You've Heard of Ethanol; Here Comes 'Grassahol':


"You've Heard of Ethanol; Here Comes 'Grassahol'
By Ted Landphair
Stillwater, Oklahoma
21 December 2006

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In his State of the Union address early this year, President Bush urged a speed-up of research into energy sources other than fossil fuels. And he mentioned one that many Americans had never heard of: switchgrass. It's a hardy wild plant that thrives on America's Great Plains, from Texas north to Canada.

As Oklahoma State professor Ray Huhnke demonstrates, switchgrass can reach just as high as the corn that grew 'as high as an elephant's eye' in the musical 'Oklahoma.'

Millions of Americans are already driving cars powered principally by ethanol made from corn, or biodiesel made from soybeans. But switchgrass, a perennial with thick, hard stems that grows up to three meters tall, may have more long-term potential as a fuel source. Charles Taliaferro, an Oklahoma State University emeritus professor of agriculture, has helped breed high-yielding varieties of the tenacious grass. 'It produces seeds that are valued by wildlife, particularly birds,' he says. 'So it's environmentally friendly. It's more easily established than some of the other major perennial grasses. It grows on non-crop soils where corn and other row crops cannot be produced. It has relatively high biomass production capability with minimal fertilizer and water.'
Corn and beans from which most ethanol is made today must be planted annually on farmland with rich soil, and they're in constant demand as food sources. Meanwhile, not even cattle go out of their way to munch on "