10 - Sweet sorghum: a potential resource for bioenergy production

Abstract

Lignocellulosic biomass is a sustainable renewable energy source, having the potential to replace heat, power, fuel, materials, and chemicals that are derived from fossil-based material. The production of second-generation biofuels from lignin-derived biomass has significantly improved in the last decades, which offer both energy and environmental benefits. However, the destruction of polymeric framework of lignin into low molecular weight reactive moieties has proven challenging. Thus lower lignin and higher carbohydrate content crops have the advantage to produce a substantial quantity of biofuel. Among the various lignocellulosic feedstocks, sweet sorghum contains higher carbohydrate and energy content. Alternate bioenergy sources, namely, sugarcane and sugar beet, place an immense pressure on worldwide food markets, but the conflict between food versus fuel can be avoided by utilizing alternate substrate, that is, sweet sorghum. Although there are major obstacles in terms of yield and production of biofuel from sweet sorghum, with time it may possibly replace the huge share of the fossil fuels’ requirement to meet the rising energy demand. This chapter mainly focused on the production, distribution, and potential applications of sweet sorghum in production of biofuels and their value-added bioproducts, including pretreatment with the novel process to produce bioethanol and biogas.