Evaluating eTuber and Energybeets as Feedstock for Biofuels and Biogas in South Florida Brian Boman 1, Edward Evans 2 and Ann C. Wilkie 3 1 Agricultural and Biological Engineering Dept., UF-IFAS Indian River REC, Ft. Pierce, FL. 2 Food and Resource Economics Dept., UF-IFAS Tropical REC, Homestead, FL. 3 Soil and Water Science Department, University of Florida-IFAS, Gainesville, FL. Abstract Acknowledgements The number one handicap to development of a biofuel industry for Florida is the lack of a heat tolerant, well adapted feedstock crop available year round. To be practical, crops grown for fuel-ethanol must be abundant, cheap, widely available, and use processing technology ready now. The crops that meet this criterion in Florida are the carbohydrate crops like the industrial sweetpotato (eTuber™), sorghum, and other starch and sugar crops. This project is evaluating the eTuber™ and rotation crops such as energy beets and sweet sorghum. The eTuber™ has 50% more dry matter than current leading varieties of sweetpotatoes grown in Florida. As a result, it has a greatly increased ethanol producing potential and the eTuber’s starch can be processed with the technology used in a corn ethanol plant. The crop tolerates heat, requires little irrigation, and has been shown to produce 4 to 5 times as much starch per acre as corn. The Energy Beet is a non-edible biomass crop that is “Generation 1.5” simple sugar crop. It does not need to be converted from starch and can produce twice as much sugar per acre as corn. In addition, Energy Beets ferment without the need for enzymes. The by- products can be used as a livestock feed supplement. Florida Energy Beet Production This research is sponsored by FDACS Office of Energy and the State of Florida Objectives 17-pound eTuber TM next to a table sweetpotato. Sweet Sorghum Field trials with eTuber™ - yield & growing protocol Rotation crops (sugarbeet, sweet sorghum, others) Development of protocols to process into ethanol & biodiesel Complete economic analysis Greenhouse gas analysis Application for Advanced Biofuel Feedstock (ABF) designation Cooperators Potential 2-year crop rotation plans with harvest 11 months per year. Field trials: experiments on planting density, rotation crops, fertilizer and irrigation rates, pest & disease control, and planting and harvest times. Processing: Optimization of protocols for conversion into ethanol and by-products, green house gas (GHG) analysis for eTuber from field and processing data, and testing syrup as a putative feedstock for e-coli, algae, and yeast to make biodiesel, jet fuel, etc. Biogas: develop a method of producing biogas using culled sweetpotatoes, vines, and stillage through anaerobic digestion. Economics: cost of growing crops, economic analysis of conversion to ethanol and biofuels, market potential analysis, and impact of commercialization on economic development in FL. Project Tasks Energy Beet Components Energy Beet planting with center pivot irrigation at UF/IRREC farm.