Developing Technologies that Enable Growth and Profitability in the Commercial Conversion of Sugarcane, Sweet Sorghum, and Energy Beets into Sugar, Advanced Biofuels, and Bioproducts

The overall objective of this project is to enhance the value of sugarcane, sweet sorghum, and energy beets, and their major commercial products sugar, biofuel and bioproducts, by improving postharvest quality and processing. Specific objectives are: 1. Develop commercially-viable technologies that reduce or eliminate undesirable effects of starch and color on sugar processing/refining efficiency and end-product quality. 2. Develop commercially-viable technologies that reduce or eliminate undesirable effects of high viscosity on sugar processing/refining efficiency and end-product quality. 3. Develop commercially-viable technologies to increase the stability and lengthen storage of sugar feedstocks for the manufacture of sugars, advanced biofuels, and bioproducts. 4. Develop commercially-viable technologies for the biorefining of sugar crop feedstocks into advanced biofuels and bioproducts. 5. Identify and characterize field sugar crop quality traits that affect sugar crop refining/biorefining efficiency and end-product quality, and collaborate with plant breeders in the development of new cultivars/hybrids to optimize desirable quality traits. 6. Develop, in collaboration with commercial partners, technologies to improve the efficiency and profitability of U.S. sugar manufacturing and enable the commercial production of marketable products from residues (e.g, bagasse, trash) and by-product streams (e.g., low purity juices) associated with postharvest sugar crop processing. Please see Project Plan for all listed Sub-objectives.