Okla. researchers hope 1,000-acre switchgrass experiment turns up a cash-making biofuel

Los Angeles Times
MURRAY EVANS Associated Press Writer
September 9, 2009 12:44 a.m.

ARDMORE, Okla. (AP) — Watching grass grow is tedious, but researchers in the Oklahoma Panhandle say they'll stare at their switchgrass — all 1,000 acres of it — until they know whether they've found a commercially viable source of biofuel.

The site is billed as the largest such project in the world as scientists try to determine if making ethanol from switchgrass is cost effective. The goal is to determine whether small-scale experiments of using the tall, thin plant native to the Great Plains to make ethanol can be duplicated on a large scale.

And if so, whether farmers and others involved in its production could make a profit.

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