Capiz region to trial high yield sweet sorghum for ethanol
The Philippine Department of Agriculture (DA) announced it will conduct planting trials at its research center in Capiz - in the Western Visayas province - to study the adaptability of high yield sweet sorghum varieties to local conditions. The varieties were developed by the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) (earlier post) and showed promising results (for basic data, see here).
The adaptability tests will be conducted at DA's 7-hectare Regional Integrated Agricultural Research Center (RIARC) located along the Panitan and Sigma boundary area at Timpas, Panitan and Malapad Cogon, Sigma.
Henry Tumlos, chief of the DA-RIARC Center in Capiz, said trials will be conducted upon the onset of the wet season this season this year. Tumlos said that at present he has five varieties of sweet sorghum ready for the trials. The RIARC here is one of four such centers that were established by DA in Western Visayas. The others are located in Iloilo, Negros Occidental and Antique.
Although devoted primarily for rootcrops research, the Capiz center can also be used for research studies involving other crops including sweet sorghum, which is being considered by the national government as one of the sources of biofuels, according to Tumlos.
So far, there has been no wide-scale production of any sorghum variety in Capiz, according to local authorities. Philipine President Arroyo has said she would promote the crop as an alternative feedstock to ethanol manufacturing and extracting processes.
The President made the move after the ICRISAT successfully produced ethanol from the high yield varieties in India - with the fuel having a strong energy balance. Later, tests conducted in Luzon showed the crop can be grown in the Philippines with impressive yields:
biomass :: bioenergy :: biofuels :: energy :: sustainability :: sweet sorghum :: ethanol :: Philippines :: Capiz ::
ICRISAT, a non-government organization based in India, is headed by Filipino William Dar, former DA Secretary.
President Arroyo signed into law on January 17, 2007 Republic Act No. 9367 or the Biofuels Act of 2006 to promote the production and use of alternative energy sources to lessen the country's dependence on imported oil.
The use of biofuels has already been going on in the country, although on a limited scale as of now.
Article continues
The adaptability tests will be conducted at DA's 7-hectare Regional Integrated Agricultural Research Center (RIARC) located along the Panitan and Sigma boundary area at Timpas, Panitan and Malapad Cogon, Sigma.
Henry Tumlos, chief of the DA-RIARC Center in Capiz, said trials will be conducted upon the onset of the wet season this season this year. Tumlos said that at present he has five varieties of sweet sorghum ready for the trials. The RIARC here is one of four such centers that were established by DA in Western Visayas. The others are located in Iloilo, Negros Occidental and Antique.
Although devoted primarily for rootcrops research, the Capiz center can also be used for research studies involving other crops including sweet sorghum, which is being considered by the national government as one of the sources of biofuels, according to Tumlos.
So far, there has been no wide-scale production of any sorghum variety in Capiz, according to local authorities. Philipine President Arroyo has said she would promote the crop as an alternative feedstock to ethanol manufacturing and extracting processes.
The President made the move after the ICRISAT successfully produced ethanol from the high yield varieties in India - with the fuel having a strong energy balance. Later, tests conducted in Luzon showed the crop can be grown in the Philippines with impressive yields:
biomass :: bioenergy :: biofuels :: energy :: sustainability :: sweet sorghum :: ethanol :: Philippines :: Capiz ::
ICRISAT, a non-government organization based in India, is headed by Filipino William Dar, former DA Secretary.
President Arroyo signed into law on January 17, 2007 Republic Act No. 9367 or the Biofuels Act of 2006 to promote the production and use of alternative energy sources to lessen the country's dependence on imported oil.
The use of biofuels has already been going on in the country, although on a limited scale as of now.
Article continues
Friday, March 30, 2007
Scientists discover fungus to convert biomass into ethanol, and into biodegradable antibacterial and super-absorbent material
Seven years ago Mohammad Taherzadeh and his team started their search for a fungus for ethanol production. They found a group of filament-producing fungi, so-called zygomycetes, that have proven to have interesting properties.
