Switchgrass has been the main crop of farmers for a long time. It is used as fodder for farm animals, for fuel and electricity needs, as a buffer ***** and as a soil erosion control.
However, when President Bush launched the Biofuels Initiative in his 2006 address to the nation, he focused on using this local prairie grass as an energy crop.
The Biofuel Initiative is an important component of the President's Advanced Energy Initiative. It aims to reduce the country's dependence on foreign oil suppliers by more than 75% of oil imports by 2025.
It aims to achieve this by using non-food biomass such as agricultural waste, trees, forest residues and perennial grasses, especially switchgrass, to produce energy fuel.
Switchgrass is the alcohol that fuels vehicles when it produces ethanol. Ethanol is currently blended with a gasoline ratio of 15 percent to 85 percent and sold as E-85.
Switch grass or tall panic grass is a plant with a short rhizome. It is very suitable as it can be planted in different climatic conditions in different parts of the country. It can also withstand drought.
From planting to care and pruning, switchgear takes less energy to produce biofuel.
Half annual crop
Switch is a perennial crop, meaning the crop can be harvested twice a year for about 10 years before replanting. It also grows rapidly, absorbs solar energy and converts this energy into cellulose. Ethanol is extracted from cellulose by distillation.
High yield per acre
The results of 19 FDP (Bioenergy Feedstock Development Program) research sites in both the eastern and central United States showed that switchgrass could be grown at 15 tons per acre. When distilled into ethanol, it produces 1,500 gallons of ethanol per acre. This means that on an average of six years, each acre will produce 115,000 gallons of ethanol.
Costly
The results of a study conducted by the University of California, Berkeley show that it takes more energy to produce gasoline than to produce ethanol.
Multiple use
The expected advances in gamification technologies provide other useful fuels: diesel fuel, methane gas and methanol.
Eco-friendly
Switchgrass poses no threat to soil fertility, as it also adds organic matter.
Switchgrass consists of a complex system of stems and roots. This system penetrates deep into the soil to keep the soil in, preventing soil erosion.
Switchgrass reliable buffers. Farmers plant this grass along swamps and steam banks to filter out pesticides and prevent these harmful chemicals from entering the water supply.
Switchgrass removes carbon dioxide (CO2) from the air and returns it to the soil. Fossil fuels, on the other hand, release large amounts of CO2 into the atmosphere, increasing air pollution and further degrading the greenhouse gas effect.
Is financially profitable
The cost of increasing switchgrass is low. When you combine government tax incentives and rebates, growing switchgrass can be as profitable as removing fossil fuels.
These are the current disadvantages of using switchgear as the main source of biofuel.
Improvements in early treatment methods are needed
Current technologies are not effective in obtaining high yields from switchgrass. R&D efforts should address this.
Allocate land for switch grass
Is farmland available for planting switch grass? A system should be set up to ensure land for switchgrass and food crops.
The use of switchgrass as an energy crop is absolutely viable from an economic, production and environmental point of view.
However, the success of SwitchGrass as an energy crop depends on these key factors: government policies and funding, R&D efforts, technological innovations and vehicle efficiency...
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