SWEETFUEL

Sweet Sorghum : an alternative energy crop

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 Obiettivo del progetto (Objective)

'Increasing world market prices for fossil fuels, driven by limited reserves, growing demand and instability in producing regions, now render renewable fuels economical. Such fuels are also a pathway to reducing GHG emissions and mitigating climate change. Bio-ethanol from crop plants is a promising, partial solution to sustainably satisfy the energy demand for road transport. The success of bio-ethanol from sugarcane in Brazil demonstrates proof of concept but cannot be transferred to water-limited or temperate environments. Sweet sorghum, as a source of either fermentable free sugars or lignocellulosics, has many potential advantages, including: high water, nitrogen and radiation use efficiency; broad agro-ecological adaptation; rich genetic diversity for useful traits; and the potential to produce fuel feedstock, food and feed in various combinations. Fuel-food crops can thereby help reconciling energy and food security issues. This project will breed for improved cultivars and hybrids of sorghum for temperate, tropical semi-arid and tropical acid-soil environments by pyramiding in various combinations, depending on region and ideotype, tolerance to cold, drought and acid (Al-toxic) soils; and high production of stalk sugars, easily digestible biomass and grain (WP 1-3). Molecular-genetic and physiological breeding support is given by WP4, and agro-ecological adaptation and sustainable practices are developed by WP5. Other WPs (6, 7, 8) provide for integrated technology and impact assessments including economics, dissemination and coordination. The Consortium is composed of 10 members from France (leader), Italy, Germany, Brazil, India, Mexico and South Africa, including a seed company. Research involves structured participation of stake holders, including policy makers. Project outcomes will be new germplasm, sustainable practices and commodity chain concepts adapted to each target region. The duration of the project is 5 years.'

Introduzione (Teaser)

Sweet sorghum has many advantages over other crops when it comes to producing sugar for biofuel. A large international consortium has developed new hybrids, crop models and sustainability analyses to assist in exploitation in numerous environments.

Descrizione progetto (Article)

Sorghum is a multipurpose crop producing food and feed as well as fuel from sugars in the stem. The bottleneck to date has been the lack of sorghum varieties available for production of ethanol. The 'Sweet sorghum: an alternative energy crop' (http://www.sweetfuel-project.eu/ (SWEETFUEL)) project pooled resources to breed strains of sweet sorghum that would maximise its productivity.

Composed of members from Europe, India, Mexico, South Africa and South America, the multidisciplinary group represented all the different regions where sweet sorghum is grown. Breeding objectives were tailored to the range of weather and social conditions under which the crop is cultivated.

Several hybrids with better tolerance to cold temperatures, acid soils with aluminium toxicity or improved water-use efficiency were produced and tested for the first time. Some produced more biomass than commercially available lines in the temperate zone. The team also screened candidates for drought resilience and for high sugar in India, South Africa and Mexico. Improved hybrids were developed for these conditions.

Variety and hybrid development and industrial management practices for Brazil was particularly successful. The team has contributed to delivery of some hybrids adapted to low fertility environments that are now available on the market. A partnership with the sugarcane sector is developing sweet sorghum to complement the sugar cane production during the off season. According to the plan, 20 % of the sugarcane land could be used for sweet sorghum production.

In silico experiments helped identify genes involved in the drought response and experimental work is revealing agronomic indicators that predict optimised biomass yield in sorghum. The team also identified post-harvest techniques and logistics leading to development of a crop model. It will be used for geographic zoning of crop adaptation to climate and soils. . Finally a full sustainability assessment identified the most sustainable sweet and biomass sorghum pathways which include high greenhouse gas savings next to other benefits for environment and society. At the final project meeting, researchers presented a multi-criteria evaluation of the sustainability of sorghum production and use.

Knowledge gained will be used to publish a handbook outlining essential information for ethanol production in the target environments. This will empower stakeholders to make changes that positively impact their economies, food production and energy security.

A video titled http://www.sweetfuel-project.eu/sweetfuel_events/complementation_of_sugar_cane_by_sweet_sorghum_in_brazil (Complementation of sugar cane by sweet sorghum in Brazil) is available on the project website.