Evaluating the Potential of Newly Developed Energy Cane Clones for First- and Second-Generation Ethanol Production

The rapid increases in fuel ethanol demand and food security concerns have driven the need for diverse feedstocks in the ethanol production process. Energy cane is an energy crop that is an ideal sustainable biofuel feedstock. The present study evaluated ethanol production of the juice and bagasse of two newly developed energy cane clones, TByEFC08-0035 and TByEFC10-0004. The results of the chemical composition analyses of the juice and bagasse samples revealed that the two energy cane clones contained high contents of both sucrose (15.36–17.95%) and fiber (13.44–24.16%). The maximum ethanol concentrations from the juice on a laboratory scale (87.10 g/L) and on an agronomic scale (1211.76 kg/ha) were recorded for TByEFC10-0004 fermented with a new isolate Kluyveromyces marxianus SJT83, whereas the maximum ethanol concentrations from bagasse on a laboratory scale (9.81 g/L) and on an agronomic scale (790.68 kg/ha) were reached with TByEFC08-0035 fermented with Scheffersomyces shehatae TTC79. The total ethanol yields from the juice and bagasse samples per cultivation area of both energy cane clones were in the range 1294.23–1469.14 kg/ha, being 1.70–1.93 and 1.08–1.23 times higher than the control energy cane Biotec2 variety and the commercial sugar cane Khon Kaen3 variety, respectively. This study revealed the potential of the energy cane clones TByEFC08-0035 and TByEFC10-0004 currently being developed as sugar and lignocellulose substrates for first- and second-generation ethanol industry applications.