Plant used to make ethanol tested

SALISBURY -- There is an experiment under way on the Lower Shore to research the viability of sorghum as a more efficient ethanol-producing plant than traditional corn and sugarcane.

Salisbury University's department of biological sciences, in collaboration with Solar Fruits Biofuels, has scheduled a tour of the "Sweet Sorghum for Ethanol" field trials to unveil to the public the results of about four month's work.

Sweet sorghum is one of many varieties of sorghum that have a high sugar content. It looks like corn, but instead of tassels on top, sweet sorghum has clusters of many seeds. The seeds are small and round. The plant grows 6-12 feet high.

It has been highly cultivated in the United States since the 1850s for use in sweeteners, primarily in the form of sorghum syrup produced from sorghum canes.

However, sorghum's growing popularity can be explained by its influence on the oil industry.

For years, the United States has been looking for solutions to its foreign oil dependency. One of the solutions has become the production of ethanol as an additive to petroleum-based fuel.

According to the U.S. Department of Energy Web site, ethanol is an alcohol-based alternative fuel produced by fermenting and distilling simple sugars, mostly derived from starch crops, such as corn. The gas blend put in most cars contains about 10 percent ethanol. The federal government's aim is to increase that to 15 percent, and even more in the near future, to improve the environment and decrease the need for foreign oil.

After researchers identified sweet sorghum as a biomass crop for fermentation into methanol and ethanol fuel by squeezing the juice from its stalks, farmers around the country are beginning to plant the crop.

"Producing ethanol from sweet sorghum is less expensive and requires fewer steps than producing it from corn," said Samuel Geleta, a member of the SU research team. "The plant contains simple sugars and can directly ferment to produce ethanol without the need to convert starch into sugar before fermenting, which saves energy."

Sweet sorghum is also a low-maintenance crop that can grow on marginal, nonirrigated land. It doesn't require large amounts of fertilizer and needs only a minimal water, half of what is needed for growing sugar beets and three times less than the requirement for sugar cane or corn.

The plant grows rapidly in nearly all temperate climates. It takes 90-120 days to harvest as compared to the 12-14 months for sugarcane.

Sweet sorghum costs $1.74 to produce a gallon of ethanol, compared with $2.19 for sugarcane and $2.12 for corn, according to an article published by agribusinessweek.com

Because the grain of sweet sorghum is not used in the ethanol production, it does not have any impact on food prices and food security. With corn and sugar cane, it is the opposite. In the United States, this diversion of corn from food and fodder has produced an increase in bread, meat and egg prices, according to Web site.

Though sweet sorghum is not widely grown on Delmarva, except for observational purposes, interest has risen to further explore its use.

It's the driving force behind a new study of the plant and its varieties, which was launched by the Delmarva Sweet Sorghum for Ethanol Group that decided to experiment with it in the region. The seeds of eight varieties of sweet sorghum were planted to determine which would grow best on Delmarva. Seeds were provided by the University of Kentucky and University of Mississippi

The idea for the local experiment belongs to Lower Shore farmer Jeffrey Benner, who is also the present collaborator of the program.

Christopher Briand of Salisbury University said Benner was looking for collaboration to begin growing sweet sorghum as a feed stock for producing ethanol as he is interested in starting a biofuel business.

"Samuel Geleta and I responded," Briand said. "We decided that the first step needed was to do varietal field trials to determine for Delmarva which variety (or) varieties grew best and produced high volume and quality juice extracts that could be then fermented and distilled to produce ethanol."

After their first meeting in April, their proposal was approved by the Delmarva Sweet Sorghum for Ethanol Group.
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Geleta said they planted the first seeds in May on Benner's field, and by now three varieties have already been harvested.

"It is the first year of the experiment, and we still need a couple more years to see what kind is the best for our region," Geleta said. "This step is just the first stage of a long process."

This experiment could prove vital for our region because there are many gas-producing companies that use imported ethanol.

"The production of ethanol locally will definitely benefit lots of people," Briand said. "It will produce a lot of local jobs, will provide farmers with alternative crops and contribute to the use of energy-efficient cars in our area."

Everybody is welcome to look at the recent results of the experiment and hear more details about producing ethanol from sweet sorghum while touring Benner's field today.

"We just want to make people aware of the importance of this process, share our recent results with them and tell them more details about the project," Geleta said.

Source:delmarvanow