In the tall grass, researchers find energy alternative

A perennial grass that grows as tall as 13 feet, requires little to no fertilizer, and can be stored away in bales almost indefinitely could be the next hope for efficient ethanol production.

At least that's the thinking of researchers from University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign who have been field testing a sterile grass known as Miscanthus giganteus, a distant cousin of switchgrass. In a report released Wednesday, the researchers said that the biofuel crop proved in field tests to be significantly more productive than other crops like corn in producing biomass for ethanol--an alternative to gas.

In field trials in Illinois, researchers grew Miscanthus giganteus and switchgrass in adjoining plots. Miscanthus proved to be at least twice as productive as switchgrass.

(Credit: University of Illinois)

"By using Miscanthus...we can produce ethanol using a lot less land than we're using at present doing this with corn," crop sciences professor Steven Long, who led the study, said during in a presentation of the research. His work will also appear in this month's journal Global Change Biology.

The U.S. government has a goal of producing enough ethanol to offset one fifth of gasoline use in the country, but by using corn or switchgrass as ethanol feedstock, it would take about 25 percent of U.S. cropland out of food production, according to the researchers. In comparison, to produce the same amount of ethanol with Miscanthus, it would take 9.3 percent of the acreage for agriculture, they said. In the U.K., the grass is commercially used for energy production.

In the last year, Long led a field study across Illinois to test the production of Miscanthus against switchgrass, which has drawn a lot of interest in the United States as a source of feedstock for ethanol. The group found that Miscanthus can outperform switchgrass annually by producing as much as 2.5 times more ethanol feedstock in the same acreage. Also, Miscanthus is like switchgrass in that it does not require chemicals, but Miscanthus is potentially nine times more efficient at converting sunlight to biomass, according to the researchers.

Miscanthus similarly dominates corn at 2.5 times the feedstock production.

"One reason why Miscanthus yields more biomass than corn is that it produces green leaves about six weeks earlier in the growing season," Long said. In Illinois, the crop also stays green until late October and corn's leaves die by the end of August.

Another reason to like the crop? It collects more carbon in the soil than corn or soybeans, Long said. "In the context of global change, that's important because it means that by producing a biofuel on that land you're taking carbon out of the atmosphere and putting it into the soil."

Still, he said, there could be even better crops to investigate, and Miscanthus itself could be improved. The crop, for example, requires a laborious planting process in the United States.

[Michael too]

I wonder how Kudzu works as a bio-fuel source?

[CptAhab]

It's apparently the stems that are the best source of carbs, but they are also apparently difficult to extract from the ground. That said, it's exciting to see how quickly these technologies are progressing. I have no doubt that ethanol will be playing a significant role in our national energy future.

[mgoeckner]

"field testing a sterile grass"

I am sorry - but how is a grass sterile?

[knobsturner]

What about hemp? A comparison against this would be nice. The promoters of it seem impressed, but i don't know how it stacks up against Miscanthus. Hemp is legal to grow in almost every country on earth. --Tom

[Conservative08]

To compare switchgrass, Miscanthus, and industrial hemp go to the website
http://www.leegen.ie/agridev/crop_miscanthus.asp.

[fafafooey]

"I am sorry - but how is a grass sterile?"

Most likely, it means that the seeds are sterile, in that they won't grow more grass and therefore it will not spread any further than the acreage that was seeded.

[JimmBeam]

This is a very encouraging development. I hear switchgrass ethanol is even more efficient than corn ethanol. Either way, we absolutely need to be integrating more clean, renewable, American ethanol into our energy plan.

[diya1232]

Miscanthus x giganteus is a hybrid (much like the commercial banana) and so does not produce seeds at all.

[HeathKennie]

right on. making a move to invest in alternative energies and biofuels - particularly ethanol - is the way to beat this energy crisis we find ourselves in.

[SlimGem]

I wonder how the wild prairie grasses that used to cover the North American plains would work as a biofuel. I guess it doesn't matter since most of that land is planted in wheat and corn now.

[sfj4076]

Even better, we can use this extraordinary high-yielding grass in combination with existing commercial off the shelf process technologies to produce infrastructure-compatible ultra-clean synthetic FT diesel and jet fuel. This eliminates the requirement to develop a whole new cellulosic ethanol process to convert the grass to fuel, and the need to adapt all the downstream infrastructure to accept ethanol (not to mention getting better mileage per gallon)

Such a facility is currently under development just 30 miles south of where the Miscanthus research is being conducted, near the small town of Oakland Illinois.

Stephen Johnson, Illinois Clean Fuels