Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Industrial Crops & Products journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/indcrop Integrated bioethanol production from triticale grain and lignocellulosic straw in Western Canada Edmund Mupondwa a,b, ⁎ , Xue Li a , Lope Tabil b a Bioproducts and Bioprocesses, Science and Technology Branch, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, Government of Canada, Saskatoon Research and Development Centre, 107 Science Place, Saskatoon, SK, S7N0X2, Canada b Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, University of Saskatchewan, 57 Campus Drive, Saskatoon, SK, S7N 5A9, Canada ARTICLE INFO Keywords: Triticale Industrial crops Technoeconomic Ethanol biorefinery concept Farm integration Canadian prairies ABSTRACT Triticale is an emerging bioenergy crop in Canada, with potential as a feedstock for the production of ethanol and co-products from both its grain and straw. This study evaluates the commercial potential of introducing triticale as an industrial feedstock crop in the Brown agroecological soil zone of the Canadian Prairies, a semi- arid area which accounts for the highest share of underutilized summerfallow in the region. The study approach includes determination of location parameters (potential triticale land area, feedstock collection radius, and transportation distance), on-farm triticale yield, on-farm production cost, and feedstock chemical composition. Subsequently, SuperPro ® Designer was used to develop and simulate two processes using both grain and straw: a) integrated process that ferments both pentose and hexose (Process I); b) single process involving fermentation of hexose sugars only, while pentose sugar is diverted for biogas production and then combined with lignin for power generation (Process II). Triticale on-farm yield is analyzed for the range 5.1–6.8 t ha -1 (which corre- sponds to 74–126 thousand ha of triticale area). Triticale on-farm production cost is $473 ha -1 with corre- sponding on-farm profit of $570–$1150 ha -1 from grain and straw sale. The integrated grain and straw pro- cessing model is developed and simulated for a 200–550 million L annum -1 ethanol biorefinery, with corresponding total capital investment cost of $140–$240 million. Fermenting both grain and straw and using hydrothermal pretreatment for straw resulted a lower equipment purchase cost per litre of ethanol ($0.12–$0.14 L -1 ) compared with cellulosic ethanol production using other pretreatment methods ($0.60–$1.24 L -1 ). The process involving fermentation of both pentose and hexose (Process I) is more profitable compared with a hexose-only process (Process II). Ethanol selling price, plant capacity, and feedstock cost all have high impact on net present value. All plants generate negative net present value at ethanol prices of $0.60 L -1 or less, while a price of at least $0.80 L -1 is required for plants with capacity higher than 250 million L to generate positive net present value. This study provides a basis for further articulation of Canada’s triticale biorefinery concept beyond the near-term goal of producing ethanol, namely, sustainable production of a wide array of bioproducts (bioenergy, biofuels, biomaterials, biochemicals, and biologics) to enhance the profitability of the triticale biorefinery and contribute to Canada’s environmental goals for a bio- based economy. 1. Introduction Triticale (×Triticosecale) is being developed as Canada’s industrial cereal crop and biorefinery feedstock in the context of the government’s clean energy and bioproduct strategies for agri-based feedstocks that minimize competition with food and livestock feed use (AAFC, 2014). Triticale could support near term goals for sustainable production of ethanol currently dominated by food crop feedstocks such as wheat (Triticum aestivum) and corn (Zea mays). It could also contribute to the attainment of environmental targets for abating greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from fossil fuels, especially from the transportation sector which is Canada’s second largest contributor of GHG emissions (after the oil and gas sector), accounting for 23% of total national emissions (Environment and Climate Change Canada, 2011, 2016). Within this context, triticale has several advantages. First, it is a non-food crop and hence would directly substitute current uses of corn and wheat for ethanol and co-product production. Second, Canadian breeding and agronomic research to advance this crop (Beauchet et al., https://doi.org/10.1016/j.indcrop.2018.02.070 Received 9 February 2017; Received in revised form 21 February 2018; Accepted 23 February 2018 ⁎ Corresponding author at: Bioproducts and Bioprocesses, Science and Technology Branch, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, Government of Canada, Saskatoon Research and Development Centre, 107 Science Place, Saskatoon, SK, S7N0X2, Canada. E-mail addresses: Edmund.Mupondwa@agr.gc.ca, Edmund.Mupondwa@usask.ca (E. Mupondwa). Industrial Crops & Products 117 (2018) 75–87 0926-6690/ Crown Copyright © 2018 Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. T