Energy crop company Ceres, Inc. and the Texas Agricultural Experiment Station (TAES) of The Texas A&M University System announced today that they have entered into an exclusive, multi-year joint research and commercialization agreement for high-biomass sorghum. The plants are not designed to produce grain, but rather vast amounts of biomass - the raw material for a new generation of biofuels made from stems, stalks and leaves. the precursors to hybrids - can approach 20 feet (6 meters) under favorable conditions, and could produce more than 2,000 gallons of ethanol per acre (18,800 liters per hectare) - more than four times the current starch-to-ethanol process
Today, sorghum-to-ethanol production uses the grain, like corn, but the plants themselves hold the greatest potential for biofuel production. New thermochemical and biochemical conversion technologies are making it possible to utilize the entire plant, including its carbohydrates that comprise plant cell walls, namely cellulose.
Sorghum produces high yields, is naturally drought tolerant and can thrive in places that do not support corn and other food crops. Sorghum also fits into established production systems and is harvested the year it is planted, unlike perennial grasses, so it fits well in a crop mix with perennial species and existing crops, like cotton.
Today, sorghum-to-ethanol production uses the grain, like corn, but the plants themselves hold the greatest potential for biofuel production. New thermochemical and biochemical conversion technologies are making it possible to utilize the entire plant, including its carbohydrates that comprise plant cell walls, namely cellulose.
Sorghum produces high yields, is naturally drought tolerant and can thrive in places that do not support corn and other food crops. Sorghum also fits into established production systems and is harvested the year it is planted, unlike perennial grasses, so it fits well in a crop mix with perennial species and existing crops, like cotton.
- Dr. Bill Rooney, Plant scientist of the A&M System's Texas Agricultural Experiment Station (TAES)
As next-generation bioconversion technologies mature, farmers will transition from growing as much grain per hectare to producing as much biomass as they can per hectare, with as little energy and agronomic inputs as possible. This means new crops and specialized hybrids like high-biomass sorghum types will be needed.
A pioneer in developing high-biomass sorghum, Dr. Bill Rooney's first breeding lines -
A pioneer in developing high-biomass sorghum, Dr. Bill Rooney's first breeding lines -