new crops for biofuel/bioproduct production sorghum july - september august - march complementary...
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New Crops for Biofuel/BioproductProduction
Donal F. Day
Professor, LSU AgCenter
K E Y T E C H N I C A L G O A L S
• Suitable crops
• Low input farming
• Fermentable sugars
• Biomass sugars
• Sugars to fuels
• Economics/investment
S T A T U S
The Deep South has the climate, land and infrastructure to produce 50% of the Biofuel feedstocks for the United States
AFRI-CAP Program # 2011-69005-30515
Useful Parameters for Biofuel CropsI D E A L
• Year round availability
• High yield
• Wide range
• Low-input
• Minimal agricultural and environmental disruption
• Economic sustainability
R E A L I T Y
• Crops have a single harvest
• Species variable
• Climate and water requirement
• Soil fertility maintenance
• Replacement of existing crop cover may affect wildlife and water run-off
• Dependent on oil prices and by-product values
Sweet Sorghum July - September
August - March
Complementary Crops with similar harvest and processing
Bagasse, syrup,woodchips,molasses, etc.
Energycane
Month Sorghum E-caneCommercial
sugar Other
Jan
Feb
Mar
Apr Bagasse
May Bagasse
Jun Bagasse
Jul
Aug
Sept
Oct
Nov
Dec
Year round feedstock supply
Sept. 1st Stubble – Courtesy of Chris Adams.
Energycane- a perennial cropHas a sugar containing juice
Experimental Production sites
• Sites were established in different soil and climatic zones in Louisiana for growing energycane and sweet sorghum.
2” 3” 4”
Soilsurface
2.5"down
Residue 28.5 36.1
Burn 18.5 35.2
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
Tem
pera
ture
°F
Soil depth packed on
top of seed cane
insulates against cold
temperatures.
January 29-30th, 2014, Chacahoula
(Air temp low 20.6 °F,
wind chill 13.0 °F)
Date of Harvest
ChacahoulaVarieties
Ho 02-113
L 79-1002
Ho 72-114
Ho 00-961
Ho 01-07
Ho 02-144
Ho 02-147
Ho 06-9001
Ho 06-9002
Ho 08-9076
HoCP 04-838
HoCP 96-540
Harvest Date
August
Sept.
Oct.
Nov.
Dec.
Jan.
Feb.
Mar.
01-07
1002 113 114 144 147 540 838 9001 9002 9076 961
Adj cell 0.71 0.83 0.77 0.81 0.79 0.76 0.64 0.62 0.83 0.83 0.84 0.76
0.00
0.10
0.20
0.30
0.40
0.50
0.60
0.70
0.80
0.90
1.00
% C
ellu
los
e
Cellulose = fiber/brix+fiber
D*
AC
B
FE
CB
C
A A A
*Bars with the same letter are not different at the P<0.0001 level.
Aug Sept Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar
yield 52 57 65 55 51 43 40
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
To
ns/A
cre
(A
s-I
s)
BC
D
EE
Date of HarvestYield 2013-2014
CD*B
A
*Bars with the same letter are not different at the P<0.0001 level.Courtesy Paul While
Dry Matter Yield 2013-2014
Aug Sept Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar
DM 13.4 18.3 24.1 22.8 21.1 18.0 17.0
0.0
5.0
10.0
15.0
20.0
25.0
30.0
To
ns/A
cre
(D
ry M
att
er)
D*
C
AA
C C
B
*Bars with the same letter are not different at the P<0.0001 level.
Energycane Production Summary
• Dry matter yields of 9 tons/acre with very minimal inputs on marginal
land.
• 7 Over 8 months, deliverable feedstock (dry matter)
was between 9 – 16 tons/acre.
• Most e-canes tested pass EPA cellulose limits
(>75%).
• So far nitrogen affects are limited, but it may be
more important in stubble crops.
• Annual crop• Contains, a sugar
containing juice, starch containing seed heads and fiber
• 90-120 day crop cycle, can be grown across target region
• Gross structure similar to sugarcane
• Can be widely grown across Southern US
• About 6,000 acres required to sustain processing plant for 3 months
Sweet Sorghum
Harvesting initiated at hard-dough stage
• Dry-weight biomass yield ranged from approximately 1.0 ton/A to > 9.0 tons/A and fermentable sugar yields have ranged from < 1.0 tons/A to > 3 tons/A.…. Considerably less yield in years 2 and 3, which may be due to N leaching and cool/wet springs.
Planting hybrids of different maturity (90-days to 150-days) from early April to June allowed for the harvesting from late July through October (Viator)
C O M P A R I S O N O F 9 0 - D A Y H Y B R I D T O 1 2 0 - D A Y H Y B R I D
C O M P A R I S O N O F 9 0 - D A Y H Y B R I D T O 1 5 0 - D A Y H Y B R I D
Varieties supplied by CERES
Sweet sorghum production following legume incorporation in the soil (low input testing)
Issues of Concern
L O D G I N G E R G O T
Crop Comparison
Energycane
Harvest time(months) 7
Ag Inputs none
Planting perennial
Acres/1000t/day factory
8,000
Growth in non-traditional regions
yes
Dry ton/acre 9-16
Sweet sorghum
Harvest time(months) 3
Ag Inputs None*
Planting annual
Acres/1000t/day factory
6,000
Growth in non-traditional regions
yes
Dry ton/acre 1 -9
*fallow with clover
Potential Feedstock Production Acreage(Idle Cropland Acres)
4 (7,000-9,999 acres)
3 (4,000-6,999 acres)
2 (1,000-3,999 acres)
5 (> 10,000 acres )
1 (< 1,000 acres)
1.3 million acres of idle cropland in AR, LA and MS
Crop choices ( Approximate Sugars Yields)
Wetton/acre
51
lbs simpleSugar/ton
123.6
lbs complexSugar/ton
362.3
Total lbsSugar/acre
12,633
Wet ton/acre 20
lbs simpleSugar/ton
184.1
lbs complexSugar/ton
186.4
Total lbsSugar/acre
7,410
Energycane Sweet Sorghum
Meets EPA requirement for RFS Does not meet EPA requirement
Estimated Value of Fermentable sugars from Crops
Crop Lbs FS/wetton
$ @ 0.08/lb Lbs dry biomass/ton
$@$65/ton
Energycane 124 9.92 270 8.77
Sweetsorghum
184 14.72 130 4.23
tons/acre FS $/acre Biomass$/acre
Gross value/acre est.
Energycane 51 505.92 447.27922.64*
953.191427.91*
Sweet sorghum
17 250.24 71.91121.92*
322.15372.18*
*value of complex sugars in biomass
Sugar Syrups
Thanks to the many researchers who contributed to this project