Switchgrass BioFuel: Green Energy ...
DOE program supports ethanol production from switchgrass ...
... "The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) believes that biofuels - made from crops of native grasses, such as fast- growing switchgrass - could reduce the nation's dependence on foreign oil, curb emissions of the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide, and strengthen America's farm economy. 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. It grows fast, capturing lots of solar energy and turning it into lots of chemical energy - cellulose - that can be liquified, gasified, or burned directly. It also reaches deep into the soil for water, and uses the water it finds very efficiently. One reason BFDP researchers are confident that switchgrass can become an important feedstock for ethanol production is the groundwork that's already been laid by corn growers. U.S. ethanol production from corn currently totals nearly 2 billion gallons a year. Some of this ethanol is blended with gasoline to make gasohol;
some is further refined to make gasoline octane boosters; and some is burned, either in pure (neat) form or mixed with a small percentage of gasoline, in fleets of research and demonstration vehicles. " ...
Switchgrass BioFuel: Green Energy: Via ORNL: Biofuels from Switchgrass: Greener Energy Pastures ...