Posted on 05/14/2008 11:00:00 AM PDT by FreeAtlanta
LUBBOCK, Texas - Sweet sorghum is grown in the U.S. for cooking and livestock feed. But the tall plant also might help at the gas pump.
A sugary sap inside the plant's stalk, which grow as tall as 12 feet, can be turned into a potent biofuel, and experts and companies are studying its potential with hopes that farmers will want to plant more of it.
Ethanol made from the stalk's juice has four times the energy yield of the corn-based ethanol, which is already in the marketplace unlike sweet sorghum. Sweet sorghum produces about eight units of energy for every unit of energy used in its production. That's about the same as sugarcane but four times as much as corn.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
Yes, but I bet we’ll all still be paying 4.00 at the gas pump or more even with this additive.
Where I live most stations have gas in all blends with 10% ethanol right now......and the prices haven’t dropped one penny. Why should they? I’m paying for a diluted product that’s doing God knows what kind of possible damage to my vehicle’s engine not to mention performance hit....but I’m paying just as much as if it were pure gasoline.
Yeah, I know......conspiracy theory. Whatever.
No mention of price or gallons per acre?
plus the residue after syrup extraction can be used for methane production (quite degradable)
Is this the same as milo?
The biggest problem I see is that the stalks are heavy and the juice is dilute. You would either need processing plants very close to where the plants are grown or transportation costs are going to kill it.
It makes really good molasses though
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.