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Bioenerg. Res. (2012) 5:19 DOI 10.1007/s12155-011-9159-x
Potential of Plants from the Genus Agave as Bioenergy Crops
Luis Lauro Escamilla-Trevio
Published online: 14 October 2011# The Author(s) 2011. This article is published with open access at Springerlink.com
Abstract Agave is a succulent genus within the monocot family Agavaceae. The plants have a large rosette of thick fleshy leaves, each ending generally in a sharp point, and are native to arid and semi-arid regions from the southern USA to northern South America. The most important commercial species is Agave tequilana grown for production of tequila. Several cultivated species of Agave such as Agave sislana and Agave salmiana can perform well in areas where rainfall is insufficient for the cultivation of many C3 and C4 crops. The key feature of the crassulacean acid metabolism photosynthetic pathway used by agaves is the stomata opening and CO2 uptake during the night, thus allowing less water to be lost by transpiration. Alcoholic beverages, sweeteners, fibers, and some specialty chemicals are currently the main products coming from agave plants. The recovered information related to productivity, biofuel processability, by-products, etc. suggests that some Agave species have a real potential to compete economically with other bioenergy crops. But more than compete, it could complement the list of bioenergy crops due to its capacity to grow with very little rainfall and/or inputs and still reach good amount of biomass, so unused semi-arid land could be productive. Although Agave has great potential to be
developed as a bioenergy crop, more laboratory and field research are needed.
Keywords Agave . Bioenergy crop . Biofuel . Biofuel feedstock . Crassulacean acid metabolism
AbbreviationsC Degrees CelsiusCAM Crassulacean acid metabolismEPI Environmental productivity indexEST Expressed sequence tagha HectareMg Metric tonsmm MillimetersPEP PhosphoenolpyruvatePEPCase Phosphoenolpyruvate carboxylaseRubisco Ribulose bisphosphate carboxylase oxygenase TRS Total reducing sugarsWSC Water-soluble carbohydratesWUE Water-use efficiency
Introduction
Biofuels, Sustainability, and Water Usage
Until recently, productivity, processability, and agronomic inputs have been viewed as the most important parameters to consider during the selection and development of new biomass feedstocks for biofuel production. However, issues such as water usage, sustainability, greenhouse-gas emissions, biodiversity, competition with food supply, and general impacts on society are now recognized as equally important for consideration [49]. As example, the three Bioenergy Research Centers funded by the US Department