About Caña Brava

Deciding to return to the homeland, the Romero Group set its sights in Piura and decided to dump in the Valley of the Chira the largest and most efficient project: getting ethanol from sugar cane of the country. The achievement resulted in social development in a needy area, environmental care and a feat agricultural in a wasteland.

In the provinces of Sullana and Paita, Caña Brava planted the seed of 7,000 hectares of sugar cane on both sides of the Chira River.
According to a report of the Risk Rating Agency Equilibrium, the objective of this project is the production of anhydrous ethanol for use as fuel from the distillation of the juices of sugar cane, which will be in charge of the Agricultural Subsidiary of Chira.

Its development is performed in the Valley of the Chira River in Piura and provides for the cultivation of sugar cane in 7,000 hectares of land, which are expected to be sown to 100 percent in 2009 with a production of 350 thousand liters per day.
According to the company, initially the project expects to invest $ 114 million, which then increased to 122.6 million due mainly to investment in infrastructure and agricultural campaigns.

"However, that amount is still low because the level of investment now borders the $ 130 million, which consider the purchase of land, implementation of drip irrigation and the construction of the extraction plant to produce ethanol," said Dionisio Romero Paoletti, Executive Director of the Romero Group.
He said that in the Caña Brava Project, bagasse produced will be use to generate electricity and supply the drip irrigation system and the ethanol factory, allowing energy savings throughout the production process.

Notably, in the case of sugar cane, Peru has comparative advantages, since production is available throughout the year, registering high yields relative to other producing countries (between 110 and 176 metric tons in the last 30 years).
In this regard, he stressed that the combination of climatic conditions and technology used in the project, decreases the production cost of the project on a cost-competitive globally as the example of Brazil.

Within the global context of recent economic crises, which almost every business have passed and suffered, Caña Brava has emerged as an efficient business management model, not only by investing money within the country, also generating jobs for local workers, making more dynamic the district and regional emerging economy.

In this blog we are going to talk about:

• Objectives and general description.
  
• Production Process
• Social Impact
• About the clients
  

Fredy Zapata

Caña Brava Photographic Archive

The Ethanol Production Process in Caña Brava

The Caña Brava agribusiness project is developed in an area of 7,000 hectares located between the provinces and Sullana, Piura and Paita, with an investment of $ 360 million. With its commissioning, Caña Brava intends to generate their own power through a power plant of 12 megawatts and create jobs for workers at work 2.148 planting, harvesting and factory operation.

A total of 350,000 liters of ethanol are produced in Caña Brava since August of this year, making the first city in Piura that will export pollution-free fuel to Europe.

Ethanol comes from sugar cane, a traditional crop in northern Peru but has rarely been done with the technology used now. Except for urea, do not use chemicals, but to avoid the pest Diatraea Saccharalis (sugarcane) crops, 10,000 thousand flies are released and 250,000 wasps.

In addition, irrigation tech Caña Brava used to irrigate the land and has its own power source.

Besides export, the company expects to sell part of its production in the local market, taking into account that since 2010 will be mandatory in Peru mix and sell gasoline blended with ethanol.

The Ethanol Production Process:

1. Firstly, the canes have to burn to lose the leaves and in that way can be harvested.
2. Secondly, is the stage of washed and shredded in a mill.
3. Then, the clean canes go to machine where they’ll be crushed and squeezed in order to obtain the juice.
4. The juice goes through a clarification process where impurities are left and only used under the above (the gravity helps that process).
5. This juice is going to pass some time in a big recipient while it ferments until obtaining the desired Brix degrees. (Obtaining of OH radicals).
6. The fermented juice passes to the distillation columns where using high temperatures the OH radicals can separate from the water.
7. The OH radicals pass to a condensation process because they’re gaseous and have to be in liquid, obtaining the ethanol with 99.9% of purity.

Emily LaPoint

Social Impact: Caña Brava in the lower Piura

Caña Brava will create jobs for workers at work 2.148 planting, harvesting and factory operation. For the planting, cultivation and maintenance of sugar cane. In addition to operations within the factory and almost 1,500 indirect jobs generated by the factory in the area. The indirect jobs can be defined into three main branches such as: food, lodging and logistics services such as transporting people and packages throughout the area.

Most workers belong to the area, which is understood by the districts Montelimar, San Vicente and La Huaca (in Sullana and Paita), which before the arrival of this company lacked the basic services of electricity, water and drain. Caña Brava is now concerned to implement those services. Following a strategic plan to support the community has implemented in the districts above the water and sewer services, along its two and half years of presence in the area but electricity will be implementing a process that take a little longer but that the company plans to implement as it has electric generator has the ability to satisfy consumer demand in the area.

In addition to basic services, the company has been concerned with education and technical level of workers and their families, so this company has the support of central and regional government. Since this is sought with most jobs remain in the area and thus generate a sustainable development within it. It also has a long-term plan with the younger population to enable them to pursue university studies and thus improve the cultural and social area.

Although little credible environmental management in the area improved considerably since Caña Brava follows certain environmental standards and has taught people to follow them. Because the same population before pollution generated by poorly organized processes with high emissions of CO2, the time to cultivate and harvest their own cane. Of course this on a smaller scale.

In short we could say that Caña Brava has come to the area bringing economic and social development for the region, based exploitation of resources caring for the environment and improving quality of life of people living in the area.

Oscar Perez

About the Clients

In November 5th, Caña Brava Company is going to export five millions of litres of ethanol from the desert of Piura to the port of Rótterdam in Holanda.

Furthermore the general manager of Caña Brava, Angel Irazola, indicated that they are identifying other markets in the United States to increase his exports in the next months.

Also they hope to adjudge the licitation of Repsol-YPF and Petroperu, in order to provide alcohol fuel to them to be mixed with gasoline and to obtain the gasohol that will be commercialized from first of January of the 2010.

“We are going to participate in this licitation, they have requested us samples of our production and we have been sent already them”, declared the general manager.

The demand will be of 250 thousand liters daily and the company produce 300 thousand litres per days, so they are in capacity to take care of that demand.

The Department of Energy (DOE) of the United States has determined that by each power unit consumed in the alcohol elaboration sugar cane fuel other 8,3 units are generated, that is to say, the energy balance is positive.

Laura Mendoza