2 October, 2008

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New sugarcane and other cultivations varieties adapted to the region of USA by the Cost of the Gulf of Mexico are being developed for use in the ethanol production as an alternative that burns cleaner than the gasoline.Â

Scientific of the Agricultural Research Service (ARS), in collaboration with the Louisiana Agricultural Experimental Station (LAES) and the American Sugarcane League USA (ASCL), have already launched three new varieties of “energy sugarcane”. This name is derived of the high levels of sugar and fiber, which possibly could serve as complementary raw materials of the ethanol. Â

The non refined sugar processors now burn the fiber to generate the heat that propels the processes of squashing the stems and crystallizing the sugar, Edward Richard says, leader of the Sugarcane Research Unit maintained by the ARS in Houma, Louisiana. The extracted sucrose is sold for the consumption or it becomes into the ethanol. However, Richard hopes the biorefineries will also use the fiber when the technologies to transform the cellulose into the ethanol are economically viable.Â

The three new sugarcanes -one with a high fiber level and a low sucrose level, and two with high levels of both fiber and sucrose- were presented on April of 2007 by ARS, LAES and ASCL as part of a cooperative program of upbringing. The launchings also show the commitment of ARS of exploiting the specific cultivations to a region as raw materials that will support the located production of energy and biobased fuels.Â

The corn -especially in the region of the Mid West of USA- is a basic raw material for the ethanol production. But in the southern part of Louisiana, the conditions of the floor are more appropriate for the production of the sugarcane and the sweet sorghum. The sugarcane also offers a key prosecution advantage compared with the production of the ethanol with the help of the corn: The sugar of the canes don’t need to be derived of the starch using enzymes or cooking them. On the other hand, the sugar can be ferment directly immediately to the ethanol after the sugar is extracted of the shafts.Â

Richard calculates that the yields of an acre of one of the three new cane sugars could almost produce 1.240 gallons of ethanol if the sugar is used as much as the fiber. To extend the cultivation season and prosecution of the sugarcane, and to extend the production area more toward the north, his laboratory is also developing varieties of the cultivation that are tolerant to the cold.Â

By Jan Suszkiw

Source: ARS

This article is dated Thursday, October 2nd, 2008 5:41 pm under , Asagir, biorefinery, sugarcane.
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