Journal of Energy Bioscience 2025, Vol.16, No.5, 263-272 http://bioscipublisher.com/index.php/jeb 270 meet the nutritional requirements but also be suitable for bioethanol and biogas production, reducing the contradiction of "grain energy competing for land" (Tedesco et al., 2023). Adaptive breeding for marginal lands such as arid and infertile ones enables sweet potatoes to grow efficiently on non-high-quality cultivated land. In the future, emerging biotechnologies such as gene editing are expected to further accelerate the targeted improvement of sweet potato varieties. By regulating the genes related to starch synthesis, the accumulation rate and proportion of starch can be increased, or the content of degradable components such as cellulose and hemicellulose can be enhanced (Wang et al., 2024). For biogas production, choosing varieties with high reducing sugar content and easy degradability can significantly increase methane output (De Paula Batista et al., 2019). 8.2 Biorefining and cascade utilization Sweet potatoes can not only be used for starch conversion to ethanol, but also their residue, vines and other by-products can be used as raw materials for biogas fermentation, animal feed, microbial protein and organic fertilizer (Sheikha and Ray, 2017; Weber et al., 2020; Rizzolo et al., 2021). After extracting starch from sweet potato residue, it is still rich in fermentable carbon sources. By optimizing the enzymatic hydrolysis and fermentation processes, it can be efficiently converted into ethanol or biogas (Wang et al., 2016; Wang et al., 2024). Under the integrated production mode, multiple products such as ethanol, distilled spirits, feed and organic fertilizers are output in a coordinated manner, significantly enhancing economic benefits and resource utilization (Weber et al., 2020). In the future, sweet potato biorefining will place greater emphasis on process integration and energy cascade utilization. Efficient conversion of raw materials and stepwise utilization of by-products were achieved by adopting technologies such as simultaneous saccharification and fermentation (SSF), solid-liquid separation, and waste heat recovery (Zhang et al., 2011; Wang et al., 2016; Carvalho et al., 2023). Flexibly adjust the product structure based on market demand, such as dynamically switching among ethanol, distilled spirits, feed, etc., to enhance the industry's risk resistance capacity (Weber et al., 2020). 8.3 Technological innovation The application of high-resolution remote sensing, Internet of Things sensors and artificial intelligence (AI) technologies has enabled precise monitoring and remote optimization in the links of sweet potato planting, harvesting and processing (Tedesco et al., 2023). Through satellite remote sensing and unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) monitoring, farmers can grasp the growth conditions, pests and diseases, and soil moisture in the fields in real time, and adjust irrigation, fertilization, and pest and disease control strategies in a timely manner (Tedesco et al., 2023). During the processing stage, AI algorithms can dynamically optimize fermentation parameters, energy consumption and product quality, reducing energy consumption, minimizing losses and enhancing production efficiency (Carvalho et al., 2023). In the future, intelligent decision-making platforms based on big data and cloud computing will further enhance the management level of the sweet potato energy industry. By integrating meteorological, soil, crop growth and market information, full-process digital management from the field to the factory is achieved, supporting precise planting, intelligent logistics and flexible production (Tedesco et al., 2023). Emerging technologies such as blockchain can be used for raw material traceability and product quality tracking, enhancing consumer trust and market competitiveness. Intelligent and digital technological innovations will inject strong impetus into the efficient and sustainable development of sweet potatoes in the fields of bioethanol and biogas (Sheikha and Ray, 2017). Acknowledgments The author expresses gratitude to the two anonymous peer reviewers for their feedback. Conflict of Interest Disclosure The author affirms that this research was conducted without any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.
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