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Ethanol Production from the Stem Juice of Different Sweet Sorghum Cultivars in the State of Pernambuco, Northeast of Brazil

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Abstract

The decline in the use of fossil fuels in the future is due to the gradual depletion of their reserves and related environmental issues. Biofuels including ethanol are presented as a renewable alternative to fossil fuels. However, ethanol production, generally from sugarcane demands the use of agricultural land and other natural resources, with emphasis on water and other nutrients. Sorghum is tolerant to drought. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the potentiality of eight sweet sorghum cultivars in order to expand the ethanol production to areas with limited supply of water, not suitable for sugarcane which requires irrigation. The cultivars developed by breeding programs in the state of Pernambuco, Brazil, were analyzed for fermentation by industrial strain of Saccharomyces cerevisiae, at 33 °C, under static conditions for a period of 6 h. All assessed parameters showed some statistically significant differences among cultivars (p < 0.01), especially ethanol concentration (P) and the volumetric productivities (Qp) in the following order: Willey (P = 64.77 ± 4.4 g L−1 and Qp = 10.79 ± 0.74 g L−1 h−1), Wray (P = 59.10 ± 1.7 g L−1 and Qp = 9.85 ± 0.28 g L−1 h−1), BR 506 (P = 59.07 ± 1.3 g L−1 and Qp = 9.84 ± 0.21 g L−1 h−1) and SF 15 (54.40 ± 0.4 g L−1 and Qp = 9.07 ± 0.06 g L−1 h−1). The highest potentials for ethanol yield per hectare were observed for the cultivars SF 15 (3142.51 ± 428.47 L ha−1) and BR 506 (2193.95 ± 383.58 L ha−1). Therefore, the cultivars SF 15 and BR 506 seem to be very promising as an energy crop to be produced in areas with environmental conditions similar to Pernambuco.

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Acknowledgments

The authors acknowledge the financial support from CNPq (edital 46/2009, processo 551284/2010-2) and Facepe (edital 09/2010, processo APQ 07185-01/10). The Genetech company for the equipment used in the fermentation assays and the Japungú distillery (PB) for making industrial yeast biomass and the gas chromatograph available.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Biomass Energy Research Group, Department of Nuclear Energy, Federal University of Pernambuco, Av. Moraes Rego, 1235, Recife, PE, 50670-901, Brazil

    Emmanuel D. Dutra & Rômulo Simões Cezar Menezes

  2. Interdepartmental Research Group in Metabolic Engineering, Department of Genetics, Federal University of Pernambuco, Av. Moraes Rego, 1235, Recife, PE, 50670-901, Brazil

    Marcos Antonio de Morais Junior

  3. Laboratory of Bioprocessing, CETENE, Av. Prof. Luiz Freire, 01, Recife, PE, 50740-540, Brazil

    Rafael Barros de Souza & Marcos Antonio de Morais Junior

  4. Genetech—Research, Development and Consulting in Biotechnology, Av. Moraes Rego, 1235, Recife, PE, 50670-901, Brazil

    Adauto Gomes Barbosa Neto, Rafael Barros de Souza & Marcos Antonio de Morais Junior

  5. Agricultural Research Institute of Pernambuco, Av. General San Martin, 1371, Recife, PE, 50761-000, Brazil

    Jose Nildo Tabosa

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  1. Emmanuel D. Dutra
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  2. Adauto Gomes Barbosa Neto
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  3. Rafael Barros de Souza
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  4. Marcos Antonio de Morais Junior
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  6. Rômulo Simões Cezar Menezes
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Correspondence to Emmanuel D. Dutra.

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Dutra, E.D., Neto, A.G.B., de Souza, R.B. et al. Ethanol Production from the Stem Juice of Different Sweet Sorghum Cultivars in the State of Pernambuco, Northeast of Brazil. Sugar Tech 15, 316–321 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12355-013-0240-y

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