Potential Ethanol Production from Sugar Beet and Fodder Beet1

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Abstract
Fodder beet and sugar beet (Beta vulgaris L.) cultivars were evaluated in field trials at six locations to assess the potential ethanol fuel production from beet crops in the USA. This research was stimulated by the potential world petroleum fuel shortages in the 1970s and a need to assay the merit of sugar and starch crops for potential alcohol fuel production. Fodder beet cultivars had greater root weight and less sucrose content than sugar beet. Fodder beets contained more glucose and fructose than sugar beet but these sugars amounted to < 1% of the total sugar content. Average potential ethanol production for all locations was 5.34 and 6.38 kL ha−1 in 1980 and 1981, respectively, for fodder beet, compared to 5.36 and 6.68 kL ha−1 for sugar beet cultivars. Salinas, CA, with a long growing season, had a potential alcohol yield from beets of 8.64 kL ha−1, while potential ethanol yields at Fargo, ND, where the growing season is short, were −1. Adapted sugar beet hybrids show better promise than fodder beet as a fuel crop in the USA, since sugar beet produces an equal or greater quantity of fermentable sugar, has less bulk to transport, more extractable sugar per unit mass, and resistance to prevalent sugar beet diseases.

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