RESEARCH has found a weed, found on the roadside in parts of Australia, has stems ripe for biofuel production.
Scientists from the ARC Centre of Excellence in Plant Cell Walls at the University of Adelaide have discovered the sorghum variety Arun, which grows wild in Australia, has the potential to yield more than 10,000 litres of bioethanol a hectare each year.
The researchers assessed the stems of 12 varieties of sorghum for sugar content and ease of conversion to bioethanol.
These included cultivated varieties and wild relatives, including Arun, which yielded significantly more bioethanol than other varieties.
School of Agriculture, Food and Wine Postdoctoral Fellow Caitlin Byrt said the discovery had multiple benefits.
“Two key advantages of using stem (rather than leaves or grain) to make biofuel is that we can produce this material in low input systems; and as we do not eat this part of the plant we avoid the food versus fuel debate,” she said.
Despite Arun stem containing high levels of a component thought to inhibit bioethanol production, this appears to be negated by a high level of an easily fermentable sugar.
The researchers say a large pool of untapped diversity exists in other species and subspecies of sorghum which opens new avenues of research to generate sorghum lines optimised for biofuel production.
Arcadia Biosciences – a Davis, California-based agricultural technology company – is a partner in the centre’s research and is working to commercialise these findings.
Arcadia chief executive officer Raj Ketkar said commercial applications could extend to production areas outside Australia.
“We remain keenly interested in collaborating with the centre and other partners to explore the use of sorghum as an alternative and sustainable energy source,” he said.
