Cassava or tapioca has erupted into the first decade of the third millennium as a crop that can contribute to agro-industrial and small-farmer development in the tropics. It is the safest and most economic feedstock for the production of biofuel. The carbohydrate-rich cassava is a food crop, both for humans and animals, and also an ideal crop for biofuels. New processes and technologies are being developed by researchers for the cost effective production of ethanol from cassava.
The latest among them is the finding of scientists from the Kasetsart University, Bangkok and the Cassava and Starch Technology Research Unit of the National Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology, Thailand, that cassava chips are the most suitable raw material for ethanol production. The production cost and time can be minimised through the simultaneous saccharification and fermentation process as already implemented in bioethanol production from cereal grains.
Thailand produces about 20 million tonne of cassava a year. Researchers have found that cassava was a better feedstock to produce daily the required two million litre of ethanol for its 10% fuel substitution plan. About 80-90% of the roots are consumed by starch and the chip and pellet industry. The balance is available for ethanol production, unlike sugarcane or molasses, which are in short supply in Thailand.