Ithaca, New York
September 5, 2007
Source:
Cornell University
ChronicleOnline
By Lauren Chambliss
Watching grass grow is not normally the most exciting activity
-- unless the future of New York's energy needs, rural economic
development and reducing the human contribution to global
climate change depend on it.
From the lab to the field,
Cornell University researchers are analyzing every aspect of
some field grasses in a multidisciplinary, high-octane search
for the next generation of biofuels from such cellulose
feedstocks as grasses and willow trees, which can be converted
to ethanol and other products.
Nationally, corn is the leading source of biofuel, but in the
long run, researchers say, New York will be better off
developing alternative renewable sources of cellulosic ethanol
that will be healthier for the environment, address energy needs
and potentially create new business for rural farmers and
landowners.
In the past few years, Cornell researchers have planted trial
plots of field grasses -- cellulosic ethanol feedstocks -- in
six sites across the state. Along with dozens of other
renewable-energy research projects at the College of Agriculture
and Life Sciences and the College of Engineering, the grass
trials hold an important key to the future of New York's energy
strategy for the 21st century.
New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer's new energy initiative calls for
the state to obtain 25 percent of its energy needs from
renewable resources, including biofuels, by 2013. Rising concern
about global climate change is also pushing the biofuels train
as a renewable "clean" energy source that could reduce reliance
on fossil fuels.
If all goes well, the grass trials, funded by the federal
government through the Cornell University Agricultural
Experiment Station, with additional support from the New York
Farm Viability Institute and the Northern New York Agricultural
Development Program, will provide development tools to create a
viable industry. The ultimate goal of Cornell biofuels research
is to discover the best sustainable bioenergy crops for diverse
bioregions and provide businesses and entrepreneurs with new
technologies and systems to convert grasses, wood and other
biomass to usable, renewable energy with minimal environmental
impact.
"Because New York contains and is near other major population
centers and has a large amount of agricultural land that could
be used for producing feedstocks, it is uniquely situated to be
a major player in the biofuels industry," says Donald Viands,
Cornell professor of plant breeding and genetics and a lead
principal investigator on the project. Cornell, with scientists
from multiple disciplines, is partnering with others to provide
cutting-edge research and extension activities necessary "to
realize the potential of biofuels in a safe and sustainable
manner," says Viands.
Interest in biofuels is so high that at a recent demonstration
of grass trials at an experiment site in Big Flats in Chemung
County, more than 100 people, including farmers, policy-makers
and researchers, showed up on a 100-degree day for a tour of
fields of big bluestem, switchgrass, coastal panic grass and
other species grown in partnership with Cornell researchers.
Adding urgency to the so-called "green energy revolution" is the
fact that 90 percent of New York energy needs are currently met
by imported oil and natural gas, which is higher than the
national average, says Joseph Laquatra, professor of design and
environmental analysis. To reduce its vulnerability to high oil
prices and potential supply disruptions, the state needs to
develop more indigenous sources of energy.
In the long term, cellulosic ethanol and other forms of
bioenergy from grasses, legumes and wood products are expected
to play a significant role in energy supplies, especially in New
York, where some portion of 1.5 million acres of idle and
underused agricultural lands could be turned into
fuel-generating crops. |
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