scope:

This volume of the Bioenergy Plants compendium contains a collection of chapters that focus on the history, economics, and practical sciences related to sugarcane. As one of the key biofuel crops in the world that is under large-scale cultivation, sugarcane is attracting interests for its adoption and emulation worldwide. With a high ratio of energy output to input for its production, sugarcane-derived bioethanol currently has the lowest carbon footprint as a renewable fuel product. Comprehensive chapters explore all the essential aspects of sugarcane's origin as a crop, its limitations, and current efforts for its improvement through traditional breeding, and biochemical and molecular approaches. Importantly, experts in the economic and social science areas also provide key insights as to how forces in the policy and human dimensions intimately interact with geographic factors to help shape the sugarcane crop's potential for deployment as well as its future impact on the energy sector.