Researchers Find Grass Viable As Biofuel

EarthTechling.com
by Susan DeFreitas, November 7th, 2010

Corn ethanol is currently the main biofuel on the U.S. market, but demand for ethanol competes with corn’s availability as a food, with potentially disastrous consequences for food costs. Researchers at the University of Illinois are investigating a different source for homegrown biofuel: grasses.

This study–the first of its kind, according to the university–examined the potential for the cultivation of two biofuels grasses in the American Midwest: switchgrass, a large prairie grass native to the region, and Miscanthus, a sterile hybrid, which is widely cultivated in Europe as a biofuel crop.

Read more