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Switchgrass



 
 
Panicum virgatum, commonly known as switchgrass, is a perennial warm season grass
Grass

Grass is the common word that generally describes monocotyledonous green plants. The family Poaceae are the "true grasses" and include most plants grown as grains, for pasture, and for lawns ....
 native to North America, where it occurs naturally from 55° N latitude in Canada
Canada

Canada is a country occupying most of northern North America, extending from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west and northward into the Arctic Ocean....
 southwards into the United States
United States

The United States of America is a Federal government constitutional republic comprising U.S. state and a federal district. The country is situated mostly in central North America, where its Contiguous United States and Washington, D.C., the Capital districts and territories, lie between the Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Oceans, Borders of the U...
 and Mexico
Mexico

The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federalism constitutionalism republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of Mexico....
. Switchgrass is one of the dominant species
Species

In biology, a species is one of the basic units of biological classification and a taxonomic rank. A species is often defined as a group of organisms capable of interbreeding and producing fertile offspring....
 of the central North America
North America

North America is the northern continent of the Americas, situated in the Earth's northern hemisphere and almost totally in the western hemisphere....
n tallgrass prairie
Tallgrass prairie

The tallgrass prairie is an ecosystem native to Central United States North America, with fire as its primary periodic disturbance. In the past, tallgrass prairies covered a large portion of the American Midwest, just east of the Great Plains, and portions of the Canadian Prairies....
 and can be found in remnant prairie
Prairie

Prairie refers to temperate grasslands of North America. These are areas of low topographic relief that historically supported grasses and herbs, with few or no trees, having a generally mesic habitat climate....
s, in native grass pasture
Pasture

Pasture is land with herbaceous vegetation cover used for grazing of ungulate livestock as part of a farm or ranch. Prior to the advent of factory farming, pasture was the primary source of food for grazing animals such as cattle and horses....
s, and naturalized along roadsides. It is used primarily for soil conservation
Soil conservation

Soil conservation is a set of management strategies for prevention of soil being erosion from the earth?s surface or becoming chemically altered by overuse, salinization, acidification, or other chemical soil contamination....
, forage
Forage

Forage is plant material eaten by grazing livestock.Historically the term forage has meant only plants eaten by the animals directly as pasture, crop residue, or immature cereal crops, but it is also used more loosely to include similar plants cut for fodder and carried to the animals, especially as hay or silage....
 production, game cover, as an ornamental grass
Ornamental grass

Ornamental grasses are grasses grown as ornamental plants. They have become increasingly popular in gardens in recent years.Along with true grasses , the genus Carex are often included in this classification....
, and more recently as a biomass
Biomass

Biomass, as a renewable energy source, refers to living and recently dead biological material that can be used as fuel or for industrial production....
 crop for ethanol
Ethanol

Ethanol, also called ethyl alcohol, pure alcohol, grain alcohol, or drinking alcohol, is a volatility , flammable, colorless liquid....
, fibre, electricity, and heat production.






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Encyclopedia


Panicum virgatum, commonly known as switchgrass, is a perennial warm season grass
Grass

Grass is the common word that generally describes monocotyledonous green plants. The family Poaceae are the "true grasses" and include most plants grown as grains, for pasture, and for lawns ....
 native to North America, where it occurs naturally from 55° N latitude in Canada
Canada

Canada is a country occupying most of northern North America, extending from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west and northward into the Arctic Ocean....
 southwards into the United States
United States

The United States of America is a Federal government constitutional republic comprising U.S. state and a federal district. The country is situated mostly in central North America, where its Contiguous United States and Washington, D.C., the Capital districts and territories, lie between the Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Oceans, Borders of the U...
 and Mexico
Mexico

The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federalism constitutionalism republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of Mexico....
. Switchgrass is one of the dominant species
Species

In biology, a species is one of the basic units of biological classification and a taxonomic rank. A species is often defined as a group of organisms capable of interbreeding and producing fertile offspring....
 of the central North America
North America

North America is the northern continent of the Americas, situated in the Earth's northern hemisphere and almost totally in the western hemisphere....
n tallgrass prairie
Tallgrass prairie

