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Thursday, January 10, 2008

Switchgrass Better Than Corn and Oil for Fuel

Another way South Dakota can move toward energy independence: ethanol from switchgrass. A USDA study finds that "switchgrass ethanol delivers 540 percent of the energy used to produce it, compared with just roughly 25 percent more energy returned by corn-based ethanol according to the most optimistic studies" [David Biello, "Grass Makes Better Ethanol Than Corn Does," Scientific American, 2008.01.08]. The big energy advantage comes in part because switchgrass is a perennial: plant it once, and you're done! Instead of tearing up the land and replanting every year, you just mow it at harvest time, leaving a permanent root system that keeps nutrients in the soil and decreases soil erosion. Plus, switchgrass grows in marginal lands, so we can plant a lot of it without competing for space with corn and beans and other things we eat, meaning switchgrass biofuel doesn't drive up food prices the way corn-based ethanol or soybean biodiesel do.

So what would you rather base your state's economic future on: a native plant that we can cultivate ourselves and that renews itself every year, or petrochemicals that foreign companies extract and process and that takes millions of years to produce? I'd sure feel like an idiot basing my economy on a resource that's controlled by others and that might not be a viable energy source in 30 years (read about Peak Oil here).

Governor Rounds, of course, is stuck in the past, advocating the Hyperion refinery and the TransCanada Pipeline. So much for vision -- Governor Rounds can't even see the homegrown energy opportunities out his own window.

4 comments:

  1. The problem with switchgrass is that the production viability isn't there. Things like transcanada and hyperion might not be as green as switchgrass, but it would be ridiculous for a governor to oppose economic opportunities like these. There are no easy decisions in Pierre, by any of the branches of government, and while it's easy to vilify those in government, I respect those members very much for the issues they work through daily.

    ReplyDelete
  2. What's ridiculous about turning down an "economic opportunity" that means tying our economic viability to a dying industry? Fossil fuels are, well, fossils -- the sooner we stop feeding our oil addiction, the sooner we'll get motivated to find better solutions and make switchgrass and other alternatives more viable.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Cellulosic ethanol has been
    getting the proverbial shaft even though it's cleaner and more efficient than corn ethanol. Ethanol made from next generation sources like switchgrass are cleaner for the air and produce more energy than corn ever could. I'm not sure if switchgrass emits carbon dioxide or not, can anyone enlighten me?

    If your interested in Corn Ethanol controversy, hit up The Issue which has a feature on the topic culled from an assortment of blogs. If you get a chance to check it out, any and all feedback is much welcomed.


    Cheers,

    Mike
    The Issue |The Issue

    ReplyDelete
  4. The Corn Growers Association will never give it the light of day.

    Bruce -

    ReplyDelete

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