Excess sugarcane bagasse -- what to do with it

Bagasse is the fibrous residue remaining after crushing/shredding sugarcane and washing the sugar out of it.  Bagasse provides the power required to run the sugarcane mills that process the sugar from sugarcane, thus making sugar production from sugarcane one of the most energy efficient operations in the plant crop world.  In Florida and Hawaii, energy derived from burning bagasse not only powers the mills, but is also sold to the public as electricity.  This is referred to as co-generation.  When burned in the mill boilers, the energy derived from one ton of bagasse is roughly equivalent to the energy obtainable from one barrel of oil.  In Louisana, electricity is still too inexpensive for mill owners to make a profit burning the excess bagasse, generating electricity and selling it to the public.

Now that the sugarcane harvest season is over, and mill yards are no longer obscured by standing cane, one is struck by the huge piles of bagasse that build up next to them.  The photo above was taken of the mill yard at Raceland Sugar Co., Raceland, LA, from Hwy 90 (future I-49) overpass over Hwy 1 after most of the cane was harvested, and after the occurrence of a killing freeze on Dec. 15.  Note how the massive bagasse piles obscure the view of the mill.  One needs only to drive next to these piles of bagasse to appreciate just how massive they really are. A list of Louisiana's mills and their locations is found on the website of the American Sugar Cane League. 

In the green fuels debate, there has been much discussion about conversion of fibrous residue from plant products into cellulosic ethanol.  It would seem that, if cellulosic ethanol production or the production of some other fuel, such as butanol, from plant fiber is close to becoming economically viable, a great place to test its potential is in an already existing industry where the fibrous residue is a by-product that has already been gathered into central locations.  One issue facing sugarcane breeders, and ultimately the sugar industry, is whether it is an asset or a liability to the industry to develop and release sugarcane varieties possessing higher fiber levels than the current standard of 11-12%.  Perhaps it is a question that gets answered differently depending on whether we are taking the short-range or the long-range view.

Kayak swamp tour II

A little over a year ago, on November 28, 2009, I took the most enjoyable trip in my kayak that I ever taken.  Today, I revisited the same area.  The scenery was a bit different this time, being later in the season.  The two most notable differences were that there was less foliage on the cypress trees, and, because the water level was much lower, the cypress knees were much more exposed and impressive.  Enjoy the photos.

Shortest day of the year packed with happenings

For being the shortest day of the year (Winter Solstice) and reportedly the darkest in over 300 years (Lunar Eclipse on the shortest day), this was quite an eventful day.  So what all happened?  In the course of 24 hours, I got to see the lunar eclipse.  I got to see UConn Women's Basketball team win their 89th game in a row, eclipsing the long-standing men's basketball record held by John Wooden's UCLA team.  I got to see the 2010 U.S. census results for the first time.  I got to see the long-awaited new road in Houma connecting Hwy 311 to the strip on MLK Blvd, where we do most of our shopping, finally open today, cutting almost in half the time it will take us to make the trip to the strip.  And, to top things off, I got the kayak out, brushed off the cobwebs, and took a 4-mile round trip journey on Bayou Black.  The background scenery and wildlife on these kayak trips never disappoints, which makes me wonder why I don't go more often.

Pictures from Thanksgiving trip

Due to low batteries, I only took one picture of a view we will have from our not-quite-finished home near Tracy City, TN.  The picture didn't come out as well as hoped, with the camera focused on close up trees and the backdrop being somewhat out of focus.  It least it shows that a lot of clearing of underbrush across the highway was generously done in our behalf by the developer, which gives us the view we had hoped for when we purchased the property. 

We traveled north to Plymouth, IN (25 mi. south of South Bend in northern Indiana) to be with Matt & Julie and our grandchildren, Allison, Lauren, and Megan at Thanksgiving time.  The day after Thanksgiving, we joined the family in traveling to a tree farm near the school where Matt works, where they picked out a very special tree.  I took a picture of the grandchildren in front of it.  Over this past weekend, the Bertassos had a lot of snow.  We felt fortunate that we didn't have to contend with the white stuff while we were there.

Thanksgiving Holiday at the Bertasso's

Starting tomorrow, we will be traveling to Tennessee and Indiana.  While our original plan during our Thanksgiving Week trip was to start furnishing our new home in Tennessee and to move our pop up trailer inside the carport (presently on a neighbor's property), it appears that neither will happen on this trip.  The house is not quite finished yet, and we cannot legally enter it until it is finished and signed off.  While in the vicinity, we will take time to meet a few key people, winterize our pop up, and that's about it. 

So, the main thrust of our trip has changed to visiting Julie, Matt, and our grandchildren further up the road in Plymouth, Indiana.  We are excited to be able to be with family during Thanksgiving.  It's been a while since we have had that experience.

Country living in Houma

It seems strange that in a mid-sized city, we would be able to wake up to views such as these as these pictures depict.  We are fortunate to be able to live in a city, yet have the amount of open space that we have. 

Sugar soared to a 30-year high today

On Tuesday, raw sugar futures topped 30.6 cents a pound, rising to their highest point since 1980, when prices jumped to nearly 45 cents.  To get a sense of the dramatic increase in world sugar price, I have included a link to a more recent (post-2002) trend line. A sharper than expected drop in Brazil's estimated production is largely responsible for this spike. India's decision to withhold their domestically produced sugar from the international market is another other factor supporting the world price of sugar.  Here in Louisiana, the harvest season is well underway, and harvest conditions have been good to this point.  Tonnage is down but sugar content in the stalk has been well above average, so the growers are getting an average amount of sugar to the mills even though they are harvesting less cane.  Profitability is better than it has been for a long time.  I'm very happy for the growers and millers alike.