Another alternative biofuel source identified
by T. Villavert
Iloilo City (25 January) -- With the passage of R.A. 9367 otherwise known as the Bio-fuels Act of 2006, sweet sorghum will soon be considered as another alternative feedstock for ethanol production.
Biofuel refers to bioethanol and biodiesel and other fuels made from biomass and primarily used for automotive, thermal and power generation with quality specifications in accordance with the Philippine National Standards.
President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo was informed recently by William Dar, former secretary of the Department of Agriculture and now director of the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT), of the efforts to harness the potentials of sweet sorghum as another source of biofuel.
Sweet sorghum, Dar said, is similar to grain sorghum with sugar-rich stalks. Being a water-use efficient crop, sweet sorghum has the potential to be a good alternative feedstock for ethanol production.
Dar said that the ICRISAT has developed the variety of sorghum used in ethanol extraction and has tested it “under Philippine conditions” to verify its viability.
He further said that the research institute’s sweet sorghum plantation testing center at the Mariano Marcos State University in Batac, Ilocos Norte has responded well to ICRISAT’s extraction process and is immediately available for planting in areas where future ethanol distillers may be put up.
The former agriculture secretary said that the President Arroyo was “happy” with his organization’s successful foray into ethanol manufacturing using sweet sorghum, saying that she would immediately promote sweet sorghum as an alternative feedstock for ethanol production. (PIA) [top]
