Switchgrass gets high marks in new study

Switchgrass, which can be grown on marginal land and does not double as a food crop, makes for an efficient ethanol feedstock, according to a study backed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the U.S. Department of Energy.

The next-generation feedstock yields about five times more energy than it takes to grow it, said the study, called "Net Energy of Cellulosic Ethanol from Switchgrass," published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

The five-year study conducted trials using fields on 10 farms in the mid-continental U.S.

The report concluded that the life cycle of the switchgrass ethanol, going from crop to fuel to burning it in vehicles, emits 94 percent less greenhouse gas than the life cycle of gasoline.

And even better results could be on the horizon. The study was based on the available technology for switchgrass production in 2000 and 2001, when the fields were planted.

"Improved genetics and agronomics may further enhance energy sustainability and biofuel yield of switchgrass," said the report.

A current glut of corn-based ethanol and rising corn prices have led to an increased interest in alternate feedstocks.

The energy law signed by President Bush last month mandates a five-fold increase in ethanol blending by 2022, requiring some of that fuel to come from cellulosic ethanol.

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