"Today baker's yeast is used for the production of ethanol, but we have found a fungus that is more effective than baker's yeast," says Mohammad Taherzadeh, professor of biotechnology at the School of Engineering, University College of Borås, and one of the world's leading ethanol researchers.
Within the order zygomycetes, more than 100 different fungi were tested, and in the end, the one with the best properties was singled out. The fungus, which is a saprophyte, is extremely easy to grow in waste and drainage.
"It is low maintenance, requiring hardly anything to start growing and degrading the waste. The temperature plays some role. We have tried to get it to grow in sulfite lye, but also in brush, forestry waste, and fruit rinds, and the results were equally good in all cases," reports Mohammad Taherzadeh.
Converts waste to raw material
Being able to convert sulfite lye for the production of ethanol is good news, in both economic and environmental terms. Sulfite lye, which is a byproduct of the production of paper and viscose pulp, is difficult for factories to dispose of since it contains chemicals that must not be casually released in nature. From being a highly undesirable byproduct for the paper industry, sulfite lye will now be an attractive raw material for the extraction of ethanol:
biomass :: bioenergy :: biofuels :: energy :: sustainability :: ethanol :: fungi :: biodegradable :: bioeconomy ::
"This is truly exciting. Zygomycetes in ethanol production represent an unknown area. We are the only scientists in the world to have presented them as ethanol-producing fungi, but we realize that the potential is huge," says Mohammad Taherzadeh, who relates a curious anecdote that the fungi have another use in Indonesia: they are a food fungus.
Super-absorbent bonus effect
Zygomycetes are not only highly effective in producing ethanol; the research team also found that the biomass that is left over in the production of ethanol can be used to extract a cell-wall material that is super-absorbent and antibacterial. What's more, it's a biological material that can be composted and recycled:
This discovery opens an entirely new dimension for research on the fungi, according to Mohammad Taherzadeh, whose project "Production of antimicrobial super-absorbent from sulfite lye using zygomycetes" was recently awarded more than 800,000 Swedish Crowns (€85,000/US$ 114,000) from the Knowledge Foundation to continue its research into this cell-wall material.
Reduces greenhouse effect
Super-absorbent material is used in diapers and feminine hygiene products, but also for bandages and other products for treating wounds. Today the super-absorbent in these types of products is polyacrylate, but polyacrylate is not biodegradable: it has to be burned. This combustion release carbon dioxide in the air, a compound that aggravates the greenhouse effect. On the other hand, if polyacrylate is replaced with this biological super-absorbent, diapers will not have to be incinerated, but instead can be composted, retted, and converted to biogas. This, in turn, entails a reduction in the emission of carbon dioxide into the air.
Kills bacteria and fungi
The antibacterial property of the biological super-absorbent is also advantageous in comparison with polyacrylate.
"Our cell-wall material absorbs about ten times its weight in liquid. It can also kill bacteria and fungi, which means that a diaper would not irritate the skin and would last longer before any unpleasant odors arise. We have experimented with adding e-coli bacteria as well, an aggressive sort of bacteria, and the cell-wall material manages to neutralize them," says Mohammad Taherzadeh. Equally good results are reported from experiments with other bacteria types, such as Klebsiella pneumonia and Staphylococcus aureus, as well as the fungus Candida albicans.
"The research will continue on ethanol production as well, but our focus is now on developing the cell-wall material further. Since this is an unknown field, a great deal of work will be needed for us to fully understand the potential of this material," says Mohammad Taherzadeh.
In stores soon?
This research is also tied to product development work, being carried out in close collaboration with Rexcell AB (formerly Duni) and Medical Equipment Development AB. "Together with these two companies we are trying to add this cell-wall material to paper in a process called 'airlaid non-woven'." The aim is to develop a commercial product that can be used in many industries, according to Mohammad Taherzadeh. "Our experiments have been promising thus far, and our collaborative partners are looking into the possibility of patenting the method."
More information:
European Research Headlines: Researchers discover link between fungus and ethanol - March 30, 2007.
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