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Sweet Potato and Cassava Better at Ethanol Production
Published Thursday, August 21, 2008 at 04:48 AM
Researchers are finding alternative crops that, they say, can produce much more carbohydrate for fuel ethanol production than field corn. Agricultural Research Service scientists report that, in experiments, sweet potatoes grown in Maryland and Alabama yielded two to three times as much carbohydrate. The same was true of tropical cassava in Alabama. The sweet potato carbohydrate yields approached the lower limits of those produced by sugarcane, the highest-yielding ethanol crop.

Another advantage for sweet potatoes and cassava is they require much less fertilizer and pesticide than corn. But, the disadvantages to cassava and sweet potato are higher start-up costs, particularly because of increased labor at planting and harvesting times.

Further studies are needed to get data on inputs of fertilizer, water, pesticides and estimates of energy efficiency. Overall, the data indicate it would be worthwhile to start pilot programs to study growing cassava and sweet potato for ethanol, especially on marginal lands.

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