Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
19
Sorghum
Ismail Dweikat
University of Nebraska-Lincoln
contents
19.1 Introduction ........................................................................................................................ 483
19.2 Biology of Sorghum ............................................................................................................ 484
19.2.1 Origin ................................................................................................................... 484
19.2.2 Classification and Domestication ......................................................................... 484
19.2.3 Plant Description ................................................................................................. 485
19.2.4 Adaptation ............................................................................................................ 486
19.2.5 Crop Uses ............................................................................................................. 487
19.3 Grain Sorghums ................................................................................................................. 487
19.3.1 Grain Sorghum as a Source of Ethanol ................................................................ 488
19.4 Forage Sorghums ................................................................................................................ 489
19.5 Sweet Sorghum as a Bioenergy Crop ................................................................................. 490
19.6 Comparison to Other Bioenergy Crops .............................................................................. 491
19.7 Varieties of Sweet Sorghum ............................................................................................... 492
19.8 Bioenergy-Related Traits .................................................................................................... 492
19.8.1 Flowering and Maturity ........................................................................................ 492
19.8.2 Plant Height .......................................................................................................... 494
19.8.3 Lignin Concentrations .......................................................................................... 494
19.8.4 Seedling Cold Tolerance ....................................................................................... 495
19.8.5 Sugar Yield ........................................................................................................... 495
19.9 Sorghum Juice Harvest Scenario ........................................................................................ 495
19.9.1 Factors Affecting Juice Production ...................................................................... 496
19.9.2 Potential Uses of Sweet Sorghum Juice ............................................................... 496
19.10 Conclusions ......................................................................................................................... 496
References ...................................................................................................................................... 497
19.1 IntroductIon
Energy security and greenhouse gas emissions reductions are perhaps now more than ever one of
the most important priorities of many countries. Energy security is a growing concern because of
uncertainties in supply coupled with sharp increases in prices due to geopolitical tensions and weather
disturbances in oil-producing countries. In addition, maintaining a clean and healthy environment
has also gained worldwide attention, even as the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
recently confirmed that human activities are to blame for global warming. To address these issues,
many oil-importing countries have embarked on programs to develop alternative cost-effective but
locally available, unconventional renewable energy sources that would reduce their dependence on
oil, especially for transport, as well as minimize adverse impacts on the environment. Advances in
technology have opened new opportunities for achieving some of these objectives.
Sorghum [
Sorghum bicolor
(L.) Moench] is the fifth most important
cereal crop worldwide
(http://apps.fao.org/default.jsp) as
well as an important source of feed, fiber, and biofuel (Doggett
483
