May H. Wang

Hainan Institute of Biotechnology, Haikou, 570206, Hainan, China
Author    Correspondence author
Journal of Energy Bioscience, 2025, Vol. 16, No. 3   
Received: 02 Apr., 2025    Accepted: 06 May, 2025    Published: 19 May, 2025

This is an open access article published under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

This study looked at whether sorghum can be used to make fuel ethanol. We tried to analyze it from several aspects, such as the ethanol yield of different sorghum varieties, their chemical composition, and how to treat them best. The study found that sorghum has a high yield, is drought-resistant, and can adapt to different environments. This makes it suitable for planting in many places and making bioethanol. In addition to the main part of the sorghum, its field waste, such as straw, and by-products, such as sweet sorghum juice and residue, can also be used to ferment ethanol. We tried several treatment methods, including pretreatment with organic solvents, alkali, acid, or enzymes. These methods can release more sugar and increase ethanol production. Some methods can also use biodiesel by-products, which can save a lot of costs. If all these field residues and by-products are used, not only will they not compete with food for land, but they will also reduce waste and be more environmentally friendly. In this way, not only can we develop bioenergy, but we can also help protect the environment and achieve a "win-win" situation. We also did an economic analysis. The results show that if the processing technology and enzyme costs can be optimized, the price of ethanol made from sorghum may be similar to that of gasoline. In this case, it has a good chance of being promoted for industrial use.

Sorghum biomass; Fuel ethanol; Pretreatment; Yield assessment; Sustainable energyy