Prairie Grasses Emerge As Rich Energy Source

[RestoreGore]

I think more and more it will be seen that corn based ethanol is not the only answer and is just another bandaid put up by corporate America for profit. I'd take my fuel made from this any day over that, but really, that day has to come soon because we can't afford to spend the next ten years arguing about the best way to make a profit over what is the most efficient way to provide alternate energy that also does not harm the Earth even more or use resources we cannot afford to waste.

http://www1.umn.edu/umnnews/Feature_Stories/Back_to_the_future_prairie_grasses.html

Mixtures of grasses make best source of biofuel

A study led by Regents Professor of Ecology David Tilman shows how the diverse mixtures of prairie grasses that greeted the pioneers are an untapped source of renewable, greenhouse gas-lowering energy.

By Deane Morrison

Dec. 8, 2006

With shrinking glaciers and other signs of global warming upon us, the search is on for alternative fuels to stem the release of greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.

This week a new contender burst on the scene: diverse mixtures of native prairie grasses. A University team led by David Tilman, Regents Professor of Ecology, found that these grasses yield more net energy than either ethanol from corn or "biodiesel" fuel from soybeans. Grass-based fuel can even lead to a net decrease in atmospheric carbon dioxide, whereas ethanol and biodiesel increase it.

The study is based on 10 years of work at the University's Cedar Creek Natural History Area. Written by Tilman, postdoctoral researcher Jason Hill and research associate Clarence Lehman, it is the cover story in the Dec. 8 issue of the journal Science.

For many years, renewable fuels from plants ("biofuels") have been seen as beacons of hope because the carbon dioxide released in burning them can be absorbed by the next year's crop. But in a report earlier this year, Tilman, Hill and others showed that corn grain ethanol and soy biodiesel do little to offset carbon dioxide emissions because it takes so much fossil fuel to produce them.

The new work demonstrates that it's not monoculture crops like corn, soybeans or even switchgrass, but rather the "sea of grass" that fell to the plow in the 19th century that harbors a bright hope for the 21st. Mixtures of native perennial grasses and other flowering plants require little energy or fertilizer to turn into fuel, yield up to 238 percent more usable energy per acre than any single species and can even lower atmospheric carbon dioxide by storing it in their roots or in soil.

"Biofuels made from high-diversity mixtures of prairie plants can reduce global warming by removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere," says Tilman. "Even when grown on infertile soils, they can provide a substantial portion of global energy needs, and leave fertile land for food production."

more at the link.

[whistle]

1. Corn based ethanol is a negative sum gain fuel derivative which takes

...more energy to produce than would be produced to run automobiles and as such is a complete fraud. Also, corn is a food source which would mean that corn would be diverted away from feeding people and livestock to produce fuel for SUVs. This is not the right fuel replacement for gasoline at all.

As for prairie grasses, all would depend upon the abundance of available land to grow the grass, water/rainfall and heat source available to distill the fermented grass into ethanol. I still get the feeling that ethanol can only be a temporary answer for fuel shortage and at best would be a zero sum gain alternative.

The long run answer would be hydrogen fuel produced from a network of 4th generation thorium nuclear gas cooled reactors which would address the nationals: 1) electrical power needs; 2) hydrogen fuel sources for transportation; and 3) water desalinization for drinking and land irrigation.

[JDPriestly]

2. Diversify our energy sources. That is what we need.

Sun in California. Prairie grass in Minnesota. Corn in Iowa. Convert it to electricity and transport it through the infrastructure that was created to transport electricity.

The most important thing is to stop trying to conquer the oil fields in the Middle East or in Venezuela and start developing our own energy resources right here. Fighting over the best technology is foolish. We won't know until the various technologies compete and the best one wins. What we need is to spend our national resources on energy research. We did it with the atom bomb. We have the best engineers in the world. Let's put them to work to develop alternative energy instead of weapons.

[enough]

3. Money for nothing and the chicks for free.

This sounds like a great idea, but the fact is the praries were an ecosystem just like any other. The idea that you can take away a huge amount of bio-mass from the system (if you can get the old system going again) and not have massive impacts is another pipe-dream.