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