Can Sorghum Solve the Biofuels Dilemma?

We all know there isn't a single solution to alternative energy or a perfect biofeul crop, but sweet sorghum, like sugar cane, makes a hella lot more sense for turning into ethanol than corn.
--###--

original-ips

DEVELOPMENT: Can Sorghum Solve the Biofuels Dilemma?
By Stephen Leahy

KORCULA, Croatia, May 13 (IPS) - A new crop that provides food, animal feed and fuel at the same time promises to help developing countries redirect money spent on oil imports to benefit their own farmers. Is sweet sorghum biofuel's "holy grail"?

Biofuels are widely blamed for driving food prices higher, sparking food riots in many countries. At least 25 percent of the U.S. maize crop is diverted to biofuel, and extensive areas in Indonesia, Malaysia, China and Brazil are also devoted to growing fuel rather than food.

With sweet sorghum, however, only the stalks are used for biofuel production, while the grain is saved for food or livestock feed. It is not in high demand in the global food market, and thus has little impact on food prices and food security.

"We consider sweet sorghum an ideal 'smart crop' because it produces food as well as fuel," said William Dar, director general of the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT).

"With proper management, smallholder farmers can improve their incomes by 20 percent compared to alternative crops in dry areas in India," Dar said in a statement.

ICRISAT worked with nearly 800 farmers in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh and Rusni Distilleries to build the world's first commercial bioethanol plant running on sorghum, which began operations in June 2007. Locally produced sweet sorghum is also used as feedstock.

~snip~
.
.
.
complete article here

at least by Corn or Wheat Belt standards. Arkansas or southern Africa, for example.

of iron, potassium, and other essential minerals that you do not get in refined sugar - so it makes a healthier sweetener than most (in the same category as honey, maple syrup, molasses, agave syrup, etc.)

It's still made and consumed by some folks in the South - and I'm sure there are lots of recipes
for baked goods made with it.

So, in all those aspects, plus the ones previously mentioned, it would be a good food AND cash crop.

is that there is not enough land to grow all of the crops to be used for fuel as well as for food.

From: http://www.energybulletin.net/19601.html




There will be no one, magic bullet that will free us from dependency on oil whether it may be biodiesel, solar, wind, or whatever. It will need to be a combination of many things as well as using what works best in any given location.

because biofuels will not keep an unsustainable way of life humming along.

suburbia is going to die. get out now.