John Adam

The Future of Ethanol

If you had bothered to read the links in my article you would have seen reference to new hybrid versions for use in India and other countries including the U.S.A. In the 19th century farmers in the Northern USA used molasses instead of expensive cane sugar. The people that run ADM very likely never heard of molasses from sweet sorghum. ADM first made inexpensive corn sweetener then ethanol. I doubt that the head executives at ADM know much about US agriculture or its history.

In Kentucky they produced over 1 million gallons of sorghum molasses in 1899. They used 1899 varieties that produced more juice than grain and harvested it with horse power and the implements they had then. They processed it like they process sugar cane now in Brazil, but with ancient equipment. When I was growing up I did listen to what my elders had to say even if some of them were old farmers.

I could mention another plant that George Washington grew and produced numerous products like sorghum, but you people would go crazy. That plant is another potential huge source for cellulose to sugar for butanol, ethanol, etc. It was also used for sails of ships and rope and also for its edible seeds. New varieties of this plant are grown all over the Earth, but not in the USA.

History is important. If you know how to feed questions to a search engine you can find answers on the WWW.



On Nov 17 10:28 AM National Sorghum Producers wrote:

> Very simply, there are three major types of sorghum that can be used
> in ethanol production.
>
> 1. Grain sorghum (aka milo) - grown in the center “belt” of the nation
> and currently used interchangeably with corn for starch based ethanol
> production.
>
> 2. Sweet sorghum - grown in the warmer Southern regions of the U.S.
> Sweet sorghum is being used for ethanol production in India but the
> market scale production of sweet sorghum ethanol in the U.S. is not
> yet reality because of logistics issues. Oklahoma State University
> is researching harvest and in-field distillation equipment.
>
> 3. Cellulosic or energy sorghum - used in ethanol production schemes
> for its high biomass. These plants can be 10 or more feet tall and
> can be grown all over the U.S.
>
> For more information, visit the National Sorghum Producers website
> at sorghumgrowers.com.