Author: Brett R. Weeden
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Raw materials
Languages : en
Pages : 30

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Author: David Scott Horton (II)
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Alcohol as fuel
Languages : en
Pages :

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Book Description
Petroleum prices have made alternative fuel crops a viable option for ethanol production. Sweet sorghum [Sorghum bicolor] is a non-food crop that may produce large quantities of ethanol with minimal inputs. Eleven cultivars were planted in 2008 and 2009 as a half-season crop. Four-row plots 6.9 m by 0.5 m, were monitored bimonthly for °Brix, height, and sugar accumulation. Yield and extractable sap were taken at the end of season. Stalk yield was greatest for the cultivar Sugar Top (4945 kg ha -1) and lowest for Simon (1054 kg ha−1). Dale ranked highest ethanol output (807 L ha−1) while Simon (123 L ha−1) is the lowest. All cultivars peak Brix accumulation occurs in early October. Individual sugar concentrations indicated sucrose is the predominant sugar with glucose and fructose levels dependent on cultivar. Supplemental ethanol in fermented wort was the best preservative tested to halt degradation of sorghum wort.

Author: P. Srinivasa Rao
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN: 8132207831
Category : Technology & Engineering
Languages : en
Pages : 134

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A number of driving forces, including the soaring global crude oil prices and environmental concerns in both developed and developing nations has triggered a renewed interest in the recent years on the R&D of biofuel crops. In this regard, many countries across the globe are investing heavily in the bioenergy sector for R&D to increase their energy security and reduce their dependence on imported fossil fuels. Currently, most of the biofuel requirement is met by sugarcane in Brazil and corn in the United States, while biodiesel from rapeseed oil in Europe. Sweet sorghum has been identified as a unique biofuel feedstock in India since it is well adapted to Indian agro-climatic conditions and more importantly it does not jeopardize food security at the cost of fuel. Sweet sorghum [Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench] is considered as a SMART new generation energy crop as it can accumulate sugars in its stalks similar to sugarcane, but without food¬¬-fuel trade-offs and can be cultivated in almost all temperate and tropical climatic conditions and has many other advantages. The grain can be harvested from the panicles at maturity. There is no single publication detailing the agronomic and biochemical traits of tropical sweet sorghum cultivars and hybrid parents. Hence, an attempt is made in this publication- “Characterization of improved sweet sorghum cultivars” to detail the complete description of cultivars. This book serves as a ready reference on the detailed characterization of different improved sweet sorghum genotypes following the PPVFRA guidelines for the researchers, entrepreneurs, farmers and other stakeholders to identify the available sweet sorghum cultivars and understand their yield potential in tropics.

Author: Stanley S. Roberts
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Alcohol as fuel
Languages : en
Pages : 126

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Author: Michael Joseph William Maw
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Biomass energy
Languages : en
Pages : 133

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Book Description
Sweet sorghum has the potential in Missouri for production as a biofuel feedstock, but little is known of the crop's yields and appropriate nitrogen management for optimizing ethanol yields. This thesis is a collection of three field studies examining the potential for sweet sorghum (Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench) to be adopted as a biofuel feedstock for ethanol production in the Midwestern U.S. Limited research exists examining the optimum nitrogen fertilizer rate for maximum ethanol yields as well as sweet sorghum's adaptability to the lower Midwestern states. The first study included testing the effects of five N fertilizer rates (0, 56, 112, 168, 224 kg-N ha-1) on the production of two sweet sorghum cultivars (Dale and Top 76-6) over three years in central Missouri. Yields measured included dry matter, stem juice, Brix, fermentable sugar, theoretical juice ethanol, theoretical lignocellulosic ethanol, and total theoretical ethanol. N fertilizer treatment mostly increased yields, as total dry matter yield averaged 16.8 Mg ha-1, fermentable sugar yield averaged 1055 kg ha-1, and total ethanol yield averaged 5828 L ha-1 . The optimal range for N fertilizer rates was between 112 and 168 kg N ha-1. The second study included determining the above-ground plant N concentration, plant N content, N recovery efficiency, and physiological N-use efficiency of sorghum from the first study. Nitrogen treatment significantly affected plant N concentration and N content. Greater yields resulted in greater N recovery efficiency but did not always result in greater N-use efficiency. The optimum range for highest nitrogen recovery and use efficiencies was identified as 0-112 kg N ha-1 . The purpose of the third study was to better understand sweet sorghum's affect on soil organic carbon. This involved comparing the effects of an alternative sweet sorghum--soybean (Glycine max L.) rotation to a maize (Zea mays L.)--soybean rotation at three study sites in Missouri and Arkansas on yields, soil organic carbon, the labile soil carbon fraction and the physically-stabilized fraction. Sweet sorghum ethanol yields were greater than maize yields across sites, but the soil carbon similarly decreased regardless of crop and location. Sweet sorghum is a high-yielding biomass feedstock that shows promise for production in Missouri, especially in marginal lands. With proper nitrogen fertilizer management sweet sorghum is shown to be an efficient plant for ethanol yield, but it may negatively affect soil organic carbon following land-use changes for biofuel production.

