The goal of this study is to evaluate, on equal terms, the economic and technical viability of a range of scenarios for converting sweet sorghum into valuable products. This analysis will allow meaningful comparison of the alternatives, identify the most promising scenarios, and also the largest opportunities for improving process economics.
Over the past thirty years there has been considerable interest in using sorghum as a feedstock for fuel and chemicals production. "Sweet" sorghum varieties appear particularly attractive because their high sugar content provides a readily available substrate for fermentative organisms. This study is focusing on the viability of systems of production, harvest, storage, preprocessing and processing of sweet sorghum biomass. Rapid processing or preprocessing of this perishable and annually harvested feedstock and integration with year-round manufacturing facilities is the type of challenge inherent in a sorghum feedstock that must be addressed if sorghum is to be a viable source of fuel and/or chemicals. This project is estimating the economic viability of different sorghum supply and processing scenarios and quantify the trade-offs between feedstock characteristics, costs, and processing methods.
Publications
Bennett, A. S. and R. P. Anex. Farm-gate Production Costs of Sweet Sorghum as a Bioethanol Feedstock. Accepted for publication Transactions of the ASABE, Feb 2008.