Could Grass Save The World?

issue 01 | spring 2011
UnCommon Ground - Could Grass Save The World?

Shelie Miller, who recieved a 2010 Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers, thinks switchgrass may be the fuel of the future.

The United States hopes to produce 36 billion gallons of renewable transportation fuels by 2012, and the majority of those fuels will come from plants like corn. But there’s an up-and-comer in the biofuel world–a plant that already coats the country from the Southeast through the Plains. Switchgrass is a biofuel waiting for stardom, and Shelie Miller ‘00, an assistant professor in the University of Michigan’s School of Natural Resources and Environment, is spending her time (and a $400,000 research grant from the National Science Foundation) to make sure it can live up to its promise. The White House thinks Miller is pretty promising herself: In December, she received a 2010 Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers– an award handed out to folks whose research careers are on the rise. So far, switchgrass is standing up to all the hype. Below are five things you need to know about the grass that could save us.

  1. Switchgrass produces five times more energy than is used to grow it.
  2. As a perennial, switchgrass does not need to be tilled every year with gas-powered tractors, and it requires few pesticides and fertilizers to keep it happy. 3 An acre of switchgrass can produce 1,000 gallons of ethanol a year (an acre of corn produces 400 gallons).
  3. Switchgrass protects soil as it grows and helps eliminate erosion.
  4. Switchgrass can be converted to ethanol and burned in gas tanks, just like gasoline. Even though it also produces CO2 when burned, switchgrass collects carbon dioxide from the air when it’s grown, just like any plant. So it has a much lower carbon footprint than gasoline.
Published April 2011
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