Author: Rebecca J. Corn
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages :

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Book Description
Sweet sorghum (Sorghum bicolor) has potential as a bioenergy feedstock due to its high yield potential and the production of simple sugars for fermentation. Sweet sorghum cultivars are typically tall, high biomass types with juicy stalks and high sugar concentration. These sorghums can be harvested, milled, and fermented to ethanol using technology similar to that used to process sugarcane. Sweet sorghum has advantages in that it can be planted by seed with traditional planters, is an annual plant that quickly produces a crop and fits well in crop rotations, and it is a very water-use efficient crop. Processing sweet sorghum is capital intensive, but it could fit into areas where sugarcane is already produced. Sweet sorghum could be timed to harvest and supply the sugar mill during the off season when sugarcane is not being processed, be fit into crop rotations, or used in water limiting environments. In these ways, sweet sorghum could be used to produce ethanol in the Southern U.S and other tropical and subtropical environments. Traditionally, sweet sorghum has been grown as a pureline cultivar. However, these cultivars produce low quantities of seed and are often too tall for efficient mechanical harvest. Sweet sorghum hybrids that use grain-type seed parents with high sugar concentrations are one way to overcome limitation to seed supply and to capture the benefits of heterosis. There are four objectives of this research. First to evaluate the importance of genotype, environment, and genotype-by-environment interaction effects on the sweet sorghum yield and composition. The second objective is to determine the presence and magnitude of heterosis effects for traits related to sugar production in sweet sorghum. Next: to study the ability of sweet sorghum hybrids and cultivars to produce a ratoon crop and determine the contribution of ratoon crops to total sugar yield. The final objective is to evaluate variation in composition of sweet sorghum juice and biomass. Sweet sorghum hybrids, grain-type sweet seed parents, and traditional cultivars that served as male parents were evaluated in multi-environment trials in Weslaco, College Station, and Halfway, Texas in 2007 and 2008. Both genotype and environment influenced performance, but environment had a greater effect than genotype on the composition of sweet sorghum juice and biomass yield. In comparing performance, elite hybrids produced fresh biomass and sugar yields similar to the traditional cultivars while overcoming the seed production limitations. High parent heterosis was expressed among the experimental hybrids for biomass yield, sugar yield and sugar concentration. Additional selection for combining ability would further enhance yields and heterosis in the same hybrid. Little variation was observed among hybrids for juice and biomass composition suggesting that breeding efforts should focus on yield before altering plant composition.

Author: Yi-Hong Wang
Publisher: CRC Press
ISBN: 1482210096
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 366

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Book Description
Sorghum is one of the hardiest crop plants in modern agriculture and also one of the most versatile. Its seeds provide calorie for food and feed, stalks for building and industrial materials and its juice for syrup. This book provides an in-depth review of the cutting-edge knowledge in sorghum genetics and its applications in sorghum breeding. Each

Author: Gary John Gascho
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Agriculture and energy
Languages : en
Pages : 35

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Book Description
Studies were conducted to evaluate the potential of sweet sorghum as a fuel ethanol feedstock for the southern coastal plain. Several cultural aspects were studied and a methol for rapid evaluation of the fermentable sugar concentrtions in the stalks was developed. The major findings of the studies were. 1. Wray, M81E, and MN1500 were the highest yielding early, medium, and late-maturing cultivars tested. Because of its high sugar concentration and resistance to lodging, Wray was the best single cultivar. 2. On the better agricultural soils of the area, the yield potential is five to six metric tons of total sugars per hectare. 3. The best planting time is in early May. Yields are reduced in plantings after mid-May because of early maturity and damage from the fall armyworm (Spodoptera frugiperda (J.E. Smith). The best harvest time is at the soft, to hard-dough stages of the seed. To maintain a constant supply of high-yielding sweet sorghum for a fuel ethanol plant, it was demonstrated the combinations of cultivars, planting dates, and harvest stages resulted in 95% of maximum sugar yield over a four-month period. 5. Nutrient requirements for sweet sorghum were low in comparisons to corn. No response to P or K was found when the soil test was high or medium for the elements, respectively. For a medium P soil test, yield responses were obtained to at least 25 kg P/ha. For a low K test, response was obtained to 186 kg K/ha. Response was obtained to about 100 kg N/ha. The N application should be split, with about one-half to two-thirds applied as a sidedressing when the sorghum is 30 to 60 cm high. No response was found to a 10-34-0 starter fertilizer, but the P soil test was high in this study. 6. The actual removal of nutrients by a sweet sorghum crop was determined to be 1,5 kg/MT fresh stalks for N, 0.3 for P, 1.8 for K, 0,6 for Ca and 0,3 for Mg. 7. No yield advantage was found in decreasing the row sapcing from 90 cm nor was there as advantage to increasing the population above 75 thousand plants per hectare. 8. The best control of annual grasses was obtained with a propazine plus metolachlor treatment. 9. No positive responses were found to the application of several growth regulators. 10. As automated analysis for determining the concentrations of total sugars in fresh or frozen sweet sorghum stalks was developed using an AutoAnalyzer II.

Author: H.S. Latha
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 129

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Author: Kelly C. Freeman
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Sorghum
Languages : en
Pages : 36

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