SSO-MOL: Ethanol Fermentation from Sweet Sorghum

* Cost Challenges - None of the projects are feasible; producing ethanol within the cost range of petrol in the recent past is only possible through subsidisation of the sugar input costs. Capital costs are more than double that of coal-based electricity. * Policy Challenges - Regulation of ethanol production similar to the wine industry will be required with regulation of a large number of small producers. * Environmental Challenges - Greenhouse gas mitigation depends strongly on (1) co-generation of electricity from bagasse to supply process energy and (2) whether land use change is minimised. * Social and Institutional Challenges - Conversion of subsistence farmers in former homeland areas, with high reliance on cattle and maize, to a cash crop with side products for own consumption and cattle feed will require significant community involvement. Cooperative farming and marketing channels need to be investigated.