The momentum of bioethanol in Argentina, from sugar cane was reflected legally with Law 26,093, "Regime Regulation and Promotion for Sustainable Production and Biofuels Uses", which came into force in 2010 and established that must supply with at least 5% ethanol to all gasoline, a percentage which was gradually increased to 12% in 2016. This meant an opportunity for the province of Tucuman in the north of Argentina to expand its industrial production counting with nearly 300,000 hectares planted with sugar cane, 15 mills and 11destilerías. The sugar and alcohol sector, produces ETHANOL, which is used for fuel, food, beverage, pharmaceutical and chemical industries; SUGAR, sold for food, BAGASSE, solid waste grinding to obtain paper and electricity and VINASSE, which is the main liquid waste generated during the production of ethyl alcohol.
Downloading this type of untreated effluents produced water eutrophication of rivers characterized by nutrient enrichment in an aquatic ecosystem. The explosion of algae that accompanies the first phase of eutrophication causes a clouding that prevents light penetrates to the bottom of the ecosystem. As a result at the bottom becomes impossible photosynthesis, and the environment becomes anoxic. Therefore this waste is highly polluting for water bodies, where it can cause the collapse of aquatic life due to the large amount of organic matter, so it is necessary to properly handle it. All approaches seek to eliminate or mitigate the effects of pollution on rivers, where traditionally these derivatives have been discharged without treatment or insufficient treatment. However, vinasses are a rich material with many potential uses.
The aim of this work is to address the problem of pollution of rivers of Tucuman proposing an alternative to decrease the amount of vinasse produced in the process and promote its many uses.
The advantages of the possibility of increasing the values of fermentative power of yeast for industrial use 10 to 12% ethanol in the wort, reduce the amounts of vinasse obtained. Traditionally yeasts are the main microorganisms used in the production of alcohol and finding strains hyper-producer yeast it is increasing the production capacity of bioethanol, with lower costs distillation and guarantee the supply of a renewable biofuel and reduce pollution of rivers.
From an environmental point of view the use of Saccharomyces cerevisiae strain A2, isolated in this work, it would achieve 30% decrease in levels of vinasse generated from an average of 13 Lvinasse / Lalcohol to 9 Lvinasse / Lalcohol.
By producing the Saccharomyces cerevisiae strain A2 large-scale use in the mills will bring benefits for production, energy consumption and environmental benefits reducing pollution in rivers.