Sugarcane processing generates a large volume of bagasse.  Disposal of bagasse is critical for both agricultural profitability and environmental protection. In this study, we demonstrate that cane processed bagasse could be used to produce fuel grade ethanol without saccharification.  A chemical pre-treatment process using alkaline peroxide and acid hydrolysis was applied to remove lignin, which acts as physical barrier to cellulolytic enzymes.  Yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae ATCC strain 765 was used in the experiment. The pre-treatment process effectively removed lignin. Ethanol production in the culture sample was monitored.  The results indicate that acid hydrolysis produced the most ethanol from the residue. More ethanol was produced from bagasse treated with 0.8M H2SO4 for 18 days compared to alkaline pretreated residue at 2% H2O2 (pH 11.5) for 48 hours and fermented for 21 days. This preliminary study showed that ethanol production from post-harvest sugarcane residue such as bagasse is possible without the addition of cellulase enzyme. The ethanol yield in our study is eight times lower than the theoretical yield as per National Renewable Energy Laboratory(NREL) calculation. In this study, we achieved a significant removal of lignin from the bagasse, which resulted in higher production of ethanol.
Further research is needed to optimize the conditions for maximum production of ethanol from bagasse.