"Will Sweet Sorghum Save Us?" - ABC News report on a crop with higher ethanol output than corn -

[JohnWxy]

despite the rather histrionic headline (no one crop or thechnology is likely to SAVE us, at least in the near term) Sweet Sorghum is receiving considerable attention (though this is the first I know of it being reported on Corporate media - the LAST PLACE TO GO for news.) as another source for Ethanol. I reported here how an Indian research body is promoting sweet sorghum as a bio-fuel.

I looked on the ABC News web-site and couldn't find a tape of their report they broadcast Sunday but they did have a link to an AP article on Sweet Sorghum .

A sugary sap inside the plant's stalk, which grow as tall as 12 feet, can be turned into a potent biofuel, and experts and companies are studying its potential with hopes that farmers will want to plant more of it.

Ethanol made from the stalk's juice has four times the energy yield of the corn-based ethanol, which is already in the marketplace unlike sweet sorghum. Sweet sorghum produces about eight units of energy for every unit of energy used in its production. That's about the same as sugarcane but four times as much as corn.

"I think it can be a piece of the puzzle" as a biofuel crop, said Danielle Bellmer, executive secretary of the Sweet Sorghum Ethanol Association and an Oklahoma State University researcher studying ways to improve stalk pressing and fermentation methods. "The real issue is it's just not a well-known crop."

The crop has caught the attention of the U.S. Agriculture Department, which along with Texas A&M University is sponsoring a conference on its use as a biofuel in Houston in August.

What is also interesting about Sweet Sorghum is that it grows in semi-arid conditions not so suitable for corn and it doesn't have the fertilzer requirements that corn does.

NOTE: Last year we spent $285 Million in export subsidies for cotton (which was deemed an unfair trade pratice by the WTO and makes the U.S. subject to sanctions if we dont' stop them) to enable cotton growers to compete internationally. IF we stopped cotton export subsidies (resulting in cotton being unprofitable to grow) and this land was devoted to Sweet Sorghum it would add an area just about equal to the area planted to corn for ethanol in 2006.

HOwever, we would have to consult with people and Texas A&M University or Oklahoma State University and possibly International Crops Research Institute For the SemiArid Tropics (ICRISAT) to apply known techniques of making Ethanol from Sweet Sorghum.

“Sweet sorghum provides an opportunity for developing countries to re-direct oil money that used to go overseas back into their own rural economies,” says Dr. William Dar, Director General of the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT), one of the 15 allied centers supported by the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR).

“We consider sweet sorghum an ideal ‘smart crop’ because it produces food as well as fuel,” Dr. Dar adds. “With proper management, smallholder farmers can improve their incomes by 20% compared to alternative crops in dry areas in India.”

In partnership with Rusni Distilleries and some 791 farmers in Andhra Pradesh, India, ICRISAT helped to build and operate the world’s first commercial bioethanol plant, which began operations in June 2007. Locally produced sweet sorghum is used as feedstock.

The process is simple. To produce ethanol, the sorghum stalks are crushed yielding sweet juice that is fermented and distilled to obtain bioethanol, a clean burning fuel with a high octane rating.
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It is also easier and cheaper to grow sweet sorghum than other biofuel crops in India. Sweet sorghum grows on “free” rainwater, whereas sugarcane requires costly irrigation. Sweet sorghum is also more water-efficient: sugarcane consumes two and a half units of water to produce one unit of ethanol, whereas sweet sorghum produces one unit of ethanol from one unit of water.

Sweet Sorghum is being studied in Australia as a crop to cycle with sugar cane.

comments on Sweet Sorghum from a Univ of Nebraska researcher: http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2028146/posts

No, no one technology is going to SAVE us, but Sweet Sorghum could help increase the supply of Ethanol which displaces some of the gasoline we buy and could help moderate the price gas AND do this in the near term.)

[liberal N proud]

1. Will farmers substitute sorghum for corn

Thus reducing the amount of corn produced. It would have the same effect as using corn for fuel.

[JohnWxy]

2. It might reduce the amount of corn produced for ethanol but S Sorghum also grows in semi-arid

conditions not suitable for corn (such as some of the areas where cotton is grown) thus adding to total acreage and with a more productive crop.

I dont' know if farmers would substitute for SS since corn produces ethanol AND a food crop (the protein content of the corn is captured and becomes Dried Distillers Grains and Grain Solubles DDGS) which is a feed for animals that is better than the corn it replaces.

with corn to ethanol there is no loss to the food supply.


The more ethanol is made the more it will hold down the price of gasoline which will hold down the price rises of everything including food. The real culprit in food price increases as well as everything else is the rise in the price of petroleum.

the real increase in ethanol production occurred from 2006 to 2007. The number of acres planted to corn (total) more than made up for the additional acres devoted to corn for ethanol. In 2008 Dept of Agriculture predicted a decline in the acres for corn, why, becuase wheat was even more profitable to grow than corn! And NOBODY IS MAKING FUEL FROM WHEAT DESPITE WHAT THE HEAD OF THE WORLD BANK THINKS.

Most of the places in the world where the food price increases were the worst import most of their food. Imported food across the seas and ships run on diesel fuel which went up more than gasoline!

