Better Options for Biofuels
A study from Colorado State University has found promising evidence to support the use of native, non-edible grasses for biofuels.
Researchers, lead by Dr. John Field at CSU's Natural Resource Ecology Lab, focused on a native grass that grows across much of the great plains called switchgrass.
"And the reason that it's of interest as a potential feedstock material for producing biofuels is that, A it's native and B, it's relatively high productivity. For a given area you can get relatively large amounts of biomass. Compared to something like corn, the inputs and the farm operations to produce it are much less."
Scientists used modeling to simulate various growing scenarios, and found a climate footprint a fraction of what say gasoline produces.
Dr. Field says it is a challenging environment tor this biofuels technology in the short term, but medium to long term outlooks is very good, especially as industries seek more options to reduce greenhouse gas emissions as a way to address climate change.
