(Sweet) Sorghum taking root as a source for ethanol - (in florida)

[JohnWxy]

http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/energy/environment/2008-07-30-ethanol-sorghum-florida_N.htm


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"You can see how they're growing. They're shooting right up," says Coniglio, president of Global Renewable Energy's ethanol division, walking with hands outstretched between rows of waving sweet sorghum. "You come out here every three days, and you can see the difference."

GRE planted this test crop April 5, and scientific testing is underway. If sugar content and tonnage per acre prove sufficient, the company hopes to grow 10,000 acres of sweet sorghum and build an ethanol distillery.

It requires approximately one-third of the water for irrigation and requires about one-third of the fertilizer. It survives very well in very hot, tropical, subtropical conditions," Nason told the Palm Coast City Council in May.

It recovers well from droughts when they end, he said. "It's one of the very hardy crops."

[Ian David]

1. Sorghum is a staple food in much of the developing world. n/t

[Warpy]

2. The beauty of sorgum is that the stalks, the waste product

left over after the animal feed has been separated, are useful for ethanol production. That's what makes it superior to using other food products like corn and sugar beets.

[JohnWxy]

3. most of the research on Sweet Sorghum has been done in India and other countries in the developing

world. http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=115x162473

more on Sweet Sorghum