The tallgrass prairie is an ecosystem native to Central United States North America, with fire as its primary periodic disturbance. In the past, tallgrass prairies covered a large portion of the American Midwest, just east of the Great Plains, and portions of the Canadian Prairies....
 and can be found in remnant prairie
Prairie

Prairie refers to temperate grasslands of North America. These are areas of low topographic relief that historically supported grasses and herbs, with few or no trees, having a generally mesic habitat climate....
s, in native grass pasture
Pasture

Pasture is land with herbaceous vegetation cover used for grazing of ungulate livestock as part of a farm or ranch. Prior to the advent of factory farming, pasture was the primary source of food for grazing animals such as cattle and horses....
s, and naturalized along roadsides. It is used primarily for soil conservation
Soil conservation

Soil conservation is a set of management strategies for prevention of soil being erosion from the earth?s surface or becoming chemically altered by overuse, salinization, acidification, or other chemical soil contamination....
, forage
Forage

Forage is plant material eaten by grazing livestock.Historically the term forage has meant only plants eaten by the animals directly as pasture, crop residue, or immature cereal crops, but it is also used more loosely to include similar plants cut for fodder and carried to the animals, especially as hay or silage....
 production, game cover, as an ornamental grass
Ornamental grass

Ornamental grasses are grasses grown as ornamental plants. They have become increasingly popular in gardens in recent years.Along with true grasses , the genus Carex are often included in this classification....
, and more recently as a biomass
Biomass

Biomass, as a renewable energy source, refers to living and recently dead biological material that can be used as fuel or for industrial production....
 crop for ethanol
Ethanol

Ethanol, also called ethyl alcohol, pure alcohol, grain alcohol, or drinking alcohol, is a volatility , flammable, colorless liquid....
, fibre, electricity, and heat production. Other common names for switchgrass include tall panic grass, Wobsqua grass, blackbent, tall prairiegrass, wild redtop
Agrostis

Agrostis is a genus of over 100 species belonging to the grass family Poaceae.Selected species* Agrostis avenacea * Agrostis blasdalei ...
 and thatchgrass.

Properties

Switchgrass is a hardy, deep rooted, perennial
Perennial plant

A perennial plant or perennial is a plant that lives for more than two years. When used by gardeners or horticulturalists, this term applies specifically to perennial herbaceous plants....
 rhizomatous
Rhizome

In botany, a rhizome is a characteristically horizontal plant stem of a plant that is usually found underground, often sending out roots and shoots from its nodes....
 grass that begins growth in late spring. It can grow up to 1.8-2.2 m high but is typically shorter than Big Bluestem
Big Bluestem

Big Bluestem is a tall grass native to much of the prairie and Great Plains regions of North America....
 grass or Indiangrass. The leaves
Leaf

In botany, a leaf is an above-ground plant Organ specialized for photosynthesis. For this purpose, a leaf is typically flat and thin, to expose the cells containing chloroplast to light over a broad area, and to allow light to penetrate fully into the tissues....
 are 30-90 cm long, with a prominent midrib. Switchgrass uses C4 carbon fixation
C4 carbon fixation

C4 carbon fixation is one of three biochemical mechanisms, along with C3 carbon fixation and CAM photosynthesis, functioning in land plants to "fix" carbon dioxide for sugar production through photosynthesis....
, giving it an advantage in conditions of drought
Drought

A drought is an extended period of months or years when a region notes a deficiency in its water supply. Generally, this occurs when a region receives consistently below average precipitation ....
 and high temperature. Its flower
Flower

A flower, sometimes known as a bloom or blossom, is the reproduction structure found in flowering plants . The biological function of a flower is to mediate the union of male sperm with female ovum in order to produce seeds....
s have a well-developed panicle
Panicle

A panicle is a compound raceme, a loose, much-branched Indeterminate growth inflorescence with Pedicel flowers attached along the secondary branches ....
, often up to 60 cm long, and it bears a good crop of seed
Seed

A seed is a small Plant embryogenesis plant enclosed in a covering called the seed coat, usually with some Food storage. It is the product of the ripened ovule of gymnosperm and angiosperm plants which occurs after fertilization and some growth within the mother plant....
s. The seeds are 3-6 mm long and up to 1.5 mm wide, and are developed from a single-flowered spikelet. Both glumes are present and well developed. When ripe, the seeds sometimes take on a pink or dull-purple tinge, and turn golden brown with the foliage of the plant in the fall. Switchgrass is both a perennial and self-seeding crop, which means farmers do not have to plant and re-seed after annual harvesting. Once established, a switchgrass stand can survive for ten years or longer. Also, unlike corn, switchgrass can grow on marginal lands and requires relatively modest levels of chemical fertilizers. Overall, it is considered a resource-efficient, low-input crop for producing bioenergy from farmland.

