Study: Molasses Shows Promise For Ethanol Production

WASHINGTON (Dow Jones)--Molasses, a byproduct of sugar production in the U.S., shows promise as a viable source of raw material to make ethanol, according to new research that looked into the feasibility of producing fuel from sugar and sugar-related products.

"The product that comes out the best in terms of being competitive is the molasses," said a U.S. Department of Agriculture official, after reviewing a new government-commissioned study performed by researchers at Louisiana State University that is scheduled to be unveiled Monday.

The fact that molasses is particularly viable as a feedstock for ethanol did not come as a surprise to LSU researchers, Donal Day, a professor with the school's Audubon Sugar Institute, said in an interview.

The cost of using molasses, Day said, turns out to roughly the same as using corn - the commodity most ethanol is now made from in the U.S. And because sugar mills are self-sufficient for energy, profits can be higher.

So long as the ethanol-producing plant is connected to a sugar mill that is powered by sugarcane bagasse - another waste product that millers commonly use as a power source - producers can make a profit, Day said. "We have free energy."

Bagasse is a fibrous waste material left behind after the cane is processed into raw sugar and LSU researchers are also looking into using it as a feedstock for ethanol production.

It won't work, Day said, if an investor wanted to build a stand-alone distillery and buy molasses and have it delivered. "You've got to have that free energy from burning the bagasse to make the thing work really well."

Louisiana, the second largest sugar state in the U.S. behind Florida, produced about 1.4 million tons of raw sugar and about 64 million gallons of molasses last year.

Ethanol can be produced efficiently in the U.S. from sugar cane itself, Peter Rein, head of LSU's Audubon Sugar Institute, said in article on the organization's web site. The process is cheaper than making corn-based ethanol, but only in a laboratory setting.

"We can do it in the lab," Rein said in the article. "The technology is there, but the economics aren't there yet to be commercially viable."

While the U.S. relies mostly on corn for the ethanol it produces, political leaders such as Sen. Saxby Chambliss, R-Ga., have said they would like to see sugar farmers profiting from strong ethanol demand. Brazil is often used as an example of a country succeeding in sugarcane-based ethanol production.

USDA Undersecretary J. B. Penn, during a recent Senate hearing, praised Brazil's sugarcane ethanol industry and said the country produces about 3 billion gallons per year.

Source: Bill Tomson; Dow Jones Newswires; 202-646-0088; bill.tomson@dowjones.com

To subscribe or visit go to:  http://www.cattlenetwork.com