Switchgrass?
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Fleet Mechanic
Joined: Oct 2002
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From: Mercer County, OH
Switchgrass?
Any farmers here grow switchgrass? I've heard that one of the uses for switchgrass is that it can be used to manufacture ethanol. No one in my area grows it (that I've seen) and I'm thinking it might be a good idea to do a demonstration plot.
Fleet Mechanic
Joined: Jul 2004
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From: Travelers Rest SC
They're just getting a program underway here in FL to use leftover orange pulp from the juice industry to make ethanol. The cool thing is that would just throw the stuff away anyhow, so it doesn't consume any additional resources to grow it.
Elder User
Joined: Dec 2006
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Don't they put switchgrass in health food drinks? For that matter maybe they could put the sugar beets and orange pulp in there, too. Even a shot of ethanol wouldn't hurt. If you call it healthy, people will buy it and drink it.
Elder User
Joined: Mar 2007
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From: Rome, GA
I dont know about switch grass, but growing up my Mom had a switch bush outside the house and we all knew what that was for. Especially when we had to go breakour own switches. That bush was amazing you could break off as many switches as I had used on my back side and it still lived and produced more switches.
Post Fiend
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i don't know, but my big public speaking class project is over ethanol, and after all the reasearch i been doing for it, ethanol, unless some amazing technology comes out, is a waste of time and defintly money and it is opening a whole differnt bag of worms for us to deal with, and not in a better way either.
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Posting Guru
Joined: Jul 2005
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From: Southeastern Indiana
Originally Posted by bf250
i don't know, but my big public speaking class project is over ethanol, and after all the reasearch i been doing for it, ethanol, unless some amazing technology comes out, is a waste of time and defintly money and it is opening a whole differnt bag of worms for us to deal with, and not in a better way either.
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Laughing Gas
Joined: Apr 2005
Posts: 910
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From: West-Central New York
Switchgrass is a pretty amazing plant but really over-rated for ethanol. It's going to fall short just like everything else "they" suggest. The people in the climate change panic department are truly running out of scary stories.
Now, if you were planting it for bison forage... you get to run pasture burns and who doesn't like prairie fires?! If I had the money to redo my pastures, I'd use switchgrass.
Ever seen Jurassic Park where the raptors all move in on the people running through the tall grass? That's how switch grass would be. Imagine grass 5-10' high!!
Now, if you were planting it for bison forage... you get to run pasture burns and who doesn't like prairie fires?! If I had the money to redo my pastures, I'd use switchgrass.
Ever seen Jurassic Park where the raptors all move in on the people running through the tall grass? That's how switch grass would be. Imagine grass 5-10' high!!
Fleet Mechanic
Joined: Jul 2004
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From: Travelers Rest SC
I read an editorial recently that said that in order to make ethanol fuel for just cars alone would use up all of the available crop and forage land in the US. That doesn't leave anywhere to raise food, and you would still be dependent on fossil fuels for heating and diesel fuel. It seems like no matter what you do on a small scale becomes problematic on a big scale.
Elder User
Joined: Aug 2001
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From: South Texas
A couple of the articles on switch grass to ethanol discussed it in some detail.
As stated above, this product does not have a large amount of sugars for the ethanol conversion process, but the main advantage of using it stems from the fact that is is extremely hardy, can grow in semi-arid climates with no additional watering required, requires no pesticides, and can be grown on what would otherwise be considered marginal land.
In short, it is a cheap source material, but due to the sugar content issue, huge volumes of it are required to be planted on vast tracts of land. It is definitely not a cure all, but if the climate and soils support nothing better, it is a possibility.
As stated above, this product does not have a large amount of sugars for the ethanol conversion process, but the main advantage of using it stems from the fact that is is extremely hardy, can grow in semi-arid climates with no additional watering required, requires no pesticides, and can be grown on what would otherwise be considered marginal land.
In short, it is a cheap source material, but due to the sugar content issue, huge volumes of it are required to be planted on vast tracts of land. It is definitely not a cure all, but if the climate and soils support nothing better, it is a possibility.
Postmaster
Joined: Sep 2006
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From: Clearwater, Fl
Originally Posted by FLgargoyle
I read an editorial recently that said that in order to make ethanol fuel for just cars alone would use up all of the available crop and forage land in the US. That doesn't leave anywhere to raise food, and you would still be dependent on fossil fuels for heating and diesel fuel. It seems like no matter what you do on a small scale becomes problematic on a big scale.
imagine the amount of water needed for agricultural purposes for fuel consumption........doesnt add up when there a percent of people that dont even have access to fresh water around the world
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