[Clovis Sangrail]

3. switchgrass should get more attention

easier/cheaper to grow, more energy per acre, and it doesn't need to displace a food or feed crop.

http://www.pbs.org/newshour/updates/science/jan-june08/switchgrass_01-11.html

I don't think it is an answer by itself, but we could be growing massive amounts of switchgrass on highway medians and unused land with little effort.

[JohnWxy]

4. Very interesting for the future but this is cellulosic ethanol which they are working on by bringing

the cost of enzymes down to make it economically practical. Until that has been acheived we better do something to try to keep the price of gas down as much as we can. Else we are headed for a worldwide DEPRESSION.

Many are hoping cellulosic ethanol can become economical in 5 to 6 yrs. But even if that target is met it will take 10 to 15 years to build up the cellulosic production. Until that time we want to produce ethanol in those ways that are working.

[Clovis Sangrail]

5. economic feasibility will likely be reached long before that

that's not to say there aren't issues or that it's a sole solution.

I'm a strong believer that the govt should use it's power to push required change.
ie: if we required all new construction to have solar the price of solar would drop and the efficiency would rise
same as if we required filling stations to start selling biofuels or some other measure that would kick start innovation and movement.

[JohnWxy]

6. The situation is critical. The Government needs to be aggressively involved in pushing

the development and availability of renewables. IF we don't get renewable fuels more readily available the cost of gas is going to causse a world wide depression. Beyond that of course we still have to develop alternatives like plug-in hybrids and fuel cells.

[Clovis Sangrail]

7. what I'm afraid of

is that the increased use of alternative fuels will push demand and price of fossil fuels down ... which will push demand back up

in the end it's a losing proposition to not get off of dirty fuels and we really need the govt to take the lead in forcing the issue. (on multiple fronts)

[JohnWxy]

9. I think that renewables will only slow the rise in fuel prices, possibly they could stop the rise

but I really doubt it (growth of China and India to great a pressure). I think the best we can hope for is too slow it down to a rate we can adapt to (new technologies require time to develop: Timeline for Volt plug-in hybrid).


on edit: another ineteresting technology is the direct injection ethanol enabled direct injection engine designed by three MIT scientiest and being developed by Ford. Planning on having it available in 2011, offers 25% to 30% reduction in gas consumption and only uses 5% ethanol with 95% gasoline. This means if all car and light trucks used this engine we could cut gasoline consumption close to 25% to 30% (larger trucks would still need to use diesel engines).

http://www.greencarcongress.com/2006/10/startup_working.html

[poopfuel]

8. hi John, yes sorghum is one viable option

But it's not for everyone. The point is sorghum is one of a multitude of crops that can be grown and make far more fuel with far less environmental damage than corn. And we need not jump to cellulose either. It's all in the feedstock section of Dave Blume's book.

http://www.alcoholcanbeagas.com?bid=2&aid=CD8&opt=

By the by, Dave Blume will be featured on Coast to Coast Radio this Thursday night for about three hours. Check it out, if you can. If you don't stay up late, it's on the Web.

[JohnWxy]

11. Thanks for the link and info re Blume on radio and web! Thank god for the web, Corporate media -

the LAST place to go for news. (a motto I'd like to popularize).

[Purveyor]

10. Since it is sweetcorn season in these parts, I've often wonder if corn has to be the ethanol crop

why is not 'sweet' corn planted instead of field corn.

Certainly its sugar content is many times that of field corn.

There must be a good reason, of course...

[Fledermaus]

12. Sweet!

[nariphaltan]

13. Sweet sorghum a wonder crop

Hello!

We are delighted that sweet sorghum is getting to be a mainstream crop worldwide including US. We have been working on this crop in India for the last 25 years and are happy that the work is now being recognised. Please access the following link http://www.nariphaltan.org/sorghum.pdf

Cheers. Nariphaltan

[JohnWxy]

14. thank you for the info and for your work with SS. Not only because it can be a source for ethanol

but also because it will be important to people in underdeveloped parts of the world (especially the semi-arid regions) in terms of giving them a crop that will provide an income for them.

AND, if we can ever get the tariff on imported sugar cut down maybe you could be a supplier of sugar to the U.S. (when you produce more than you need for your own needs)! Then people in India would have another source of income from exports!

I liked this from the paper at the link you provided:

"Since sorghum grain is the staple food grain in our part of India, further improvement in grain yield was attempted to get a dual-purpose crop giving high yields of grain and stem biomass. To achieve this, crossing was carried out between lines having high stalk yields, high brix of juice, property of retention of juiciness of stalk after grain maturity and lines giving high yield of pearly white grain as pollinators <8>. This resulted in production of sweet sorghum varieties capable of giving high yields of grain of acceptable quality and possessing juicy stalks high in sugar. The production of grain and sugar from the same plant are very important attribute since food and fuel can be produced simultaneously from the same piece of land."

[JohnWxy]

15. by the way welcome to DU. It's great to have input from someone outside the U.S.

[nariphaltan]

16. Thanks

Thanks for your kind sentiments. Please pass our message of sweet sorghum. All of us need to work together to make our world sustainable.

Cheers. nariphaltan