Further, the researchers hold that the transition to grass-based ethanol production can be done in a way that is both environmentally and economically beneficial.
The CSU study, which was done with help of collaborators from the University of Illinois, found that using bio-fuel grass species, such as switch grass, in the same land area as used to grow corn could result in an increase in ethanol production, a reduction in nitrogen leaching into the Gulf of Mexico, and a reduction in greenhouse gas emission caused from the Corn Belt in the Midwest region of the United States.
The research shows that, by replacing corn ethanol, perennial grasses could increase the productivity of food and fuel within the region without causing additional indirect land use change.
“Raising perennial bio-fuel crops on previously cultivated land in the United States will result in massive reductions in greenhouse gas fluxes from agricultural systems,” said CSU senior research scientist William Parton. “Growing perennial bio-fuel crops on low-production agricultural land can result in large environmental benefits such as improved air and water quality as well as increased ethanol production and sustained production of corn and soybeans.”
Parton’s research demonstrates that more efforts should be made in researching methods of producing ethanol from bio-fuel crops. Despite the current lack of economically viable techniques of producing ethanol from these crops, the research shows that bio-fuel crops will benefit the Corn Belt in multiple ways that corn cannot.
“We have found that perennial bio-fuel crop growth has the potential to reduce greenhouse gas fluxes and nitrogen leaching from agricultural systems while maintaining current food production for human consumption. Production of corn-based ethanol simply cannot compare to the 15 percent to 30 percent reduction in nitrogen leaching into the Gulf of Mexico when perennial crops are grown for ethanol production,” Parton said.
The study conceded that there are currently a paucity of economically viable techniques of producing ethanol from the bio-fuel crops.
But it said research and study should continue because "bio-fuel crops will benefit the Corn Belt in multiple ways that corn cannot."
The study is published online in Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment.
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