[Okgrantsmanship] Switchgrass as fuel

[Mason, Linda]

Making the switch

Could plant be used in ethanol?

By The Associated Press, The Oklahoman
6/12/2008

 

GUYMON - Work has started on the planting of a 1,000-acre switchgrass
field in the Oklahoma Panhandle that researchers plan to use in the
production of cellulosic ethanol. The field is being touted as the
world's largest for switchgrass, a drought-resistant perennial plant
that grows even on marginal lands. Scientists at the Noble Foundation in
Ardmore are overseeing the project and hope that switchgrass proves to
be a viable substitute for corn in ethanol production. 

 

Hitch Enterprises, a Panhandle-based company, began planting the field
on Friday. Smaller fields of switchgrass also will be planted in central
Oklahoma near Chickasha and Maysville. "Rising food costs recently
resulted in a pushback against renewable fields," said David
Fleischaker, the state's energy secretary. "However, cellulosic ethanol
from sources like switchgrass and sorghum are noncompetitive with food
sources for animals and humans."

 

What would be done with the grass?

The crop from the field will be cut and sent to a biorefinery that will
be built by Abengoa Bioenergy of Hugoton, Kan., just across the state
line from Guymon. The biorefinery should be ready for operation by 2010.
The Noble Foundation is working with the Oklahoma Bioenergy Center, the
University of Oklahoma and Oklahoma State University on the switchgrass
project. Noble Foundation spokesman Adam Calaway said researchers expect
to harvest about 30 percent of the crop during the first year after
planting, 70 percent the year after that and 100 percent starting with
the third year. The Panhandle field will include both irrigated and
dry-land crops for research purposes. He said the goal is to have
production of ethanol made with switchgrass "up and going" by 2017. "The
whole goal is to displace 30 percent of the oil we import," he said. "If
you displace that much it helps us financially, so you think of the
billions of dollars we'll save and be able to put back into
agriculture." 

 

Planting of switchgrass plot in Panhandle begins

The Journal Record
6/12/2008

 

GUYMON (AP) - Work has started on the planting of a 1,000-acre
switchgrass field in the Oklahoma Panhandle that researchers plan to use
in the production of cellulosic ethanol. The field is being touted as
the world's largest for switchgrass, a drought-resistant perennial plant
that grows even on marginal lands. Scientists at the Noble Foundation in
Ardmore are overseeing the project and hope that switchgrass proves to
be a viable substitute for corn in ethanol production. 

 

Hitch Enterprises, a Panhandle-based company, began planting the field
on Friday. Smaller fields of switchgrass also will be planted in central
Oklahoma near Chickasha and Maysville. "Rising food costs recently
resulted in a pushback against renewable fields," said David
Fleischaker, the state's energy secretary. "However, cellulosic ethanol
from sources like switchgrass and sorghum are noncompetitive with food
sources for animals and humans." The crop from the field will be cut and
sent to a new biorefinery that will be built by Abengoa Bioenergy of
Hugoton, Kan., just across the state line from Guymon. The biorefinery
should be ready for use by 2010.

 

The Noble Foundation is working with the Oklahoma Bioenergy Center, the
University of Oklahoma and Oklahoma State University on the switchgrass
project. Noble Foundation spokesman Adam Calaway said researchers expect
to harvest about 30 percent of the crop during the first year after
planting, 70 percent the year after that and 100 percent starting with
the third year.

 

The Panhandle field will include both irrigated and dry-land crops for
research purposes. "We did it irrigated to insure that we get a crop and
are able to study it," Calaway said. "You don't have any guarantees with
the dry land. You're really dependent on Mother Nature." He said the
goal is to have production of ethanol made with switchgrass "up and
going" by 2017. "The whole goal is to displace 30 percent of the oil we
import," he said. "If you displace that much it helps us financially, so
you think of the billions of dollars we'll save and be able to put back
into agriculture. You can imagine how much that would revolutionize
agriculture."

 

 

Linda Mason, Ed.D.

Coordinator for Grant Writing and External Funding

Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education

655 Research Parkway, Suite 200

Oklahoma City, OK 73104

405-225-9486

lmason at osrhe.edu

IP: 164.58.250.178

 

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