Flipping the switch on switchgrass

Page 3 of 3 Why switchgrass? Why South Carolina? By Andy Owens Managing Editor Other than a few factories that use discarded potatoes in Idaho, beer waste in Colorado and sugar cane in Louisiana, most of the country’s 139 biorefineries use corn to create ethanol. The technology for breaking down corn to generate the combustible liquid began when the first liquor stills started dripping moonshine in the 1700s. Today’s ethanol plants can turn out hundreds of millions of gallons of high-grade ethanol per year using corn. So why shouldn’t South Carolina consider increasing corn production and follow the rest of the country? South Carolina has increased its corn production. In 2007, the S.C. Energy Office said farmers in South Carolina harvested 25% more corn than the year before, but that was mostly a reaction to higher corn prices fueled by increased ethanol production in the Midwest. Of the 27 corn-producing states in 2006, South Carolina ranked 24th, producing only 31.9 million bushels. That hardly compares to the largest corn-producing state, Iowa, which had more than 2 billion bushels of corn that same year.  Even a 100% increase in corn production in South Carolina wouldn’t begin to compete with major corn states. Simply put, corn doesn’t grow as well in the South as it does in Iowa and Nebraska and Illinois. Clemson University researchers said it has to do with soil characteristics, temperatures, humidity and other environmental factors in the state. While the large stands of high-yield fields of corn covering thousands of acres in the Midwest might never be seen in South Carolina, a lot of things do grow well here, including cotton, tobacco, soybeans and switchgrass. South Carolina farmers could harvest many other crops to build a viable biomass that could be turned into biofuels. The same technology that converts corn and switchgrass into ethanol can also turn sweet potatoes, wood pulp and cotton residue into ethanol. But switchgrass has the advantage of being low maintenance, which cuts down on energy, labor and equipment costs. Switchgrass is a native perennial, which means after it’s planted, it will grow for about 15 years without replanting. Each time a farmer touches a crop with fertilizer, an insecticide or an herbicide, it costs money. Switchgrass doesn’t need any of those. Once it’s planted, it keeps growing and pushes other less-hearty competing plants out of the way. From an environmental perspective, switchgrass stops erosion and creates habitat for small animals and a natural barrier to protect other natural resources. Clemson researchers at the Pee Dee Research and Education Center even harvested some switchgrass from a test plot that towered over 6 feet to build a hut as part of an exhibit demonstrating a Pee Dee Indian village on their Outdoor Education Trail along the Florence County and Darlington County border. << Start < Prev 1 2 3 Next > End >>