New challenger for sustainable ethanol production in industrial biorefineries

Description

Keynote presentation
Dr Ernesto Hernandez delivered a keynote presentation at the Celebration of Engineers Day, an event within the Energy Engineering Educational Programme. The objective of the event is to disseminate specialised, up-to-date knowledge that supports the personal and professional development of the university community.
The Vice-Chancellor acknowledged the outstanding career, professionalism and commitment to the communication of science shown by Dr Hernandez, and thanked Dr Hernandez for a valuable contribution that enabled an exchange of innovative experience in the energy field.
Meeting the Sustainable Development Goals requires climate action aligned with a circular economy, and sustainable biomass for industrial ethanol offers one route. Nopales, or prickly pear cactus, have recently attracted attention: resilient, arid-adapted and now spreading across Europe under a changing climate, they outperform algae and other feedstocks on several measures. A nopal biorefinery could link energy transition, water-positive activity and peri-urban food security, but its environmental impact and energy efficiency under realistic conditions remain unquantified, and conventional chemical pretreatments are polluting.

This keynote presents experimental work and life cycle assessment across four scenarios combining two fertilisers, two pretreatments and two operating modes. The worst case, fossil fertilisers with acid hydrolysis and nutrient neutralisation, produced around four times the global warming potential of the best. Organic fertilisers with recycled ionic liquids and acetone washing gave the lowest impacts across all categories and threefold net energy efficiency.

Period	1 Jul 2025
Event title	Engineers Day
Event type	Seminar
Location	Tolcayuca, MexicoShow on map
Degree of Recognition	International