Bioethanol Production from Biomass of Selected Sorghum Varieties Cultivated as Main and Second Crop

Jolanta Batog,Jakub Frankowski,Aleksandra Wawro,Agnieszka Łacka

doi:10.3390/en13236291

Jolanta Batog, Jakub Frankowski + Show 2 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3390/en13236291

Copy DOI

Abstract

In recent years, there has been a dynamic development of alternative energy sources and the use of plant biomass for the production of bioenergy is one of the possibilities of improving the energy mix. Therefore, it is worth reaching for new, less popular and perspective solutions, which certainly include sorghum, a drought-resistant plant with a high yielding potential and various applications in the bioeconomy. The aim of the research was to determine the amount of bioethanol obtained from the biomass of three sorghum varieties (Rona 1, Santos, Sucrosorgo 506) grown in the main and second crop for three years in the temperate climate typical of Central and Eastern Europe. The yields of sorghum cultivars grown as main and second crops, chemical components of sorghum biomass (cellulose, hemicellulose, lignin) and the amount of ethanol per a ton of dry matter of straw and ethanol yield per hectare were evaluated. The experiments and research carried out show, especially in the second year, that the Sucrosorgo 506 variety can be recommended for the cultivation of biomass and its use for the production of lignocellulosic ethanol is effective, both in main and second crop cultivation. The discussed results were confirmed by detailed statistical analysis, incl. principal component analysis (PCA) and cluster analysis. To sum up, the production of bioethanol from sorghum biomass is possible in temperate climate and it does not compete with the production of food due to the possibility of growing sorghum after rye.

Highlights

The changes of environmental and climate conditions as well as the economic growth and an increase in energy consumption have led to the intensification of research on the alternative fuels to replace fossil fuels [1,2]
The chemical components of sorghum biomass were evaluated i.e., cellulose acc. to TAPPI T17 m-55, hemicellulose as the difference holocellulose acc. to TAPPI T9 m-54 and cellulose, as well as lignin acc. to TAPPI T13 m-54 [35,36,37], moisture by the dried method, and ash according to Tappi DIN 51,731 [38]
Based on the obtained results it can be concluded that Rona 1 and Sucrosorgo 506 straw had higher ethanol values harvested as a main and second crops compared to Santos variety, while for higher ethanol values harvested as a main and second crops compared to Santos variety, while all of the three tested cultivars higher amounts of ethanol per ton from the main crop than from the for all of the three tested cultivars higher amounts of ethanol per ton from the main crop than from second crop were observed

Summary

Introduction

The changes of environmental and climate conditions as well as the economic growth and an increase in energy consumption have led to the intensification of research on the alternative fuels to replace fossil fuels [1,2]. One of the possibilities of improving the energy mix is the use of plant biomass for bioenergy production It is worth reaching for new solutions such as utilization of less popular but perspective crops, including sorghum (Sorghum L.). The popularity of sorghum occurs due to its drought resistance [7,8,9], high yield potential [10,11] and various applications in the economy. This plant provides a wide range of food [12,13,14], industrial [15,16] and energy applications [17,18]

Objectives

Methods

Conclusion