We compared the production–ecological sustainability of biofuel production from several major crops that are also commonly used for production of food or feed, based on current production practices in major production areas. The set of nine sustainability indicators focused on resource use efficiency, soil quality, net energy production and greenhouse gas emissions, disregarding socio-economic or biodiversity aspects and land use change. Based on these nine production–ecological indicators and attributing equal importance to each indicator, biofuel produced from oil palm (South East Asia), sugarcane (Brazil) and sweet sorghum (China) appeared most sustainable: these crops make the most efficient use of land, water, nitrogen and energy resources, while pesticide applications are relatively low in relation to the net energy produced. Provided there is no land use change, greenhouse gas emissions of these three biofuels are substantially reduced compared with fossil fuels. Oil palm was most sustainable with respect to the maintenance of soil quality. Maize (USA) and wheat (Northwest Europe) as feedstock for ethanol perform poorly for nearly all indicators. Sugar beet (Northwest Europe), cassava (Thailand), rapeseed (Northwest Europe) and soybean (USA) take an intermediate position.

Resource use efficiency and environmental performance of nine major biofuel crops, processed by first-generation conversion techniques

Energy efficiency in the production and transportation of different kinds of biomass in Sweden has been analysed, as well as the change in energy efficiency in a transition from fossil-fuel-based to biomass-based systems. Net energy yields under current production conditions were found to be highest for short-rotation forest (Salix) and sugar beet (about 160 to 170 GJ ha-1 year-1), followed by ley crops (110 to 140 GJ ha-1 year-1), and rape, wheat, and potatoes (50 to 90 GJ ha-1 year-1). The energy input per unit biomass produced is lowest for straw, logging residues and Salix, equal to 4 to 5% of the energy output. Corresponding figures for perennial ley crops are 7 to 10% and for annual crops 15 to 35%. Salix chips can be transported by truck about 250 km before the transportation energ is equal to the production energy. Corresponding distances for tractor, train and boat (coastal shipping) are about 100 km, 500 km and 1000 km, respectively. It is estimated that future increases in yield and technological development will almost double net energy yields for dedicated energy crops within the next two decades. A transition from a fossil-fuel-based energy system to a CO2-neutral biomass-based system around the year 2015 is estimated to increase the energy input in biomass production and transportation by about 30 to 45%, resulting in a decreased net energy output of about 4%. (Less)

Energy Analysis of Biomass Production and Transportation

Features of sweet sorghum juice and their performance in ethanol fermentation

▪ Abstract An ultimate limit on the extent that biomass fuels can be used to displace fossil transportation fuels, and their associated emissions of CO2, will be the land area available to produce the fuels and the efficiencies by which solar radiation can be converted to useable fuels. Currently, the Brazil cane-ethanol system captures 33% of the primary energy content in harvested cane in the form of ethanol. The US corn-ethanol system captures 54% of the primary energy of harvested corn kernels in the form of ethanol. If ethanol is used to substitute for gasoline, avoided fossil fuel CO2 emissions would equal those of the substituted amount minus fossil emissions incurred in producing the cane- or corn-ethanol. In this case, avoided emissions are estimated to be 29% of harvested cane and 14% of harvested corn primary energy. Unless these efficiencies are substantially improved, the displacement of CO2 emissions from transportation fuels in the United States is unlikely to reach 10% using domestic biofu...

https://moritz.botany.ut.ee/~olli/b/Kheshgi00.pdf

THE POTENTIAL OF BIOMASS FUELS IN THE CONTEXT OF GLOBAL CLIMATE CHANGE: Focus on Transportation Fuels

Sweet sorghum is an attractive feedstock for ethanol production. The juice extracted from the fresh stem is composed of sucrose, glucose, and fructose and can therefore be readily fermented to alcohol. The solid fraction left behind, the so-called bagasse, is a lignocellulosic residue which can also be processed to ethanol. The objective of our work was to test sweet sorghum, the whole crop, as a potential raw material of ethanol production, i.e., both the extracted sugar juice and the residual bagasse were tested. The juice was investigated at different harvesting dates for sugar content. Fermentability of juices extracted from the stem with and without leaves was compared. Sweet sorghum bagasse was steam-pretreated using various pretreatment conditions (temperatures and residence times). Efficiency of pretreatments was characterized by the degree of cellulose hydrolysis of the whole pretreated slurry and the separated fiber fraction. Two settings of the studied conditions (190 °C, 10 min and 200 °C, 5 min) were found to be efficient to reach conversion of 85–90%.

Sweet sorghum as feedstock for ethanol production: enzymatic hydrolysis of steam-pretreated bagasse.

Energy analysis of ethanol production from sweet sorghum

Three systems for harvesting and processing sweet sorghum stalks to produce juice for fermentation to ethanol were compared using computer simulation. The costs are estimated at $0.56, $0.63, and $0.87/L of potential ethanol for Systems A, B, and C, respectively. The difference between Systems A and B was primarily due to the estimated values of the by-products produced by the systems, and since these values have not been thoroughly established, it was recommended that research continue on both System A and System B. Improvements in juice sugar levels from 15° to 18° Brix, and/or whole-stalk yields from 42 to 60 Mg/ha would significantly lower costs for all systems. KEYWORDS. Sweet sorghum, Harvesting, Processing, Ethanol.

J. W. Worley

Papers

Energy analysis of ethanol production from sweet sorghum

System analysis of sweet sorghum harvest for ethanol production in the Piedmont.

Comparison of harvesting and transport issues when biomass crops are handled as hay vs silage

Potential economic return from fiber residues produced as by-products of juice expression from sweet sorghum

Methods of separating pith from chopped sweet sorghum stalks.