Performance of Energycane Varieties for Power Generation and Biofuel Production

摘要

Interest in biofuel production from nonfood sources has prompted the development of high-yielding, dedicated energy crops such as energycane. Energycane varieties are high fiber sugarcane varieties that can potentially grow in more northerly climes and in marginal lands with minimal inputs. Fermentable sugars in energycane are as high as 78 percent of the sugar available in commercial sugarcane. There is an opportunity to extract these readily available fermentable sugars using roller mills or diffusers - similar to the processing of commercial sugarcane - and to use the fiber byproduct, or bagasse, as lignocellulosic biomass for release of additional fermentable sugars or for conversion into electricity. The southeastern UnitedStates can serve as the location for new biorefineries that use energycane as the primary feedstock, taking advantage of the knowledge base created by the well-established sugarcane industry.