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All Articles Tagged As: switchgrass
 | Water use has been left out analysis of converting cropland from corn to higher-yield biofuel crops like miscanthus or switchgrass. A University of Illinois study found that miscanthus and switchgrass lose more water than corn and predicts a resulting reduction in soil moisture and runoff, but an increase in atmospheric humidity. Areas that rely on irrigation could have less water to meet higher demands, which could increase the net cost of land conversion and put pressure on already stressed water resources. ...> Full Article |
 | Growing perennial grasses on the least productive farmland now used for corn ethanol production in the US would result in higher overall corn yields, more ethanol output per acre and better groundwater quality, researchers report in a new study. The switch would also slash emissions of two potent greenhouse gases: carbon dioxide and nitrous oxide. ...> Full Article |
The continued growth of cropland and loss of natural habitat have increasingly simplified agricultural landscapes in the Midwest. A Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center (GLBRC) study concluded that this simplification is associated with increased crop pest abundance and insecticide use, consequences that could be tempered by perennial bioenergy crops.
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A team of researchers from Arizona State University, Stanford University and Carnegie Institution for Science has found that converting large swaths of land to bioenergy crops could have a wide range of effects on regional climate.
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Bioethanol from new lines of native perennial prairie grass could become less costly because of plant engineering by the Samuel Roberts Noble Foundation and fermentation research at Oak Ridge National Laboratory.
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 | When it comes to breaking down plant matter and converting it to energy, the cow has it all figured out. Its digestive system allows it to eat more than 150 pounds of plant matter every day. Now researchers report that they have found dozens of previously unknown microbial enzymes in the bovine rumen -- the cow's primary grass-digestion chamber -- that contribute to the breakdown of switchgrass, a renewable biofuel energy source. ...> Full Article |
 | The National Institute of Food and Agriculture has awarded a $1 million grant to Bingyu Zhao, assistant professor of horticulture in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences at Virginia Tech, to develop and deploy rust fungas-resistant genes in switchgrass and monitor the pathogen. ...> Full Article |
 | University of Illinois researchers have confirmed the first report of a potential new virus belonging to the genus Marafivirus in switchgrass, a biomass crop being evaluated for commercial cellulosic ethanol production. ...> Full Article |
 | Money may not grow on trees, but energy could grow in grass. Researchers at the University of Illinois have completed the first extensive geographic yield and economic analysis of potential bioenergy grass crops in the Midwestern United States. The study found that miscanthus and switchgrass could be viable biofuel crops in the US in areas where the prospective grass yield is greater than current corn and soybean production. ...> Full Article |
 | A recent study analyzed water quantity and quality in plots of Miscanthus, switchgrass, corn and soybeans and found that Miscanthus used substantially more water, but reduced the potential for nitrogen pollution to water bodies. ...> Full Article |
 | Iowa State University researchers Matt Helmers and Antonio Mallarino find that by planting switchgrass and using certain agronomic practices, farmers can significantly reduce the amount of nitrogen and nitrates that leach into the soil. ...> Full Article |
Agricultural Research Service scientists have developed a new tool for deciphering the genetics of a native prairie grass being widely studied for its potential as a biofuel. The genetic map of switchgrass, published by Christian Tobias, a molecular biologist at the ARS Western Regional Research Center in Albany, Calif., and his colleagues, is expected to speed up the search for genes that will make the perennial plant a more viable source of bioenergy.
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 | A team of researchers from Oak Ridge National Laboratory and Dartmouth College studied reports from scientific journals and evaluated yield of switchgrass as a function of site location, plot size, stand age, harvest frequency, fertilizer application, climate, and land quality ...> Full Article |
The promise of switchgrass, the challenges for forests and the costs of corn-based ethanol production: Ecological scientists review the many factors surrounding biofuel crop production and its implications on ecosystem health in three new Biofuels and Sustainability Reports.
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 | Loblolly pine bark is the primary component of nursery container substrates but a shortage of the organic material is prompting researchers to investigate new materials as potential alternatives. A recent study was designed to determine if ground switchgrass can be used as an alternative substrate for short production-cycle woody crops. Experiments with 'Paprika' rose revealed that switchgrass processed to an appropriate particle size and amended with typical nursery materials can be a suitable alternative. ...> Full Article |
Biofuels processors who mill switchgrass into fine bits to help its flowability should be able to save time, energy and money by not doing so, a Purdue University study shows.
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Scientists investigate differences in woody and herbaceous crop productivity and biomass yield as a function of landscape position at the field scale.
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 | Diverse biofuel plantings such as native prairie attract more beneficial insects than do single crops such as corn, Michigan State University scientists find. Therefore, biofuel policies should take such added value into account, they urge, based on their pioneering studies of beneficial insects in biofuel crops. ...> Full Article |
 | A US DOE and USDA study concluded that 50 million US acres of cropland, idle cropland, and cropland pasture could be converted from current uses to the production of perennial grasses, such as switchgrass, from which biomass could be harvested for use as a biofuel feedstock. Economically viable production of a perennial grass monoculture from which substantial quantities of biomass are removed annually is expected to require nitrogen fertilizer. ...> Full Article |
Acquiring cheap genome sequence data can improve the quality of feedstocks used to create biofuels, according to a new study published in the Plant Genome
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