Native switchgrass could produce ethanol

Switchgrass, a plant that is native to Oklahoma, has been getting more attention as a possible source of alternative fuel since it was mentioned in President Bush’s State of the Union address.

Bush said his goal was to replace three-fourths of the country’s oil imports from the Middle East over the next two decades by developing alternative fuels, including switchgrass, which could be used to make ethanol.

The plant can grow up to seven feet tall and is one of the four major species in the Tall Grass Prairie. It grows naturally throughout much of the eastern half of the country, and each acre can produce about 1,150 gallons of ethanol, according to the National Bioenergy Center in Golden, Colo.

Switchgrass could be grown on the more than 1 million acres of Oklahoma land that have been taken out of production because they are susceptible to erosion, said Charles Taliaferro, emeritus regents professor at Oklahoma State University. The state currently pays farmers to leave susceptible land bare.

Research still needed

Corn and soy have already been used to produce ethanol.

“Our best guess is when ethanol gets to 10 (percent) to 20 percent of our gasoline usage, we will run out of cheap corn,” said John Ashwood of Bioenergy Center. “That’s still a big number, but it’s not something that’s going to reduce our dependence on foreign oil.”

Switchgrass research is under way at Oklahoma State.

“We don’t have the technology that is cost effective to compete with the corn fermentation process of the Midwest,” said Ray Huhnke, an OSU biosystems and agriculture engineering professor.

Huhnke and a research group at OSU are working on a gasification fermentation process that will convert switchgrass to ethanol and make it more affordable for consumers.

—The Associated Press