Energy Beets As Year Round Bioenergy Feedstock for Southern Great Plains.

Sugar feedstocks are easy to convert and are most efficient for biofuel production. Energy beets (Beta vulgaris L.) in Great Plains of USA have the potential to replicate ethanol yields of sugarcane in Brazil. Energy beet can be readily incorporated into crop rotations and serve as a cash-crop to producers. The objective of this study was to evaluate winter and summer planted energy beet sugar and biomass yield and finally theoretical ethanol production. Five energy beet lines in collaboration with BetaSeed Inc. were evaluated during 2010 and 2011 winter and 2011 summer at Agronomy Research Farm, Stillwater, OK. Crop was established on 28 Sept 2010 and 2011 and 14 April/18 May 2011. Crop growth, leaf area, root weight, diameter and length, juice expression, bagasse dry weight, and brix were evaluated at monthly interval. Juice was extracted using a commercial fruit juice extractor. The final root weight for the winter 2010 crop ranged from 42 to 65 wet t ha^-1, while the summer 2011 crop yield ranged from 43 to 100 wet t ha^-1. The brix was 15-18% for the winter 2010 crop harvested in June 2011, while it was 18-20% for the summer 2011 crop harvested in October 2011. Based on biomass yield and brix, the theoretical ethanol yield potential ranged from 4500 to 10,000 L ha^-1 or 1200 to 2600 gal ha^-1.