Nebraska prime for switchgrass plant
Untitled
University researchers studied switchgrass for decades
LINCOLN, Neb. (AP)--Nebraska is a prime spot to be a host site for one of three small-scale plants that would make ethanol from switchgrass, cornstalks and other materials, say University of Nebraska researchers.
The Department of Energy wants to move at least three of the plants into construction next year, and Ken Vogel with UNL said Nebraska is perfect for one, according to the Lincoln Journal Star.
"Switchgrass is one of the things we've worked on here since 1930," Vogel said in the newspaper article.
Switchgrass is a native summer perennial grass and a component of the tallgrass prairie that covered parts of the Great Plains.
The 1930s focus for switchgrass research in Nebraska was on holding erosion-prone soil in place during the Dust Bowl era. But the recent Department of Energy focus is on energy from biomass.
David DiMartino, spokesman for U.S. Sen. Ben Nelson of Nebraska, said a biorefinery initiative in President Bush's 2007 budget proposal would provide $150 million for biomass development, as a reaction to rising prices for crude oil.
"There's interest all over the place now for switchgrass," Vogel said, according to the newspaper.
Vogel and two other researchers, all based at UNL with the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Agricultural Research Service, March 14 spoke at UNL about the past and future of switchgrass.
They pointed to research that shows greater energy potential from switchgrass than from unirrigated corn: With switchgrass, a 10-year stand can be produced with a single plant. The leftovers from ethanol production could be burned to run the ethanol plant.
Vogel said one way to visualize the biomass potential of the grass is to imagine a 1,200-pound bale of hay as being an equivalent to a 50-gallon drum of ethanol.
Rangeland scientist Rob Mitchell said switchgrass is a way for farmers to diversify their operations.
"One of the bright spots to me is the hope that this provides to rural Nebraska," Mitchell said.
Corn and other grains have been dominant alternative fuel sources because they are more easily converted to sugars that are processed into ethanol, said molecular biologist Gautam Sarath.
But the key to switchgrass progress has been in developing chemicals and enzymes that break down the plant's cellulose and converting it, he said.
Although Nebraska is a major producer of corn-based ethanol, Sarath doesn't expect competition to develop between corn ethanol and biomass ethanol.
"There's more than enough room for everything," Sarath said, according to the newspaper.
Date: 3/23/06
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