Background


Much of North America, especially the prairies of the Midwestern United States, was once prime habitat to vast swaths of native grasses, including Switchgrass (Panicum virgatum), Indiangrass (Sorghastrum nutans), Eastern Gamagrass (Tripsacum dactyloides), Big Bluestem
Big Bluestem

Big Bluestem is a tall grass native to much of the prairie and Great Plains regions of North America....
 (Andropogon gerardii), Little Bluestem
Little bluestem

Little bluestem is a North American prairie grass. Little bluestem is a Perennial plant bunchgrass, and is prominent in tallgrass prairie, along with Big Bluestem , indiangrass and switchgrass ....
 (Schizachyrium scoparium), and others. As European settlers
European colonization of the Americas

The start of the European colonization of the Americas is typically dated to 1492, although there was at least one earlier colonization effort....
 began spreading west across the continent, the native grasses were plowed up and the land converted to growing crops such as corn
Corn

Corn may refer to:...
, wheat
Wheat

Wheat , is a worldwide cultivated Poaceae from the Levant region of the Middle East. Globally, after maize, wheat is the second most-produced food among the cereal just above rice....
, and oat
Oat

The common oat is a species of Cereal Agriculture for its seed, which is known by the same name . While oats are suitable for human consumption as oatmeal and rolled oats, one of the most common uses is as livestock feed....
s. Introduced grasses such as fescue
Fescue

Fescue is a genus of about 300 species of perennial plant tufted grasses, belonging to the grass family Poaceae . The genus has a cosmopolitan distribution, although the majority of the species are found in cool temperate areas, such as the transition zone and Canada....
, bluegrass
POA

POA may refer to:* Price On Application or Price On Asking. When seller wants confidentiality.* Public Order Act 1936 , UK law concerning public disorder and violence....
, and orchardgrass also replaced the native grasses for use as hay and pasture for cattle.

Distribution


Switchgrass is a very versatile and adaptable plant. It can grow and even thrive in many weather conditions, lengths of growing seasons, soil types, and land conditions. Its distribution spans south of latitude 55°N from Saskatchewan
Saskatchewan

Saskatchewan is a prairie provinces in Canada, which has an area of 588,276.09 square kilometres and a population of 1,015,895 , mostly living in the southern half of the province....
 to Nova Scotia
Nova Scotia

Nova Scotia is a Canadian Provinces and territories of Canada located on Canada's southeastern coast. It is the most populous province in Atlantic Canada....
, south over most of the United States
United States

The United States of America is a Federal government constitutional republic comprising U.S. state and a federal district. The country is situated mostly in central North America, where its Contiguous United States and Washington, D.C., the Capital districts and territories, lie between the Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Oceans, Borders of the U...
 east of the Rocky Mountains
Rocky Mountains

The Rocky Mountains, often called the Rockies, are a mountain range in western North America. The Rocky Mountains stretch more than 4,800 kilometre from the northernmost part of British Columbia, in Canada, to New Mexico, in the United States....
, and further south into Mexico
Mexico

The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federalism constitutionalism republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of Mexico....
. As a warm season perennial grass, most of its growth occurs from late spring through early fall, becoming dormant and unproductive during colder months. Thus, the productive season in its northern habitat can be as short as three months, but in the southern reaches of its habitat, the growing season may be as long as eight months, around the Gulf Coast area.

