Biofuel: Major Net Energy Gain From Switchgrass-based Ethanol. Switchgrass grown for biofuel production produced 540 percent more energy than needed to grow, harvest and process it into cellulosic ethanol, according to estimates from a large on-farm study by researchers at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Results from the five-year study involving fields on farms in three states highlight the prairie grass' potential as a biomass fuel source that yields significantly more energy than is consumed in production and conversion into cellulosic ethanol, said Ken Vogel, a U.S.
Department of Agriculture-Agricultural Research Service geneticist in UNL's agronomy and horticulture department. The study involved switchgrass fields on farms in Nebraska, North Dakota and South Dakota. It is the largest study to date examining the net energy output, greenhouse gas emissions, biomass yields, agricultural inputs and estimated cellulosic ethanol production from switchgrass grown and managed for biomass fuel. Switchgrass yields continue to improve, Vogel said. Switchgrass - Tomorrow's Ethanol Plant. Switchgrass could be the Midwest's next big energy source. Posted August 26, 2005, as reported by CropChoice: For better or worse, land that was taken out of production years ago as part of the Conservation Reserve Program will be kicked back into production in the coming years. How will landowners and farm managers make use of the newly functional ground? If taken back to row crops, the perennial soil quality benefits from CRP grasses may be lost, proving the program's long term gains to be marginal at best.
What if another crop existed, one that might partially maintain the benefits of the Conservation Reserve Program, while at the same time, allow landowners to advance profits on the land that sat idle for years? Decades-worth of study and research that continues today has been brought to fruition in a crop that can successfully be grown in the Midwest and has a well-defined market, yet today lacks some of the legislative support necessary to catapult it to the level of more conventional crops: Switchgrass. "Switchgrass is highly adaptive. Switchgrass could be the Midwest's next big energy source. Planting and Managing Switchgrass for Forage, Wildlife, and Conservation - Virginia Cooperative Extension.
Switchgrass is a tall-growing, warm-season, perennial grass that is native to much of the United States including Virginia. Switchgrass (SG) was widespread in open areas before settlers populated an area and remained in one place year after year. Their livestock were free roaming and would graze the new switchgrass growth in the spring before the new plants were tall enough to withstand defoliation. This mismanagement weakened the stands and eventually led to their demise. They were replaced by cool-season grasses introduced from other countries such as bluegrass, tall fescue, and orchardgrass. These cool-season grasses began growth much earlier in the spring so they could tolerate the early season grazing by cattle. As a result, the native warm-season grasses such as SG were destroyed and can now only be found growing wild in abandoned sites such as old cemeteries or roadways. Planting Year Management Strategies Selecting the field: Switchgrass does well on a wide variety of soil types.
Secrets To Growing Switchgrass | Good management, patience are keys. Mulling over prospects for growing switchgrass as a feedstock for biofuel or biopower? In many respects, it's not all that much different from growing other forage crops. “All of the basics still apply,” says University of Kentucky forage specialist Ray Smith. He's working with 20 farmers in a four-year-long project to grow switchgrass for generating electricity at a power plant in eastern Kentucky. “You still have to do a good job of matching varieties to soil types, determining seeding rates, controlling weeds and harvesting in a timely manner. “The main difference is that with crops like alfalfa or fescue, you can often vary a little from what's recommended and still end up having success,” Smith adds. “With switchgrass, though, you don't have much latitude for making mistakes. You pretty much have to follow all of the recommendations to the letter.” Consider the following before deciding whether switchgrass is for you: Stand establishment “There are exceptions,” Smith says.
Weed control. Soil conservation. Soil conservation is a set of management strategies for prevention of soil Soil is a natural body consisting of layers of mineral constituents of variable thicknesses, which differ from the parent materials in their morphological, physical, chemical, and mineralogical characteristics... being eroded Erosion is when materials are removed from the surface and changed into something else. It only works by hydraulic actions and transport of solids in the natural environment, and leads to the deposition of these materials elsewhere... from the Earth Earth is the third planet from the Sun, and the densest and fifth-largest of the eight planets in the Solar System. ’s surface or becoming chemically altered by overuse, acid An acid is a substance which reacts with a base. Ification, salinization or other chemical soil contamination Soil contamination or soil pollution is caused by the presence of xenobiotic chemicals or other alteration in the natural soil environment.... .
Crops and conservation . .