El residuo vinaza como una estrategia de energía sustentable para la adquisición de una planta de Biogás en la compañía Sociedad de Destilación de Alcoholes S.A. en el cantón Marcelino Maridueña.

Abstract

Sociedad de Destilación de Alcoholes S.A. (SODERAL) is an industrial company founded in 1992 by Sociedad Agrícola & Industrial San Carlos S.A. (ISC), its main activity is the production of ethyl alcohol at 96% v/v, anhydrous alcohol at 99.5% v/v and carbon dioxide (CO2) from sugar cane. The vinasse obtained as waste from the production process generates a problem that commits costs for the company, in addition to the social and environmental impact generated, so the company is in need of sustainable treatment to this waste. In this context, the company is evaluating the possibility of investing in a biodigestor for the transformation of the vinasse into biogas that will be then reused in the production process. For this purpose, an investigation under the framework of sustainable development was carried out. The results of the research determined that the main barriers to the execution of the project correspond to the high amount of investment and the lack of government incentives, at the same time. Finally, the results of the financial evaluation indicated that, in any of the three scenarios for investment with own capital, the result is feasible. However, the project is not viable with leveraged capital in any of the three scenarios analyzed, in all cases the IRR was lower than the TMAR and the NPV was always negative.