Bioethanol Production and Potential of Turkey

Abstract

The ever increasing demand in global energy consumption makes it inevitable for the development of new energy resources. Turkey imports nearly all of its petroleum and this causes major economical problems. In Turkey, a major cereal producer, production of energy crops will decrease the dependence of petroleum and greenhouse gas emissions. In this context, bioethanol production in Turkey becomes a major alternative to petroleum. According to the results find in this study, with the current agricultural output, none of the crops can be adequate for bioethanol production even 100% of crop harvests were utilized. However, with 4% and 7% of current wheat harvest bioethanol required for the production of E5 and E10 can be achieved. In addition, by utilizing the unused land available for agriculture and planting potato, sugar beet, and wheat (each 100%), 5.8, 8.7 and 13.7 billion litres of bioethanol can be produced and this production will be more than enough to supply Turkey's current demand for gasoline.