Tennessee farmers will compare 1,000 acres of improved switchgrass with 1,000 acres of standard crops

Researchers at the University of Tennessee have planted more than 1,000 acres of switchgrass to assess how improved varieties could lead to cheaper biofuels production.

The massive planting is part of a US Department of Energy project aiming to make biofuels production more efficient, sustainable and cost-effective.

The University of Tennessee Biofuels Initiative is working with California firm Ceres and Illinois-based Dupont Danisco Cellulosic Ethanol (DDCE) on the project, comparing the improved varieties with a different 1,000 acres planted with a standard switchgrass variety called “Alamo”.

In particular, they are testing the improved Alamo variety EG 1101 and the improved Kanlow variety EG 1102, both sold under Ceres’ Blade Energy Crops brand.

The Genera Energy/DDCE demonstration-scale biorefinery in Vonore, Tennessee, will process the energy crops into cellulosic ethanol.

The project takes in various farms in nine east Tennessee counties, which form part of the Biofuels Initiative’s farmer incentive program, which now totals 6,000 acres of switchgrass.

The researchers believe the research and development in this project could have a “significant national impact” on biofuels production using cellulosic feedstocks, reducing the amount of land required to meet US renewable fuels targets.

Dr Sam Jackson, a University research leading the project team, said: “These are the largest acreages to be planted for growth comparisons on private farms in the nation. The size of the project is necessary to adequately test and demonstrate the supply chain with local farm producers.”

“Fine tuning”

Ceres sales director Frank Hardimon said the project would allow for progress in developing improved seed varieties as well as “fine tuning” the crops for the DDCE ethanol production process.

He said: “We expect to make the same type of leaps in crop performance that seed companies have made in traditional crops. We’re just scratching the surface of what’s possible.”

The US will need 16 billion gallons of cellulosic or advanced biofuels each year to meet the terms of the Renewable Fuels Standard by 2022.

The University of Tennessee Biofuels Initiative believes farmers in Tennessee could produce enough switchgrass by 2025 to produce more than a billion gallons of ethanol each year, using 1 million acres of land without displacing food and fiber crops.