Switchgrass is a diverse species, with striking differences between plants. This diversity, which presumably reflects evolution and adaptation to new environments as the species spread across the continent, provides a range of valuable traits for breeding programs. Switchgrass has two distinct forms, or "cytotypes": the lowland cultivars, which tend to produce more biomass, and the upland cultivars, which are generally of more northern origin, more cold tolerant, and therefore usually preferred in northern areas. Upland switchgrass types are generally shorter (= 8 ft, or 2.4 m, tall) and less coarse than lowland types. Lowland cultivars may grow to = 9 ft, or 2.7 m, in favorable environments. Both upland and lowland cultivars are deeply rooted (> 6 ft, or 1.8 m, in favorable soils) and have short rhizomes. The upland types tend to have more vigorous rhizomes. Subsequently, the lowland cultivars may appear to have a bunchgrass habit, while the upland types tend to be more sod forming. Lowland cultivars appear more plastic in their morphology, and produce larger plants if stands become thin or when planted in wide rows. On the other hand, lowland types seem to be more sensitive to moisture stress than upland cultivars.

In native prairies, switchgrass is historically found in association with several other important native tallgrass prairie
Tallgrass prairie

The tallgrass prairie is an ecosystem native to Central United States North America, with fire as its primary periodic disturbance. In the past, tallgrass prairies covered a large portion of the American Midwest, just east of the Great Plains, and portions of the Canadian Prairies....
 plants, such as big bluestem
Big Bluestem

Big Bluestem is a tall grass native to much of the prairie and Great Plains regions of North America....
, indiangrass, little bluestem
Little bluestem

Little bluestem is a North American prairie grass. Little bluestem is a Perennial plant bunchgrass, and is prominent in tallgrass prairie, along with Big Bluestem , indiangrass and switchgrass ....
, sideoats grama
Sideoats grama

Sideoats Grama is a Perennial plant short prairie grass that is native throughout the temperate and tropical New World, from Canada south to Argentina....
, eastern gamagrass, and various forbs (sunflowers, gayfeather, prairie clover, and prairie coneflower). These widely adapted tallgrass species once occupied millions of hectares.

Establishment


Once established, it takes three years for a stand of switchgrass to reach its full potential. According to David Bransby at Auburn University, it will produce a quarter to a third of its full potential in its first year and two-thirds in its second year. It is sometimes suggested that the stand not be harvested during the establishment year. Afterwards, each region has its own recommendations for fertilizer rates. The timing of harvesting depends upon how the switchgrass is to be used, and weed control can be addressed with limited herbicides, controlled burns, and mechanical methods.

Uses

Switchgrass is grazed by certain animals, used as ground cover to control erosion
Erosion

For morphological image processing operations, see Erosion 'For use of in dermatopathology, see Erosion Erosion is the removal of solids in the natural environment....
, and farmed as forage
Forage

Forage is plant material eaten by grazing livestock.Historically the term forage has meant only plants eaten by the animals directly as pasture, crop residue, or immature cereal crops, but it is also used more loosely to include similar plants cut for fodder and carried to the animals, especially as hay or silage....
 for beef cows. Switchgrass contains natural chemical compounds, called saponins
Saponin

Saponins are a class of chemical compounds, one of many secondary metabolites found in natural sources, with saponins found in particular abundance in various plant species....
, that may cause health problems to horses, goats, sheep and other livestock.

Switchgrass is rich in cellulose
Cellulose

File:Cellulose Sessel.svgCellulose is an organic compound with the chemical formula , a polysaccharide consisting of a linear chain of several hundred to over ten thousand ? linked D-glucose units....
, making it attractive as a source for cellulosic ethanol
Cellulosic ethanol

Cellulosic ethanol is a biofuel produced from wood, grasses, or the non-edible parts of plants.It is a type of biofuel produced from lignocellulose, a structural material that comprises much of the mass of plants....
. It is at the core of an alternative fuel strategy announced by Tennessee
Tennessee

Tennessee is a U.S. state located in the Southern United States United States. In 1796, it became the sixteenth state to join the United States....
 Governor Phil Bredesen
Phil Bredesen

Philip Norman "Phil" Bredesen is the 48th List of Governors of Tennessee, having served since 2003. He previously served as the fourth list of mayors of Nashville, Tennessee of the Consolidated city-county of Nashville, Tennessee and Davidson County, Tennessee from 1991 to 1999....
 in January 2007.

