This week, the National Sorghum Producers hosted a forum with representatives from
Abengoa Bioenergy and the U.S. Department of Energy’s Idaho National Laboratory, as well as sorghum researchers to discuss how the sweet crop fits in the ethanol industry.

Participants shared research plans and findings in regard to sorghum biomass-to-ethanol and sweet sorghum-to-ethanol production. Researchers from Kansas State, Texas A&M, University of Nebraska and Oklahoma State participated as well as personnel from USDA-ARS. Abengoa Bioenergy just recently received one of six DOE grants to construct a new generation ethanol pilot plant in Kansas, which will require both grain and stubble for production.

The sorghum industry plans to work on completing a compositional analysis to help Abengoa and DOE fully understand how sorghum fits as an ethanol feedstock.