Since 1795, Louisiana’s cane farmers and millers have prided themselves in supplying the citizens of our nation with sugar. Our industry has evolved and gone through drastic change since Etienne deBore first began commercial production of sugar in what is now Audubon Park in uptown New Orleans.
For over 200 year we have played a crucial role in providing American with a safe and reliable supply of home-grown sugar. We are accustomed to providing safe food for our families, and now we find ourselves studying the opportunity to provide a safe, renewable and reliable supply of fuel for our communities.
The possibility of providing electricity, liquid fuels and other specialty chemical from sugar cane is very exciting. Several of our farmers and millers are evaluating these new opportunities and have committed substantial resources to renewable energy endeavors.
Our scientists are testing new varieties of cane specifically bred to capture and store more of the sun’s energy. Researchers at the Audubon Sugar Institute have been working to improve the process of converting sugar cane into liquid fuels. Sugar mills are studying the possibility of utilizing excess bagasse and cane leaf material as a fuel to generate electricity to help power our communities.
In today’s economic environment producing energy from sugar cane is not a viable financial proposition. National agricultural policies make it more attractive to use corn as a primary feedstock for ethanol production in the U.S. Brazil has established policies that make ethanol production from sugar cane more financially attractive. Brazil’s path to ethanol production from sugar cane has taken 30 years of effort, several billions of dollars of incentives and missteps along the way.
Louisiana’s sugar industry sees the prospect of producing energy from sugar cane as an opportunity that is still on the horizon. In the next few years we hope that this opportunity turns into reality.
— Jim Simon is chair of the American Sugarcane League