Advanced BioFuels USA

by  Vincent A. Yusuf (Daily Trust)  Nigeria will in the first quarter of 2019 begin the production of ethanol and glucose syrup from sweet sorghum for industrial use. In this interview, the Director General of Raw Materials Research Council (RMRDC), Dr. Ibrahim Hussaini Doko, explained the journey so far and the drive to also make animal feeds from the crop.

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In Nigeria, sorghum is cultivated extensively in most parts of the North for its seed which has various industrial and food applications.

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Sweet sorghum produces stalks that have a high concentration of fermented sugars which have become very important in ethanol production. The sweet sorghum cultivars are of great interest because they produce important amounts of sugar which accumulate in their stems in a very short period of time. This is due to an enhanced glucose production capacity per leaf area surface.

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First, it is hardy and thrives in arid conditions such as where precipitation is low and access to irrigation water is limited.

Second, yields of syrup and bioethanol from sweet sorghum are comparable to that of sugarcane and better than cassava. It is a short duration crop which can be grown twice in a year.

While grain sorghum is used for human food, forage and animal feed, sweet sorghum combines both attributes with the production of edible syrup.

Various studies have also indicated that sweet sorghum is the most sustainable ecosystem for renewable fuel, syrup and animal feeds production as it provides the most efficient use of land, water, nitrogen and energy resources.

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One of the very important features of the sorghum family members is their tolerance to drought.

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The primary objective of the council is to develop sweet sorghum value chain in Nigeria and also to promote the venture as small/medium enterprises in rural areas using the village model system. Emphasis is being placed on the production of glucose syrup and bioethanol for industrial and energy uses.

Presently, the primary source of glucose syrup and bioethanol in Nigeria is from starch which is obtained mostly from cassava.  Although the country is the highest producer of cassava in the world, its consumption as a staple food and its high cost makes it too expensive and mostly unavailable for the few industries producing starch for syrup production. This makes Nigeria to depend extensively on the importation of syrup.

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The first priority of the council was to introduce improved sweet sorghum varieties into the relevant ecological zones in Nigeria.  This was done in collaboration with the Niger State Government of Nigeria. Eleven sweet sorghum lines from Beijing Sangliang Technology Development Centre (STDC) were obtained and evaluated on a 50-hectare farm at Tegina in Niger State in collaboration with Institute of Agricultural Research (IAR), Zaria. This was to establish the adaptability of the Chinese lines in Nigeria.  It was also carried out to see how the plant will react to local pests and diseases.

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So far, the results are very encouraging.

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A number of private sector investors and state governments have indicated interest in the sweet sorghum value chain development exercise in Nigeria and we are collaborating with them to work out the modalities for achieving this. The council has also started the process of encouraging farmers to go into massive planting of sweet sorghum this year, 2019, planting season.

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 In view of the paucity of foreign exchange, the council has commissioned Bonaffairs Nigeria Limited for equipment design and fabrication.

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Two of the council’s engineers have undergone training in China on the design and fabrication of the requisite equipment and they are coordinating the equipment design and fabrication exercise.

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While our initial plans are to satisfy local industrial demand of glucose syrup and ethanol for use in our different industries, our projection is to encourage production of adequate and sustainable quantities of bioethanol for all the markets where it is required globally.  These are beverages, pharmaceuticals, confectioneries, cosmetics and other industrial applications including fuel producing industries.  READ MORE