Sorghum to ethanol distillery operation {AU}| | AusLCI, U
Unit process Australia v00.00.001
Included processes:Process begins with the input of sorghum and includes distillation and fermentation and dehydration. The process ends with the production of ethanol and DDGS. Remark: This is an unallocated coproducing process which produces both ethanol and the DDGS. The output is scaled to the production of 1 L of ethanol. data based on a range of ethanol plant similar to the Dalby plant in New South Wales Geography: Refers to an average production in the Australia. Technology: Average Time period: Data collected for 2012 Version: 1.0 Record: Data entry by: Tim Grant Telephone: 0061 408104977; E-mail: tim@lifecycles.com.au; Company: LCS; Country: AU Generator: Generator/publicator: Tim Grant Telephone: 0061 408104977; E-mail: tim@lifecycles.com.au; Company: LCS; Country: AU
- Sector
- Fuels
- Contributor
- —
- Last updated
- 12 Oct 2026
- Reference ID
8cc1fe9b-e7e3-330f-8f14-7c3dc410d450
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Documentation
- Quantitative reference
- Sorghum to ethanol distillery operation {AU}| | AusLCI, U
- Sampling procedure
- —
- Creation date
- 16 Feb 2000
- Is copyright protected
- No
- Is infrastructure process
- No
- Tags
- material
- Sources
-
Comparison of Transport Fuels/2001/Beer, Grant, Morgan, Lapszewicz
Well-to-wheels energy use and greenhouse gas emissions/2012/Wang, Han, Dunn
Product outputs
| Flow | Amount | Unit | Comment |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sorghum to ethanol distillery operation {AU}| | AusLCI, U | 0.7899 | kg | per unit of sorghum input |
Technical inputs
| Flow | Amount | Unit | Comment |
|---|---|---|---|
| Electricity, low voltage {AU-NSW}| market for electricity, low voltage | AusLCI, U | 0.0088 | kWh | (4,1,na,3,1,na) Dehydration-Estimate Dalby plant |
| Electricity, low voltage {AU-NSW}| market for electricity, low voltage | AusLCI, U | 0.26417203728418465 | MJ | (4,1,na,3,1,na) 1kWh per Gallon - Estimate Dalby plant |
| Heat, district or industrial, natural gas {RoW}| heat production, natural gas, at industrial furnace >100kW | Cut-off, U | 7.49 | MJ | Based on Wang 2012 for corn ethanol |
| Heat, district or industrial, natural gas {RoW}| heat production, natural gas, at industrial furnace >100kW | Cut-off, U | 1.0 | MJ | (4,1,na,3,1,na) Dehydration-Estimate Dalby plant |
| Sorghum grain, dryland, Central, NSW, at farm {AU}|_obsolete | AusLCI, U | 0.790845 | kg | — |
| Sorghum grain, dryland, Western Downs and NW Slopes and Plains, NSW_Qld, at farm {AU}|_obsolete | AusLCI, U | 0.790845 | kg | — |
| Sorghum, irrigated, northern zone NSW, on farm {AU}|_obsolete | AusLCI, U | 0.81481 | kg | — |
| Transport, truck, 40t load {AU}| | AusLCI, U | 479.3 | kg*km | Estimate |
Elementary flow inputs
| Flow | Sub-compartment | Amount | Unit | Comment |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Occupation, industrial area | — | 0.00000000833 | ha*a | — |
Elementary flow outputs
| Flow | Compartment | Sub-compartment | Amount | Unit | Comment |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Carbon dioxide, non-fossil | Emission to air | unspecified | 0.7544085087909703 | kg | — |
