https://www.gxu.edu.cn/info/1004/35111.htm
Guangxi produces over 60% of the total sugar output in China, making it a major production area for edible sugar both nationally and globally. The "sweet industry" is not only one of the pillar industries in Guangxi but also an important channel for increasing income and wealth for local people. On March 6, reporters learned from relevant departments at Guangxi University that the Green Sugar Production Team has made significant breakthroughs in the ecological recycling of sugarcane by-products. They are also developing key technologies for the entire industrial chain from an ecological balance perspective, significantly promoting the high-end, intelligent, and green development of the sugarcane industry, thereby actively contributing to rural revitalization and ecological civilization construction.
"Sugarcane is a typical C4 plant with an extremely high photosynthetic utilization rate, utilization rate of space, and economic coefficient, making it the second-largest 'carbon sequestration industry' after forestry," said Professor Li Kai from the School of Light Industry and Food Engineering at Guangxi University, who is also the director of the Engineering Research Center for Sugar Industry and Comprehensive Utilization, Ministry of Education, as well as the position scientist of National Sugar Industry Technology System. He pointed out that the planting and processing of sugarcane can generate a large number of by-products, such as sugarcane tops, leaves, bagasse, molasses, and filter mud. These organic by-products that are produced in large quantities with concentrated source and stable properties are easy to collect with low cost, making them suitable for industrialization. However, currently, these resources remain underutilized, failed to produce high value, resulting in low economic value or even becoming sources of pollution, which severely restricts the sustainable and healthy development of the sugarcane industry. For instance, most bagasse is used as boiler fuel, while only the cellulose in bagasse is utilized for pulping and papermaking, leading to high pollutant emissions in the process. Filter mud, as a solid waste, is either directly returned to the soil or made into low-end composite fertilizers, which have low fertilization efficiency and can easily cause secondary environmental pollution. Additionally, continuous monoculture and traditional fertilization methods, particularly excessive use of chemical fertilizers, have severely damaged the soil structure and ecology of sugarcane fields, exacerbating soil degradation and acidification, reducing fertilizer utilization rates, and causing imbalanced nutrient absorption in sugarcane, ultimately leading to lower yield and quality.
To address how to effectively manage the by-products generated from sugarcane planting and processing and reduce ecological damage, Professor Li Kai explained that the Green Sugar Production Team of Guangxi University has developed efficient, high-value, and high-end production technologies centered on modern biotechnology. This development is based on the environmental protection concept of "harmony among the four elements and development of the four repositories", utilizing by-products such as filter mud, molasses, bagasse, and sugarcane leaves as primary raw materials to achieve breakthrough progress.
So far, technologies for the industrial production of high-efficiency biological organic (solid and liquid) fertilizers and organic feeds based on self-screened, high-efficiency microbial fermentation strains have either achieved industrial application or entered the production trial phase. Practical applications or production trial results indicated that the microbial agents developed by the Green Sugar Production Team of Guangxi University could rapidly degrade and ferment bagasse, sugarcane leaves, and filter mud, shortening the fermentation cycle for filter mud-based fertilizers. This significantly enhanced the organic nutrients in fertilizers, turning by-products such as filter mud into high-quality materials for fertilizers or animal feed, while also notably reducing the emission of odorous gases during fermentation.
Furthermore, Li Kai explained that to fundamentally address the matters of soil degradation and acidification, the Green Sugar Production Team has developed a control model of nutrient limitation factor for sugarcane planting, tailored to the nutrient requirements at the rhizosphere of sugarcane, successfully creating a soil conditioner for acidic soils in sugarcane fields. Large-scale field trials have shown that this approach could increase sugarcane yields by 20-40%. Additionally, the team has developed specialized functional biological organic fertilizers for different crops based on their specific nutritional needs, which enhanced functions of nitrogen fixation, phosphorus solubilization, and potassium solubilization in crops. This not only effectively reduces fertilizer usage and costs but also increases soil organic matter, thereby improving soil fertility. So far, this technology has been applied in bases for dragon fruit and jasmine flowers, resulting in faster crop growth and significantly enhanced flowering effects.
The series of achievements by this team has significantly improved the efficiency and effectiveness of ecological recycling development chains such as “sugarcane-sugar production-filter mud-organic fertilizer-sugarcane” and “sugarcane-sugar production-by-products-feed-organic fertilizer-sugarcane”. This greatly promotes the ecological recycling of sugarcane industry by-products and supports rural revitalization and ecological development in Guangxi.
For high-quality development in the sugar industry, it is essential not only to focus on the ecological recycling of sugarcane by-products but also to develop key technologies across the entire industrial chain from an ecological balance perspective. A crucial focus is how to advance the development of green and diversified utilization technologies in the sugar industry, establishing a modern “sugarcane plus” industrial technology system that promotes green development levels in the sugar industry. Significantly reducing wastewater production in the sugar industry is also a vital approach to facilitate ecological civilization construction within the framework of high-quality development.
The Green Sugar Production Team of Guangxi University has always adhered to the principle of "innovation leading the future of sugar industry, healthily transforming the sweet world", with the goal of "reforming the traditional model of Chinese sugar industry and leading the innovation pattern of the global sugar industry". They are committed to the development of green and diversified utilization technologies in the sugar industry, constructing a modern “sugarcane plus” industrial technology system. The team has pioneered the membrane physical separation and clarification technology for sugarcane juice, achieving "zero additives" in sugar production, significantly advancing the green development levels of the sugar industry. They have created a “water-sugar” co-production model and are the first globally to achieve the commercial utilization of water-containing sugarcane, doubling the output value per ton of sugarcane while significantly reducing wastewater production in the sugar industry. The team has developed more than 20 technologies for enhancing traditional processes, which have been applied in over 100 sugar enterprises nationwide, demonstrating significant energy savings, reduced consumption, and low emissions. As a result, the standard coal consumption for producing 100 tons of sugarcane in China has decreased from approximately 5 tons to as low as 3.2 tons, and fresh water consumption for per ton of sugarcane has reduced from about 10 tons to less than 0.1 tons. The “zero water consumption” technology proposal has become the standard design for sugar factories across the country.
