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Ceres and Raizen to scale-up sweet sorghum for ethanol

Ceres, an agricultural biotechnology company, and Brazilian energy company Raízen have signed a multi-year collaboration agreement to develop and produce sweet sorghum on an industrial scale.

Sweet sorghum can be grown to complement existing feedstock supplies and extend the operating season of Brazilian sugarcane-to-ethanol mills.

Under the collaboration, the companies will each contribute in-kind services and resources and share in the revenue from the ethanol produced from Ceres' sweet sorghum above certain levels. This season, Raízen has planted Ceres' sweet sorghum evaluation in a single location and plans to expand to multiple mills in the seasons to come.
Ceres president and CEO Richard Hamilton says: 'The ethanol industry in Brazil has a history of successfully competing against low-priced oil and we believe that sweet sorghum, which has lower production costs than sugarcane, can be further developed and scaled up as an integral part of the industry's feedstock supply.'

Raízen, a joint venture of Royal Dutch Shell and Cosan, has taken a keen interest in developing and scaling up sweet sorghum as a means to grow margins and increase supply for its sugar and ethanol facilities. The company has conducted field and industrial evaluations of Ceres' sweet sorghum hybrids since 2011.

'During the past seasons we have made significant and measureable improvements in performance and we remain optimistic that sweet sorghum can be used to rapidly scale up feedstock supplies following the current downturn in the sector,' comments Antonio Stuchi, agro industrial director from Raízen.

 

SOURCE: Ceres





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