It is three meters tall and productive even in poor soil, it holds up in droughts and typhoons, and it yields twice as many stems as most sugarcane. No wonder they call it "Monster Cane."
Asahi says the new cane variety can produce three times as much ethanol as other strains, and slightly more sugar. It also yields more bagasse, or crushed sugarcane refuse, which is burned to generate the energy to run a sugar-ethanol plant.
Asahi estimates that the yield of the new sugarcane is 16.7 tons per acre (37.4 tonnes per hectare) excluding moisture, which can be processed into 2.9 tons (7.1 tonnes) of sugar, 4.3 kiloliters of ethanol and 9.7 tons (24 tonnes) of bagasse.
This compares with the yield of conventional cane at 7.6 tons per acre (17.4 tonnes per hectare), 0.9 tons (2.3 tonnes) of sugar, 1.4 kiloliters of ethanol and 2.8 tons (7.8 tonnes) of bagasse, which is too little bagasse to produce sufficient energy for a processing plant.
The volume of bagasse from high-biomass sugarcane is more than enough to generate energy for an ethanol plant. Surplus bagasse could be used as bedding for beef cattle on Ie Island, in Japan's southernmost province of Okinawa, and as fertilizer after being mixed with manure. Formally known as "high-biomass sugarcane," Monster Cane is Japan's first variety designed to produce ethanol without sacrificing sugar output. It was jointly developed by Asahi and the National Agricultural Research Center for Kyushu Okinawa Region.
In a few months, the cane grown on Ie will be harvested to feed a pilot plant run by Asahi Breweries, which plans to test its technology for producing ethanol from cane at a cost of just 30 yen (25 cents) per liter, making it competitive with gasoline.
Asahi hopes to use this technology for commercial production after pilot plant tests are completed in 2010.
Resource: Japan brewer pursues 'Monster Cane' ethanol dream, Reuters, Oct. 16, 2006
Tons and tonnes conversion has gone wrong in the text. Otherwise, this seems to be a promising CANE. Would it grow well in southern USA? Could the residues be used to produced cellulosic ethanol to increase the total yield?
Posted by: Harvey D. | October 26, 2006 at 09:12 PM
Would appreciate more data on the monster cane and whether it would be viable to have a JV for the plant to be commercially grown in Pakistan
Posted by: Raja Tauqeer | October 27, 2006 at 02:58 AM
where can I get more information on this "monster cane"
Thank you
Posted by: RODRIGO CAICEDO | November 30, 2007 at 08:54 AM
Can you give cane point samples so we can check whether monster variety is suitable in the Philippines? Please give us your billing cost. Thank you. Contact me at [email protected]
Posted by: Farm Express, Inc. | December 26, 2007 at 08:37 AM
Can you give cane point samples so we can check whether monster variety is suitable in the Philippines? Please give us your billing cost. Thank you. Contact me at [email protected]
Posted by: Farm Express, Inc. | December 26, 2007 at 08:40 AM
Good information.I would like to know that whether it requires additional inputs when compared to conventional cane
Posted by: S.Mohamed Rafi | June 20, 2008 at 04:04 AM
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