Switchgrass
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Jan. 14, 2008 — 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.
Biofuel: Major Net Energy Gain From Switchgrass-based Ethanol
First, a distinction: switchgrass and your suburban lawn grasses—bluegrass and zoysia grass— are about as similar as a shopping-mall ficus and an old-growth redwood. Switchgrass is big and it's tough—after a good growing season, it can stand 10 feet high, with stems as thick and strong as hardwood pencils.
Biofuels from Switchgrass: Greener Energy Pastures
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.
Switchgrass could be the Midwest's next big energy source
Switchgrass Profile
Switchgrass ( Panicum virgatum ) is a summer perennial grass that is native to North america.
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.
Advertisement <div><a href="//ad.doubleclick.net/N3834/jump/hay.home/hay;pos=180_1;ptype=article;page=/hay/0301-maintence-patience-key;sz=180x150;tile=1;ord=123456789?" target="_blank"><img src="//ad.doubleclick.net/N3834/ad/hay.home/hay;pos=180_1;ptype=article;page=/hay/0301-maintence-patience-key;sz=180x150;tile=1;ord=123456789?" border="0" alt="" /></a></div> 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.