Parameters
| Name | Value | Formula | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| All_DDGS | 0.26022833423295677 | V_DDGS/(V_DDGS+V_ethanol) | Allocation fraction to DDGS |
| Elec_usepergal | 1.0 | — | (4,1,na,3,1,na) 1kWh per Gallon - Estimate Dalby plant |
| CarbonOut | 0.9175842107334057 | d_ethanol_AN*CC_Ethanol*DM_ethanol+m_grain_perLitre*DDGS_yield*CC_DDGS*DM_DDGS+M_CO2_Evolved/CO2fromC | Carbon embodied in Ethanol |
| DM_ethanol | 0.99 | — | Mass dry mater/Mass, Dry matter content of ethanol |
| M_CO2_Evolved | 0.7544085087909703 | AM_CO2/AM_CH3CH2OH*d_ethanol_AN | Two moles of ethanol produce 2 moles of carbon dioxide |
| UC_Lbs_kg | 2.20462 | — | — |
| Elec_use | 0.26417203728418465 | Elec_usepergal/(UC_USGAL_M3*1000) | 1kWh per Gal |
| C_ethanol | 0.634 | — | $/litre. Value for ethanol, 240 cents per gal (The Californian Energy Commission 2014) |
| V_ethanol | 0.634 | C_ethanol*1 | Value of ethanol per 2.397 kg of Sorghum input (making 1 litre |
| m_grain_perLitre | 2.3965312596654726 | kgperbushell/LitresperBushell | Agrees with Wang 2012- for corn ethanol |
| CO2fromC | 3.667 | — | Amount of CO2 yielded when Carbon is oxidies to CO2 |
| CarbonIn | 0.9173921661999429 | m_grain_perLitre*CC_Sorghum*DM_Sorghum | Carbon input via grain |
| CC_DDGS | 0.5 | — | C mass/Drymass. Dry matter carbon content of ethanol - estimate |
| AM_CO2 | 44.0 | — | Molecular mass of carbon dioxide |
| kgperbushell | 25.401202928395826 | (Lbsperbushell/UC_Lbs_kg) | Unit conversion |
| kmdistance | 200.0 | — | km transport distance estimate |
| CC_Ethanol | 0.5214 | — | C mass/Drymass. Dry matter carbon content of ethanol |
| DDGS_yield | 0.282 | — | (4,1,na,3,1,na) kg per kg of sorghum input, based on Wang 2012 for corn ethanol |
| UC_USGAL_M3 | 0.003785412 | — | Mutliply to convert Gal to m3 |
| V_DDGS | 0.22302119902446885 | C_DDGS*DDGS_yield*m_grain_perLitre | — |
| GallonsperBushell | 2.8 | — | (4,1,na,3,1,na), Estimate from Dalby plant manager. |
| SorghumNSWIr | 0.34 | — | Even split with no idea |
| DM_DDGS | 0.9 | — | 10% moisture suggested by literature. |
| C_DDGS | 0.33 | — | $/kg Value for DDGS, $330 per tonne. (U.S. Grains Council and Chicago Board of Trade 2014) |
| AM_CH3CH2OH | 46.07 | — | Molecular mass of ethanol |
| CC_Sorghum | 0.44 | — | C mass/Drymass. Dry matter carbon content of sorghum - estimate |
| DM_Sorghum | 0.87 | — | 13% moisutre is safe for storage. |
| d_ethanol_AN | 0.7899 | — | kg/l ABARE 2007 |
| Lbsperbushell | 56.0 | — | Unit conversion |
| LitresperBushell | 10.5991536 | GallonsperBushell*UC_USGAL_M3*1000 | Unit conversion |
| All_Ethanol | 0.7397716657670432 | V_ethanol/(V_DDGS+V_ethanol) | Allocation fraction to ethanol |
| En_Gas | 7.49 | — | (4,1,na,3,1,na) MJ/litre based on Wang 2012 for corn ethanol. Dalby plant manager suggested 7 MJ. |
| SorghumNSWNE | 0.33 | — | Even split with no idea |
| SoughumTotal | 2.3965 | — | (2,1,1,3,1,na)Wang 2012- for corn ethanol |
| UC_Lbstokg | 0.4536 | — | — |
| SorghumNSWNW | 0.33 | — | Even split with no idea |