Sweet sorghum as a biofuel crop where are we now

Sharma, K K and Reddy, B V S and Rao, P S and Ashok Kumar, A and Reddy, P S and Rao, P P and Blummel, M and Ravinder Reddy, Ch (2009) Sweet sorghum as a biofuel crop where are we now. In: Sixth Winrock International Workshop on Biofuels.

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Abstract

Agriculture and energy have always been linked closely, but the strength of the relationship has significantly increased in recent years. Agriculture has always been a source of fuels for energy production such as feed for draught animals and, more recently juice for biofuels, e.g., bioethanol (blended with fossil fuels) or biodiesel.Energy supplied by fossil fuels is a major input into modern mechanized crop production. Economic, environmental and energy security concerns resulting from excessive reliance on fossil fuels like petroleum are forcing countries throughout the world over to shift to alternatives like biofuels. Since biofuels can be produced from a diverse set of crops, each country is adopting a strategy that exploits the comparative advantages it holds with respect to such crops. For example, sugarcane and maize are the main feedstock for ethanol in Brazil and US respectively, while rapeseed in Europe, and palm oil in Malaysia are the main feedstocks for biodiesel. The Government of India (GoI) has formulated a national policy on biofuels aiming to achieve a target of 20% blending of petrol and diesel by 2017. Besides reducing the dependence on imported fossil fuels, the policy aims to generate several other benefits like employment for the rural poor, regeneration of wastelands, reduction of emissions resulting from energy use that can lead to positive economic and environmental consequences. Similar, biofuel policies have also been formulated by several countries in Asia, Africa, Europe and the Americas (Parthasarathy and Bantilan 2007).

Item Type: Conference or Workshop Item (Paper)
Divisions: UNSPECIFIED
CRP: UNSPECIFIED
Subjects: Mandate crops > Sorghum
Depositing User: Ms Vibha Raju
Date Deposited: 06 Nov 2011 03:19
Last Modified: 25 Jun 2013 04:53
URI: http://oar.icrisat.org/id/eprint/3613
Acknowledgement: UNSPECIFIED
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