SORGHUM AS A RAW MATERIAL bioethanol

For cereal crops (grain), sorghum has a multi-use benefits. In addition to the seeds used as food, stems and leaves for fodder, the sugars contained in the seeds (carbohydrate) or liquid / juice / juice bars (sweet sorghum) can be processed into ethanol (bioethanol). Made from raw sorghum bioethanol industry has been developed in many countries like the United States, China, India and Belgium. Anderson of Iowa State University reported that sweet sorghum contain fermentable sugars and the result is equivalent to 400-600 gallons of ethanol per acre, or approximately two times higher than corn.
Sorghum productivity of bioethanol in the United States reached 10,000 liters / ha, India 3000-4000 l / ha and China 7000 liters / ha. As bio-fuels (biofuels), sorghum bioethanol used in beberbagai purposes, such as blended with gasoline (premium) for motor vehicles or more commonly known as gasohol. In India, in addition to gasohol, sorghum bioethanol is also used as fuel for lamps (pressurized ethanol lantern) is called "Noorie" that produces 1250-1300 lumens (roughly equivalent to a 100 W light bulb). Sorghum bioethanol is also used as a cooking stove fuel (ethanol pressurized stove) that produce heat capacity of 3 kW.
China is one country that has successfully developed a sweet sorghum in line with efforts to increase the productivity of these lands or marginal problem. In such lands, coupled with the lack of availability of water for agriculture, causing difficulties for the cultivation of sugar cane (sugar cane) in 20 provinces located along the valley of the Yellow and Yangtze Rivers. This condition causes China must import sugar as much as 2 million tons per year. According to research results of Chinese experts, the potential for the area planted with sweet sorghum as sweet sorghum requires less water than sugarcane, which is only one-third only. Meanwhile, sweet sorghum growing period (3-4 months) shorter than sugarcane (7 months) to enable the sweet sorghum can be harvested twice a year. Through his research program China has succeeded in developing sorghum bioethanol industry with productivity 7000 liters / ha.
Traditionally, ethanol actually has a longer molasses produced from sugar cane processing of waste (sugar cane). Although prices are relatively cheaper sugar cane molasses, sorghum bioethanol yet had a chance to compete considering several advantages compared to sweet sorghum cane as follows:

    Sorghum seed production and biomass has a much higher than sugar cane.
    Adaptation of sorghum cane is much more extensive than that sorghum can be grown in almost all types of land, both arable land and marginal land.
    Sorghum crop have the trait are more resistant to drought, high salinity and waterlogging than sugar cane.
    Sorghum crop water requirements for only one-third of the sugar cane crop.
    Sorghum requires relatively little fertilizer and maintenance easier than sugar cane.
    The rate of photosynthesis and growth of sorghum plants is much higher and faster than sugar cane.
    Easier to plant sorghum, seed needs only 4.5 to 5 kg / ha compared to 4500-6000 kg of sugarcane which require stem cuttings.
    Sorghum harvest age faster is only 3-4 months, compared to sugar cane which is harvested at age 7 months.
    Sorghum can diratun so for once the planting can be harvested several times.
Bioethanol industry requires land for extensive plantations of sweet sorghum and planting should be done throughout the year, and should not utilize land that is a food crop land. Assuming productivity of sorghum in the production of bioethanol for 2000-3500 liters / ha / growing season or 4000-7000 liters / ha / year (in Indonesia can be planted two seasons), then to produce 60 million kilo liters / year of bioethanol will be required land area of ​​15 million hectares. Learning from China, perhaps we can direct the development of sweet sorghum in an area of ​​the line and the direction of the utilization of marginal land, idle land, or other non-productive land is found very widely available in our country, so it will not compete with other plants .
Opportunities sweet sorghum developed on dry land is quite extensive, both in wet temperate regions (Sumatra, Kalimantan, Sulawesi and Papua) and the dry climate area (Nusa Tenggara, Sulawesi, Southeast, and parts of Sumatra and Java). The total dry land area estimated 143.9 million hectares. Extents of these, 31.5 million ha of dry land with a flat wavy topography (slope <8%) and according to established plantations sorghum. Land on dry land wet climates are generally sour and is a hallmark of most of Indonesia. Landless sour lands have low levels of soil fertility, and an obstacle in the production of agricultural crops in general. Through plant breeding programs, may need to be investigated sorghum genotypes that can adapt well to the conditions of such agricultural land.Mr. Wahyudhono from Astra Motor visiting sorghum research in issues relating to the utilization BATAN sorghum for bio-fuels (biofuels)