An economic analysis of sweet sorghum cultivation for ethanol production in North China

Abstract

Sweet sorghum [Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench] is a promising non-food energy crop. The objective of this study was to determine the economic costs and input sensitivity of sweet sorghum compared to cotton, maize, and sunflower, at two saline-alkali sites in Shandong (Wudi County) and Inner Mongolia (Wuyuan County) provinces of China. The data were collected quantitatively based on a face-to-face interview with 100 and 67 sweet sorghum growers at the two sites, respectively. The sweet sorghum grown at Wudi had lower external input (5469 CNY ha À1 ), higher net return (7305 CNY ha À1) and benefit-cost ratio ( The productivity of sweet sorghum per unit of external input costs (kg CNY À1 ) was 13.12 for Wudi and only 3.26 for Wuyuan. Based on the Cobb-Douglas production function, the external inputs of diesel and seed had a significantly positive impact on the profitability of sweet sorghum at Wudi but not at Wuyuan. However, the costs of irrigation and film cover were significantly negative. The energy crop, sweet sorghum, showed a better return to scale on investment than cotton and sunflower.

Chemical-free Processing of Sweet Sorghum Juice of Cultivar Sucrosorgho 506

“…Although the major part of carbohydrates can be withdrawn in the juice, a lesser, but not ignorable part remains in the bagasse. Focusing exclusively on juice and its carbohydrate content, sources indicate that it is a good source of ethanol fermentation all over the world starting from USA [9][10][11] via Australia [12,13], India [14], Europe [15][16][17] and Africa [18] and last but not least China [19].…”

Technical Feasibility and Comprehensive Sustainability Assessment of Sweet Sorghum for Bioethanol Production in China

“…The sustainability assessment boundary began with soil preparation and included film mulching, basal fertilizer dressing, sowing, thinning out of seedlings, weeding, tiller removal, topdressing, pesticide application, irrigation, spikelet removal, harvesting, bundling, transportation, threshing to storage and marketing ( Figure 2). In order to make a comprehensive sustainability assessment, the National Energy R&D Center for Non-food Biomass (NECB) obtained a total of 481 questionnaires based on face-to-face interviews with farmers in NEC (Morin Dawa Banner), HHHB (Wudi County and Wendeng County) and GX (Wuyuan County) during a four-year sustainability analysis of sweet sorghum production supported by National Energy Administration of China [33,35].…”

“…Multiple evaluation factors of sustainability assessment included energy efficiency, environmental In order to make a comprehensive sustainability assessment, the National Energy R&D Center for Non-food Biomass (NECB) obtained a total of 481 questionnaires based on face-to-face interviews with farmers in NEC (Morin Dawa Banner), HHHB (Wudi County and Wendeng County) and GX (Wuyuan County) during a four-year sustainability analysis of sweet sorghum production supported by National Energy Administration of China [33,35].…”

“…Therefore, assessment of profitability is crucial to the development of bioenergy crops for production of liquid biofuels [1]. Farmers' incomes correlate directly to planting costs, biomass yield and market price of sweet sorghum [35]. In this study, the economic input-output ratio, as another indicator, was defined as the economic output of both the stalks as main products and grain as by-products divided by the cost input of sweet sorghum's production and transportation.…”

“…The N fertilizer use efficiency [60], as an indicator, was defined as the net energy produced per kg of N fertilizer application. Cultivation practices of sweet sorghum are relatively simple in China, with little application of either pesticides or irrigation [35], thus, these factors were ignored in this study.…”