[Syrupmakers] Ethanol from sorghum/sugar cane

[sjward]

Good morning all,
First of all let me say that I am an environmentalist, but foremost a realist and I am as concerned as the next guy about the cost of fuel and global warming. The inquiry into the possibility of manufacturing ethanol from sorghum/sugar cane is in the second or third asking and as time goes on there will most likely be many more. The rational for the question is based on the assumption that sorghum/sugar cane = syrup,  that in turn = sugars, that in turn can = ethanol.  The equation seems simple but the interim steps require the direct input of energy, i.e. the growing, the harvesting, the processing to extract the juice, the reduction to syrup, fermentation, and distillation to produce ethanol. Even  If the step leading to syrup  was omitted and the juice was processed ( fermented or other wise converted ) to ethanol,  the process would require the input of approximately five times the energy, as would be derived from the produced ethanol.  Basically the process is not economically viable... currently.
There are several universities and commercial operations researching the possibility of directly converting biomass into alcohols. With that said, if there would be a method of direct conversion, the problem would not be completely solved  Ethanol, methanol, butanol and the short chain alcohols are clean burning fuels but the down side is that they do not have the inherent chemical energy to be efficient in and of themselves as a fuel for our today's road and industrial needs. to make it simple a car that gets 25 miles per gallon on gasoline would get only about 18 miles on ethanol.... there goes your trunk space Charley. Never fear the chemists of the world are still looking for the philosophers stone that would yield direct conversion and long chain energy packed alcohol molecules.  In the mean time, lets keep making sorghum and cane syrup for the tradition, good eating , and maybe a little energy deficient distillation for our own consumption.
Jack Ward
Bay Farm 
Palacios TX
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