Sweet Sorghum may be the best alternative fuel crop to grow in the continental United States for the production of ethanol. It converts sunlight directly into sugars, eliminating the costly starch to sugar process. These sugars are converted into ethanol at nearly zero fossil fuel inputs. Ethanol can be extracted by a mobile distillation unit brought to the farm. Although sugarcane out produces sweet sorghum, it cannot be grown in the midwest.

Sorghum is called "the camel of crops". It has earned this name because of its ability to grow in arid soils and withstand prolonged droughts. Globally it is the fifth largest cereal crop after wheat, rice, maize and barley. Although the largest bulk producer today is the USA, about 90% of the area planted to sorghum lies in developing countries.

ICRISAT harnesses ethanol from drought tolerant sweet sorghum The International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT), presented its first batch of ethanol made from sweet sorghum as an alternative source of biofuel. The plant's main advantage is the efficiency with which it uses water, its capacity to survive in saline soils and its stalks are very rich in sugar. (Biopact; January 25, 2007)

Grain Sorghum Makes Headway in Biofuels Industry - Ethanol is made from starch and the most common source of that starch is corn. But in Kansas, the state's growing ethanol industry relies on grain sorghum, too. In Kansas, sorghum's availability and attractive pricing make it the grain of choice for ethanol production. (Seed World; November 2003)

Sweet Sorghum Ideal for Biofuel - Ethanol from sweet-stem sorghum appears to be a viable alternative to fossil fuels, especially for petroleum products as a cooking, lighting and automotive fuel. Sweet-stem sorghum is a multi-purpose crop, yielding food in the form of grain, fuel in the form of ethanol from its stem juice, and fodder from its leaves and bagasse. (Seed World; November 2003)





Freedom from foreign oil: Ethanol could free America from its reluctant dependence on foreign oil. This is not a pipedream, conjured up by some pro-U.S. idealists. Not at all. Brazil has turned that vision into reality, where 70% of the vehicles in that country are sustained on ethanol. Brazil's ethanol plan has successfully replaced imported oil worth an estimated $120 billion. To put it into perspective, this would translate to a savings of about $2 trillion for an economy equivalent in size to the U.S.

Increased income to U.S Farmers: In terms of economics, there is no clearer choice for the American public. It would mean higher farm incomes and we would see a steep increase in rural employment.

The technology's in place now: The technology to run cars on ethanol already exists. General Motors alone has built more than 1.5 million ethanol-compliant vehicles.

It's riding the "Green Wave": And let's not ignore the fact that ethanol is believed to be much more environmentally friendly than our current petroleum. Many experts agree that a switch from gasoline to ethanol could significantly reduce our carbon dioxide emissions, some say by as much as 80%. Ethanol's appeal extends throughout interest groups. The U.S. government, American car manufacturers, environmentalists and the agriculture industry are all strong supporters of this alternative fuel.