The Sugarcane Breeding Institute in Coimbatore has developed two types “energy canes” – one which can provide sugar and energy and the other which can be a feedstock for ethanol.

The canes are being field tested, according to institute Director N Vijayan Nair said.

He told Business Line on the sidelines of a National Symposium on “Bio-energy for sustainable development – the Potential Role of Sugar crops” that a few clones of energy canes are being tested at Samalkot in Andhra Pradesh.

The institute has registered the clones with the National Bureau of Plant Registry.

Stating that the energy canes were only at the testing stage, he said that the can which can produce sugar and energy can be processed in the existing sugar factories.

The second type, which can be handy for generating energy, has high fibre and biomass yield. It has been developed with an eye on the future. “This can be used for production of cellulosic ethanol,” Nair said.

The Institute plans to promote cultivation of such canes in marginal lands, he said adding that the initial results have been positive.

Nair also said that the technology for cellulosic ethanol was changing rapidly. It nevertheless offers enough opportunity in the coming years.

The Institute, he said, was not a front-runner in this technology, but foreseeing the requirement of feedstock for ethanol, developed bio-energy canes.

“While the development this far has been appreciable, the issue is, we are not integrated on feedstock development or integrating other technologies or in development of research labs that work on process optimisation and other related technologies. Each exist in silos,” he said.

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