An Iowa inventor and entrepreneur is promoting a harvester he developed that can produce ethanol from sweet sorghum right in the field.

Lee McClune of Knoxville, Iowa invented the SORGANOL® Process (PatPend) and Sor-Cane Harvester after studying research done at Iowa State University in the 80s on the potential of producing ethanol from sorghum. According to McClune, the harvester acidifies and filters the juice from the sorghum stalks as they are harvested. “The appropriate yeast agents are added or metered in as the juice is pumped from the transporter into the storage containers,” he explains in a promotional brochure. “A few hours later the sugar conversion to ethanol is complete.” McClure claims some varieties of sweet sorghum can produce as much as 1000 gallons of ethanol per acre and he calls it “America’s Sugarcane Ethanol.”

Oklahoma State University started studying the process a couple of years ago and found some merit to the concept of actually fermenting the juice in the field to make ethanol. McClune believes the process can be utilized to make ethanol production more sustainable and potentially even carbon-neutral.

For more information, contact McClune at leemcclune@hotmail.com.