Introduction. The objective of this proposal is to establish the practical potential of using sorghum to produce bioelectricity in the context of a multi-product crop. It progresses from work in an existing Joule II project (JOU2-0232). The project will conduct a specific number of trials to allow a complete systems analysis of the entire 'filiere' from planting through to energy conversion. Existing examples of the production of bioelectricity from residues are of direct relevance to this proposal and will be studied in both Zimbabwe and Thailand where we already interact with the sugar industry. These trials should provide sufficient data to estimate a realistic potential for energy production from sorghum (both liquid fuels and electricity) and the potential for sorghum's integration into agroindustrialscale systems such as sugar mills . The ability to model sweet sorghum production and integration with sugar industries is an important and novel aspect of this proposal. The work will directly complement EU R&D, particularly research carried out by the Sweet Sorghum European Network (SSEN). It will utilise the biomass productivity research at King's College London (UK), the crop modelling expertise of INRA (Fr), and the stress physiology skills of CNR (It).
Rationale. There are three main reasons for the project: i) exploit practical knowledge of the commercial production of electricity from sugarcane residues in Zimbabwe (MW, scale), Thailand (MW), and India (kW) . ii) the maximum potential yields for sorghum are presently being characterised, but the practical optimum under site specific conditions needs to be defined; iii) sufficient expertise has now been developed in France and USA to produce Water Use Efficiency (WUE) models which would allow more cost effective management of water for integrating sweet sorghum production with other crops.
Objectives. The main objectives are: i) to estimate the potential for electricity production (including by-products) in order to optimise overall energy outputs, ii) systems analysis, including field trials for integration into year round processing (to understand practical storage and processing problems, iii) integrate sorghum with sugarcane (exploiting the phenological vs seasonal development characteristics of sorghum and sugarcane respectively) which will provide optimisation strategies for the agronomic and industrial phases, iv) utilise existing knowledge and germplasm (previous trials) which are nutrient and water stress tolerant, v) explore preliminary economic and employment benefits.
Implementation. It is proposed to run trials in Zimbabwe, Thailand and India. The growth of two crop cycles will allow the determination of the feasibility of sorghum growth under solely rainfed conditions (summer, rainy season), and limited irrigation (winter, dry season). These field trials will provide the data for modelling work on biomass production for use in systems analysis covering the integration of sorghum into the sugarcane agronomy schedule for nearly year round bioenergy production. Close interaction between the research groups will be maintained and workshops will be run during each trial.