Energy transitioning is the need of the hour! Striking a low-carbon economy is critical for a growing nation like India. The target is set – To strengthen India’s energy security and to reduce vehicular emissions. In line with changing realities with the changing times, Union Minister for road transport and highways, Nitin Gadkari, in a recent event – Sugar & Ethanol India Conference (SEIC) 2022, has called sugar factories to make a shift to the conservation of sugar into ethanol.
Ethanol – perhaps the most ubiquitous of the alternative biofuels, locally produced substance, is set to make its way into people’s gas tanks. It is environmentally friendly that aligns with stricter emission norms. Over the past few years, central and state governments have come together to concentrate efforts on the use of ethanol as a flex-fuel. While addressing the event, Union Minister Gadkari asserted that what is good for our future is to reduce the production of sugar and increase the production of ethanol.
But here is an example of Mauritius where the sugar industry has changed the course of history for the Mauritian economy. Mauritius is currently viewed as a model for other sugarcane producing countries.
A sugarcane economy
Scripting the long history of the sugar industry in Mauritius, sugar production remains an important contributor to the country’s economy with sugar exports representing about 19% of foreign exchange earnings and 1% of the country’s GDP.
The diversification factor of its main product – sugar, has been taken to transform into a wide variety of high value-added special sugars, as well as the production of valuable co-products, including electricity from bagasse or rum and ethanol from molasses. The sugar sector has evolved into a vast cluster, thanks to products, co-products and services.
Back in 2001, to revive the sector from threats and challenges, the Mauritian government came up with a five-year Sugar Sector Strategic framework (SSSP) with the objective o improving competitiveness and ensuring its very survival.
In 2005, when Mauritius was hit with the decreasing revenue resulting from the drastic cut of 36% in the EU price of sugar, Government then launched the Roadmap for the SUgarcane Industry for the 21st century and subsequently in 2006, the Multi-Annual Adaptation Strategy Action Plan 2006-2015. The objective of the plan is stated to be modernizing and diversifying the sector with the view to transforming it into a more cost-efficient industry and aiding in reducing the country’s dependency on imported fossil fuels.
The number suggests that Sugar factories in Mauritius produce around 6,00,000 tons of sugar from around 5.8 million tons of sugarcane which are cultivated on an agricultural area of about 72,000 hectares. In 2021, there were more than 11 sugar factories operating in Mauritius having crushing capacities from 75 to 310 tons of cane per hour.
During the sugar extraction process, about 1.8 million tons of Bagasse is produced as a by-product. Traditionally, 50% of the dry matter is harvested as cane stalk to recover the sugar with the fibrous fraction, i.e. Bagasse being burned to power the process in a cogeneration plant.
Mauritius sugarcane economy is being recommended to other sugarcane producing countries worldwide to harness the untapped renewable energy potential of biomass waste from the sugar industry.
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