2007年10月15日 星期一

讓高粱快速生長 美科學家為生質能找潛力

摘譯自2007年10月10日ENS美國,德州報導;吳萃慧編譯;蔡麗伶審校

美國的轎車及卡車可能很快就能用高粱來作燃料。在美國,高粱並沒有被廣泛作為糧食作物,但卻與小麥、燕麥、玉米與大麥同列全球5種主要穀物作物之一。高粱在古埃及時代就已被種植,現在非洲依然是高樑產量最高的地區。
最近能源作物公司喜瑞士(Ceres, Inc.)及美國德州農工大學德州農業研究站(Texas Agricultural Experiment Station, TAES)已經達成商業協定,開始進行高產量高粱物種的聯合研究。
雖然這些是穀物作物,但它們並不用來製造穀物。高粱的最大價值在於它能被加以育種成為高產量的纖維素生質燃料原料,而這些生物質量(biomass)包括它的莖、葉柄與葉片。
喜瑞士公司產品發展部副總裁梅西亞(Peter Mascia)表示,目前由高粱生產乙醇的方式是利用這種植物的穀粒,然而這種植物的葉片及葉柄部分才是製造生質燃料最有潛力的部分。
他指出,新的科技將使植物細胞壁的的碳水化合物,也就是纖維素,能夠用來製造纖維素乙醇。他表示:「當這些科技逐漸成熟,農民將能夠用最少的能源及農務,從以前每畝地生產最多穀物的農業型態,轉變成生產最高生物質量的型態。屆時必將需要仰賴新種作物及像高粱一樣高生物質量的特化雜交物種。」
TAES的植物科學家朗尼博士(Dr. Bill Rooney)表示,高粱幾乎是生產纖維素生質燃料最理想的作物,它產量高,是天生的耐旱植物,並且能在玉米或其他糧食作物無法正常生長的地方繁生。
Scientists Develop Fast-Growing Sorghum for Biofuel
COLLEGE STATION, Texas, October 9, 2007 (ENS)
American cars and trucks may soon be fueled with sorghum. Not used widely as a food grain in the United States, sorghum is one of the five top cereal crops in the world, along with wheat, oats, corn, and barley. It was cultivated in Egypt in ancient times, and Africa still is the largest producer of sorghum today.
Now, energy crop company Ceres, Inc. and the Texas Agricultural Experiment Station of the Texas A&M University system have entered into a joint research and commercial agreement for high biomass sorghum.
These plants are not designed to produce grain, although they do produce it. The real value is that sorghum can be bred to produce vast amounts of biomass, the raw material for cellulosic biofuels made from stems, stalks and leaves.
Presently, sorghum-to-ethanol production uses the grain part of the plant, but the leaves and stalks hold the greatest potential for biofuel production, says Peter Mascia, Ceres vice president of product development.
He says new technologies are making it possible to utilize the carbohydrates found in plant cell walls, called cellulose, to make cellulosic ethanol.
"As these technologies mature, farmers will transition from growing as much grain per acre to producing as much biomass as they can per acre, with as little energy and agronomic inputs as possible. This means new crops and specialized hybrids like these high-biomass sorghum types will be needed," Mascia said.
Plant scientist Dr. Bill Rooney of the A&M System's Texas Agricultural Experiment Station, TAES, says that sorghum is a near-ideal crop for cellulosic biofuels.
"Sorghum produces high yields, is naturally drought tolerant and can thrive in places that do not support corn and other food crops, "he said.

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