As a drought resistant ornamental grass
Ornamental grass

Ornamental grasses are grasses grown as ornamental plants. They have become increasingly popular in gardens in recent years.Along with true grasses , the genus Carex are often included in this classification....
, it is easily grown in average to wet soils and in full sun to part shade. Establishment is recommended in the spring, at the same time as corn is planted.

Soil conservation


Switchgrass is useful for soil conservation
Soil conservation

Soil conservation is a set of management strategies for prevention of soil being erosion from the earth?s surface or becoming chemically altered by overuse, salinization, acidification, or other chemical soil contamination....
 and amendment, particularly in the United States and Canada where switchgrass is endemic. Switchgrass has a deep fibrous root system – nearly as deep as the plant is tall. Since it, along with other native grasses and forb
Forb

Forbs are herbaceous flowering plants that are not graminoids . The term is frequently used in vegetation ecology, especially in relation to grasslands....
s, once covered the plains of the United States that are now the Corn Belt, the effects of the past switchgrass habitat has been beneficial, lending to the fertile farmland that exists today. The deep fibrous root systems of switchgrass left a very deep rich layer of organic matter in the soils of the midwest; making those mollisol soils some of the most productive in the world. By returning switchgrass and other perennial prairie grasses as an agricultural crop, many marginal soils may benefit from increased levels of organic material, permeability, and fertility from the grass's deep root system.

Soil erosion
Erosion

For morphological image processing operations, see Erosion 'For use of in dermatopathology, see Erosion Erosion is the removal of solids in the natural environment....
, both from wind and water, is of great concern in regions where switchgrass grows. Due to its height, switchgrass can form an effective wind erosion barrier. Its root system, also, is excellent for holding soil in place, which helps prevent erosion from flooding and runoff. Some highway departments
Department of Transportation

The Department of Transportation is the most common name for a government agency in North America devoted to transportation. The largest is the United States Department of Transportation, which oversees interstate travel....
 (for example, KDOT
Kansas Department of Transportation

The Kansas Department of Transportation is a state government organization in charge of maintaining public roadways of the U.S. state of Kansas....
) have used switchgrasses in their seed mixes when re-establishing growth along roadways. It can also be used on strip mine sites, dikes, and pond dams. Conservation district
Conservation district

Conservation districts are government entities that help control the use of landform and water in U.S. states and insular areas. There are more than 3,000 in the United States....
s in many parts of the United States use it to control erosion in grass waterways because of its excellent ability to anchor soils while also doubling as native habitat for wildlife.

Game cover


Switchgrass is well-known among wildlife conservationists as a favorite forage and habitat among upland game bird species such as pheasant
Pheasant

Pheasants are a group of large birds in the order Galliformes.Pheasants are characterised by strong sexual dimorphism, with males being highly ornate with bright colours and adornments such as wattle and long tails....
, quail
Quail

Quail is a collective name for several genera of mid-sized birds in the pheasant family Phasianidae. New World quails and buttonquails and are not closely related but named for their similar appearance and behaviour....
, grouse
Grouse

Grouse are a group of birds from the order Galliformes. They are often considered a family Tetraonidae, though the American Ornithologists' Union and many others include grouse as a subfamily Tetraoninae in the family Phasianidae....
, wild turkey
Wild Turkey

The Wild Turkey is native to North America and is the heaviest member of the Galliformes. It is one of two species of turkey , the other being the Ocellated Turkey, found in Central America....
, and song birds, with its plentiful small seeds and tall cover. Depending on how thickly switchgrass is planted, and what it is partnered with, it also offers excellent forage and cover for a wide variety of other wildlife across the country. For those producers who have switchgrass stands on their farm, it is considered an environmental and aesthetic benefit due to the abundance of wildlife attracted by the switchgrass stands. Some members of Prairie Lands Bio-Products, Inc. in Iowa have even turned this benefit into a profitable business by leasing their switchgrass land for hunting during the proper seasons. The benefits to wildlife can be extended even in large scale agriculture through the process of strip harvesting as recommended by the Wildlife Society, which suggests that rather than harvesting an entire fields at once, strip harvesting could be practiced so the entire habitat is not removed thereby protecting the wildlife that has inhabited the switchgrass.

