Miscanthus ethanol yields are 2-1/2 times corn in 3-year trial; switchgrass disappoints
A study that will be published in Global Change Biology reveals that miscanthus will produce up to two and a half times the per-acre ethanol yields as corn. In the same 3-year field trial, in Illinois, switchgrass produced only half the yield of ethanol as corn. Yields of 30-61 tonnes per hectare were achieved “with minimal agricultural inputs”, while switchgrass yielded 10 tonnes per hectare, according to the study. The researchers reported that 20 percent of US fuel needs could be satisfied with miscanthus grown on 9.3 percent of US cropland at the low end of the yields realized from the trial, with fewer nitrogen and fossil energy inputs.
A slideshow of the findings is here.
Miscanthus background
Researchers at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign surveyed local farmers and report that the major challenge in developing cellulosic ethanol will be to persuade farmers to grow the crop. Farmers indicated in the survey that they would only grow cellulosic crops if they could be persuaded that the cellulosic crops such as switchgrass and miscanthus can compete with soybeans and corn in terms of profitability.
