New switchgrass varieties on 1000 acres in Tennessee

Biofuels Digest
July 22, 2010 Jim Lane

In Tennessee, researchers at the University of Tennessee, working with UT Extension biofuels specialists and partners at Ceres and Dupont Danisco Cellulosic Ethanol, have planted 1000 acres of improved varieties of switchgrass across nine counties, and will compare results with 1000 acres planted with standard “Alamo” switchgrass for comparative purposes.

The improved switchgrass varieties were developed by the biotechnology company Ceres. They are sold under the company’s Blade Energy Crops brand as EG 1101 (an improved Alamo variety) and EG 1102 (an improved Kanlow variety). The Genera Energy/DDCE demonstration-scale biorefinery in Vonore, Tenn., will process the dedicated energy crop into cellulosic ethanol.

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