Economic Evaluation of the Production Ethanol from Cassava Roots

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the prospective production of ethanol from cassava in Indonesia. The study was conducted in two parameters, engineering perspectives and economic evaluation that involves several economic parameters (e.g. gross profit margin, internal rate return, payback period, cumulative net present value, breakeven point, and profitability index on sales to investment). The engineering analysis results the potentiality of the ethanol production from cassava roots, using fermentation followed with distillation processes. This analysis was supported by the excellent obtainment of economic evaluation of GPM, BEP, PBP, and other analysis. However, the good profitability results were obtained only in the specific condition, in which the minimum requirement for the amount of cassava must be passed. Since cassava is highly abundant in tropical countries, the present analysis is important for giving knowledge for the further potential utilization of cassava.