Biofuel

Switchgrass is often considered a good candidate for biofuel
Biofuel

Biofuel is defined as solid, liquid or gaseous fuel derived from relatively recently dead biological material and is distinguished from fossil fuels, which are petroleum#formation....
 — especially ethanol fuel
Ethanol fuel

Ethanol fuel is ethanol , the same type of alcohol found in alcoholic beverages. It can be used as a fuel, mainly as a biofuel alternative to gasoline, and is widely used in cars in Ethanol fuel in Brazil....
 — production due to its hardiness in poor soil and climate conditions, rapid growth and low fertilization
Fertilizer

Fertilizers are chemical compounds given to plants to promote growth; they are usually applied either through the soil, for uptake by plant roots, or by foliar feeding, for uptake through leaves....
 and herbicide
Herbicide

A herbicide is used to kill unwanted plants. Selective herbicides kill specific targets while leaving the desired crop relatively unharmed. Some of these act by interfering with the growth of the weed and are often synthetic "imitations" of plant hormones....
 requirements. Switchgrass is also perennial
Perennial plant

A perennial plant or perennial is a plant that lives for more than two years. When used by gardeners or horticulturalists, this term applies specifically to perennial herbaceous plants....
, unlike corn, and has a large biomass
Biomass

Biomass, as a renewable energy source, refers to living and recently dead biological material that can be used as fuel or for industrial production....
 output (the raw plant material used to make biofuel) of 6-10 tons per acre
Acre

The acre is a Units of measurement of area in a number of different systems, including the Imperial unit#Measures of area and United States customary units#Units of area systems....
. U.S. President
President of the United States

The President of the United States is the head of state and head of government of the United States and is the highest political official in the United States by influence and recognition....
 George W. Bush
George W. Bush

George Walker Bush served as the List of Presidents of the United States President of the United States from 2001 to 2009. He was the 46th List of Governors of Texas from 1995 to 2000 before being United States presidential inauguration as President on January 20, 2001....
 proposed the usage of switchgrass in his 2006 State of the Union address ; since then, over $100 million has been invested into researching switchgrass as a potential biofuel source.

Switchgrass has the potential for enough biomass to produce up to 100 gallons (380 liters) of ethanol per metric ton harvested. This gives switchgrass the potential to produce 1,000 gallons of ethanol per acre, compared to 665 gallons per acre of sugarcane
Sugarcane

Sugarcane is a genus of 6 to 37 species of tall perennial plant Poaceae , native to warm temperate to tropical regions of the Old World. They have stout, jointed, fibrous stalks that are rich in sugar and measure 2 to 6 meters tall....
 and 400 gallons per acre of corn
Maize

Maize , known as corn in some countries, is a cereal domesticated in Mesoamerica and subsequently spread throughout the American continents....
.

However, there is debate on the economic and environmental viability of switchgrass, and all other biofuels, as an efficient energy source. In recent studies, it has been argued that switchgrass has a negative ethanol fuel energy balance
Ethanol fuel energy balance

All biomass needs to go through some of these steps: it needs to be grown, collected, dried, fermented, and burned. All of these steps require resources and an infrastructure....
, requiring 45 percent more fossil energy to create switchgrass into a biofuel than is produced. Controversy has erupted over the Pimentel study, however, because of petroleum industry funding for his research. Also, some studies have countered his arguments, finding that for every unit of energy input to create a biofuel from switchgrass, four units of energy are yielded. In a 2007 lecture Professor Richard Muller, of the University of California, Berkeley, noted that it is the conversion of switchgrass biomass, mainly cellulose, into ethanol which introduces significant inefficiencies. It was also noted that The Helios Project at Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory

The Ernest Orlando Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory , is a United States Department of Energy United States Department of Energy National Labs conducting unclassified scientific research....
 is actively trying to engineer metabolic pathways in bacteria to convert cellulose to ethanol more efficiently.

Switchgrass is being used to heat small industrial and farm buildings in Germany and China through a process used to make a low quality natural gas substitute. It can also be pressed into fuel pellets
Pellet Mill

A pellet mill is a type of Mill used to create cylindrical pellets from a mixture of dry powdered feedstock, such as flour, sawdust, or grass, and a wet ingredient, such as molasses or steam....
 which are burned in pellet stoves used to heat homes, which typically burn corn or wood pellets.

