Napier Grass (Pennisetum purpureum): An Emerging Biofuel Crop

Bhagwat W. Chavre^1, and Vitthal B. Sonawane¹

¹Department of Botany, Arts, Commerce and Science College, Nandgaon, Dist. Nashik, (M.S.), India

Cite this paper:
Bhagwat W. Chavre and Vitthal B. Sonawane. Napier Grass (Pennisetum purpureum): An Emerging Biofuel Crop. Applied Ecology and Environmental Sciences. 2021; 9(9):811-813. doi: 10.12691/aees-9-9-5

Abstract

Fossil fuels cannot be recommended due to their high cost, nonrenewable and pollution causing nature. It is predicted that, if present situation of fossil fuel exploitation will not change, Carbon dioxide emission in to atmosphere will increase by 50 to 250 %. Biofuels are now a day getting importance due to their low cost production, renewable and low pollution causing characters. The major sources of biofuel especially bioethanol are corn, sugarcane, sugar beet and wheat. But these are food crops which if used for the purpose of biofuel production could influence on food to population ratio. Napier grass is an efficient and effective solution to this problem as it produces lignocellulose biomass which can be used as a cheap and renewable source for biofuel production. Botanically, Napier grass is known as Pennisetum purpureum which belongs to grass family, Poaceae. In this article, author tried to throw light on Napier grass especially with its biofuel producing potential.

Keywords:
Pennisetum purpureum Napier grass Biofuel renewable energy source

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

References:

[1]	Pensri B., P. Aggarangsi, T. Chaiyaso and N. Chandet. (2016), Potential of fermentable sugar production from Napier cv. Pakchong grass residue as a substrate to produce Bioethanol, Energy Procedia, 89:428-436.
[2]	Negawo A.T., A. Teshome, A. Kumar, J. Hamson and C.S. Jones (2017), Opportunities for Napier grass (Pennisetum purpureum) improvement using molecular genetics, Agronomy, 7 (28): 1-21.
[3]	UNCTAD (2016), Second generation biofuel markets, UNCTAD/DITC/TED/2015/8, United Nations Publication.
[4]	Prapinagsorn W., S. Sittijunda and A.Reungsang (2017), Co-digestion of Napier grass and its Silage with cow dung for Methane production, Energies, 10 (1654): 1-20.
[5]	Hattori T. and S. Morita (2015), Energy crops for sustainable bioethanol production; which, where and how?,Plant Production Science, 13 (3): 221-234.
[6]	Ng K.S., M. Zin, M. Maidin and M.K. Zainol (2020), The ramification of fermentation time on antioxidant properties of Napier grass herbal tea by black tea processing method, Food Research, 4 (2): 349-357.
[7]	Chiluwal A., H.P.Singh, K. Sahoo, R. Paudel, W. F. Whithead and B.P.Singh (2019), Napier grass has dual use as biofuel feedstock and animal fodder, Agronomy journal, 111 (4): 1752-1759.
[8]	Azeke, E.M.; Eze, C.L.; Ubong, I.; Kuroshi, L. (2019), The Potential of Elephant Grass (Pennisetum Purpureum Schum), a Nigerian Indigenous Grass, in Bioethanol Production: A Decarbonization Alternative for the Maritime Industry, Papers presented at the 38th International Southern African Transport Conference on “Disruptive transport technologies - is South and Southern Africa ready?” held at CSIR International Convention Centre, Pretoria, South Africa on 8th to 11th July 2019.
[9]	Balan V. (2014), Current challenges in commercially producing Biofuels from Lignocellulosic biomass, ISRN Biotechnology Volume 2014: 1-31.
[10]	Dussadee N., R.Ramaraj and T. Cheunbarn (2017), Biotechnological application of sustainable biogas production through dry anaerobic digestion of Napier grass, Biotech, 7 (47): 1-9.
[11]	Ohimain E.I., P. Kendabie and R.E.S. Nwachukwu (2014), Bioenergy potentials of Elephant grass, Pennisetum purpureum Schumach, Annual Research and Review in Biology, 4 (13): 2215-2227.
[12]	Arshpreet K., R. Kappor, Y.Vikal, A. Kalia and R. Bhardwaj (2019), Production of Interspecific Hybrids between Pearl Millet [Pennisetum glaucum (L.) R. Br.] × Napier Grass [Pennisetum purpureum (K.) Schum] and their Characterization, International journal of current Microbiology and applied sciences, 8 (4): 1308-1313.
[13]	Singh B.P., H.P. Singh and E. Obeng (2013), Elephantgrass, Biofuel crops: production, Physiology and Genetics, CAB International, 271-291.
[14]	Morgan T.J., A. Youkhana, S.Q. Turn, R. Ogoshi and M. G. Perez. (2019), Review of biomass resources and conversion technologies for alternative Jet fuel production in Hawai’I and tropical regions, Energy fuels, 33: 2699-2762.
[15]	Mohammed I. Y., Y.A. Abakr, F.K. Kazi, S. Yusuf, I Alshareef and S.A. Chin (2015), Pyrolysis of Napier grass in a fixed bed reactor: Effect of operating conditions on product yields and characteristics, BioResources, 10 (4): 6457-6478.
[16]	Treedet W., R. Suntivarakorn, I. Mufandi and P. Singbua (2020), Bio-oil Production from Napier Grass Using a Pyrolysis Process: Comparison of Energy Conversion and Production Cost between Bio-oil and Other Biofuels, International Energy Journal, 20: 155-168.
[17]	Campos B.B., R.H.S. Diniz, F.A. Silveira, J.I.R. Junior, L.G.Fietto, J.C. Machado and W.B. Silveira (2019), Elephant grass (Pennisetum purpureum Schumach) is a promising feedstock for ethanol production by the thermotolerant yeast Kluyveromyces marxianus CCT 7735, Brazilian Journal of Chemical Engineering, 36 (01), 43-49.
[18]	Tsai M.H., W.C. Lee, W.C. Kuan, S. Sirsansaneeyakul and A. Savarajara (2018), Evaluation of different pre-treatments of Napier grass for enzymatic saccharification and ethanol production, Energy science and Engineering, 6: 683-692.
[19]	Divyabharathi R. and P. Venkatchalam. (2015), Energy conversion study on cumbu napier CO-4, International journal of Agriculture, Environment and Biotechnology, 8 (3): 727-733.
[20]	Mohammed, Isah Yakub, ABAKR, Yousif Abdalla, YUSUP, Suzana and Kabir, Feroz (2017). Valorization of Napier grass via intermediate pyrolysis: Optimization using response surface methodology and pyrolysis products characterization. Journal of Cleaner Production, 142 (4), 1848-1866.