MOUNT VERNON — As food prices skyrocket worldwide, corn-based ethanol is being blamed as one of the reasons for the increase. Though the rise in corn markets is arguably modest compared with the drastic rates being seen for wheat and rice, the impression that competition for corn between ethanol processors and feed stocks is causing a renewal of interest in other alternative energies.
One often-hailed, and often-ridiculed, potential source of energy is switchgrass, first hailed by President Bush during his State of the Union address in 2005. The plant, scientific name panicum virgatum, is a tall-grass prairie plant native to North America. It was once a large component of the Great Plains, and grows as far south as Alabama and Mississippi.
A five-year study released this month by the University of Nebraska-Lincoln said that switchgrass has enormous energy potential. The study found that switchgrass yields 540 percent more energy than is needed to grow it. Ethanol made from the plant would also have 94 percent lower greenhouse gas emissions than the equivalent amount of traditionally produced gasoline. The study estimates that up to 30 percent of the United States’ fuel needs could be met with switchgrass-based ethanol.
Additional advantages of switchgrass include that the plant thrives in poor soils and on marginal land usually considered unfit for crop production. Switchgrass planted on such sites can grow up to 6 feet tall, while switchgrass in better soil can grow twice as tall. The plant typically yields six to eight tons per acre, but only after reaching full maturity three years after planting.
The problem with switchgrass remains that there is, as of yet, no efficient way to harness its energy potential. The UNL study says that a number of small refineries are being built with existing technology for research and development, which could lead to processing breakthroughs.
Skeptics of switchgrass, however, have their doubts about the plant.
“That stuff is a nightmare to harvest,” said Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center scientist Dr. Robert Mullen, who has worked with switchgrass on past projects. Indeed, the grass has stems that are as thick and strong as a hardwood pencil, according to the Department of Energy, something which makes it challenging to harvest.
Dr. Matt Roberts of OSU said that it is a questionable assumption to think that a breakthrough in processing technology is just over the horizon. He said that such projections about switchgrass have been made for many years without any appreciable forward progress.
One alternative biofuel source which offers the possibility of not encroaching upon farmland is algae. Algae naturally flourishes on containment ponds for waste matter, both human and animal. The University of New Hampshire estimates that two-thirds of all the oil used in the United States is used for transportation. UNH studies say that 4.5 million acres of cultivated algae could supply enough biodiesel to cover all those transportation needs.
The drawback to biodiesel is that many current automobiles are not equipped to run on diesel fuel, which, though more expensive by the gallon, is 40 percent more efficient than gasoline.
The Department of Energy has also been exploring the potential lately of the mustard plant, both as a biofuel source and as an organic pesticide.
The future of these biofuels, many of which could potentially benefit farmers without driving up food prices, remains uncertain at this juncture, as research and development continues on non-agricultural energy sources, too, such as solar, wind and hydrogen.
