Assessing viability of bio-ethanol production from sweet sorghum in India

Basavaraj, G and Rao, P P and Basu, K and Ravinder Reddy, Ch and Ashok Kumar, A and Srinivasa Rao, P and Reddy, B V S (2013) Assessing viability of bio-ethanol production from sweet sorghum in India. Energy Policy. pp. 1-30. ISSN 0301-4215

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Abstract

To meet the energy requirement for transport, blending automotive fuels with ethanol has been mandated in India like several other countries across the globe. The entire blending requirement has to come from molasses (by-product of sugarcane). Ethanol produced from molasses will not be able to meet the blending targets due to cyclical nature of sugar cane production resulting in shortage of molasses and its competing uses (potable and pharmaceutical use). This has promoted research efforts to augment energy sources that are sustainable and economically viable. One such source that can be commercially exploited for ethanol production is sweet sorghum. The sugars in the stalks of sweet sorghum can be crushed to produce juice, which can be processed into ethanol for blending. An attempt is made in this paper to assess viability of ethanol production from sweet sorghum. Net Present Value (NPV), the indicator of economic viability assessment, is negative and would thus be difficult for the industry to take off under the current scenario of ethanol price, feedstock price and ethanol recovery rate. Hence, an enabling environment and policy support for bio-ethanol production from sweet sorghum is crucial to meet future blending requirements

Item Type: Article
Divisions: RP-Dryland Cereals
CRP: CGIAR Research Program on Dryland Cereals
Uncontrolled Keywords: Bio-ethanol; Sweet Sorghum bio-ethanol; Economic viability
Subjects: Mandate crops > Sorghum
Depositing User: Mr Sanat Kumar Behera
Date Deposited: 04 Feb 2013 05:41
Last Modified: 19 Oct 2016 08:56
URI: http://oar.icrisat.org/id/eprint/6500
Official URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.enpol.2013.01.012
Projects: UNSPECIFIED
Funders: UNSPECIFIED
Acknowledgement: The authors would like to thank ICAR-NAIP, Government of India for funding support to carryout the research.The authors would also like to thank Rusni Distilleries Pvt.Ltd. for providing the data on sweet sorghum ethanol processing. We thank MG Chandrakanth, Professor, Dept.of Agricultural Economics,Uni- versity of Agricultural Sciences, Bangalore; Lalith Achoth,Profes- sor, Dept.of Diary Economics and Business Management,KVAFSU, Bangalore; and Franklin Simtowe,Scientist,ICRISAT,for their comments on the earlier version of the draft.
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