload on a daily basis. Unfortunately, we weren't able to see most of the plant's operations, as the areas were too dangerous for us to enter. We were primarily limited to seeing the infrastructure only, while the guides explained what section of the process each machine fulfilled.

Sugarcane Harvester 

The tour concluded with a walk through the nearby sugarcane fields. We were able to see the harvesting process in action, which was done using this bad larry (left). Saws above cut the cane to the appropriate height, while the 'drill' looking machines direct the cane under the machine where it is cut and ultimately shot out of a shoot in the back into large canisters (similar to a lawnmower), which are towed parallel during the operation. Paulo, one of our tour guides, cut some of the raw sugarcane for us to taste and/or eat. It was sweet, but I could take it or leave it. I'd give it a 5/10 tasty-rating.