In the spring of 2008, of switchgrass will be planted near Guymon, Oklahoma
Guymon, Oklahoma

Guymon is a city in and the county seat of Texas County, Oklahoma, Oklahoma, United States. The population was 10,472 at the United States Census, 2000....
, in the Oklahoma Panhandle
Oklahoma Panhandle

The Oklahoma Panhandle is the extreme western region of the state of Oklahoma, comprising Cimarron County, Oklahoma, Texas County, Oklahoma, and Beaver County, Oklahoma....
 to study the feasibility of using the crop for biofuel. It will be the largest stand ever planted for such purposes. The project is being spearheaded by the Oklahoma Bioenergy Center, a state project backed by Governor Brad Henry
Brad Henry

Charles Bradford "Brad" Henry is the Governor of Oklahoma of the U.S. state of Oklahoma. A member of the Democratic Party , he was elected governor in 2002....
.

Forages


Switchgrass is an excellent forage
Forage

Forage is plant material eaten by grazing livestock.Historically the term forage has meant only plants eaten by the animals directly as pasture, crop residue, or immature cereal crops, but it is also used more loosely to include similar plants cut for fodder and carried to the animals, especially as hay or silage....
 for cattle; however, it has shown toxicity in horses, sheep and goats through chemical compounds known as saponins, which cause photosensitivity
Photosensitivity

Photosensitivity is the amount to which an object reacts upon receiving photons, especially visible light....
 and liver damage in these animals. Researchers are continuing to learn more about the specific conditions under which the switchgrass must be in order to cause harm to these species, but until more is discovered, it is recommended that switchgrass not be fed to them. For cattle, however, it can be fed as hay, or grazed.

Grazing switchgrass calls for watchful management practices to ensure survival of the stand. It is recommended that grazing begin when there is 18 – 22 inches of growth, to stop grazing when there are 8 – 12 inches of stubble left, and to rest the pasture 30 – 45 days between grazing periods. Switchgrass becomes very stemmy and unpalatable as it matures, but during the target grazing period, it is a highly favorable forage with a relative feed value (RFV) of 90-104. The grass' upright growth pattern places its growing point off the soil surface onto its stem, so leaving 8 – 12 inches of stubble is important for regrowth. When harvesting switchgrass for hay, the first cutting occurs at the late boot stage – around mid-June. This should allow for a second cutting in mid-August, leaving enough regrowth to survive the winter.

Seed suppliers





















See also

  • Algae fuel
    Algae fuel

    Algae fuel, also called algal fuel, oilgae, algaeoleum or third-generation biofuel, is a biofuel from algae.The record oil price increases since 2003, competing demands between foods and other biofuel sources and the world food crisis have ignited interest in algaculture for making vegetable oil, biodiesel, bioethan...
  • Big Bluestem
    Big Bluestem

    Big Bluestem is a tall grass native to much of the prairie and Great Plains regions of North America....
  • Brachypodium distachyon
    Brachypodium distachyon

    Brachypodium distachyon, commonly called purple false brome, is a Poaceae species native to southern Europe, northern Africa and southwestern Asia east to India....
  • Cellulosic ethanol
    Cellulosic ethanol

    Cellulosic ethanol is a biofuel produced from wood, grasses, or the non-edible parts of plants.It is a type of biofuel produced from lignocellulose, a structural material that comprises much of the mass of plants....
  • Energy crop
    Energy crop

    An energy crop is a plant grown as a low cost and low maintenance harvest used to make biofuels, or directly exploited for its energy content....
  • Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
    Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences

    The Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, usually referred to as PNAS, is the official journal of the United States National Academy of Sciences....
  • Wood pellets


External links

  • - European Union
    European Union

    The European Union is an economic and political union of 27 European Union member state, located primarily in Europe. It was established by the Treaty of Maastricht on 1 November 1993 upon the foundations of the pre-existing European Economic Community....
     study on Switchgrass feasibility.
  • - Archive of Central Texas Plants
  • - Has closeup photos of spikelets
  • - General information repository on switch grass usage and feasible application as an alternative energy
  • - Scientific American article on the potential use of switchgrass for biofuels