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Energy Crops for Biofuels
| Article
# : |
18723 |
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Section : |
NATURAL SCIENCE
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| Issue
Date : |
8 / 1991 |
2,264 Words |
| Author
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Janet H. Cushman, Lynn L. Wright, and Kate Shaw
Janet H. Cushman, Lynn L. Wright, and Kate Shaw work in the
Biofuels Feedstock Development Program, Environmental
Sciences
Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, TN. |
The "amber waves of grain" in "America the Beautiful" may be replaced by "rows of poplar trees" or "silver waves of grass," if energy crop researchers meet their goals. Rows of trees may replace rows of corn, and fields of soybeans or cotton may be interspersed with fields of switchgrass. Growing crops for energy may become as important as growing crops for food.
In laboratories and fields across the United States, common trees and grasses are beginning to receive the same kind of intensive study as that directed toward solar collectors and fuel cells--and for much the same reasons. Scientists have recognized that trees and greases can be biologically "engineered" to become more efficient collectors and stores of solar energy. They have also recognized a wonderful potential versatility of plant matter ("biomass") as an energy source--it can either be burned directly to release heat or be converted to variety of readily useable fuels, including methane, ethanol, and hydrogen. Biomass conversion technologies include both those of direct combustion to produce heat and those for producing liquid or gaseous fuels. [See "Biomass conversion Technologies," p.337]
Burning biomass to produce heat is an ancient and still widespread practice. At present, however, only small-scale applications that have access to very low-cost biomass burn it to produce electricity.
For conversion of biomass to a liquid fuel, especially ethanol, existing technologies use as feedstock only select components of a plant, such as the starch from corn kernels or the sugar from sugarcane. The stalks of both corn and sugarcane, made primarily of cellulose, have been waste materials.
However, a new approach to better using the full potential of biomass energy is rapidly developing. This approach is expected to offer a near-term, relatively low-cost, and renewable alternative to coal or oil on a significant scale. The idea has been generated both by new discoveries about the growth potential of trees and grasses and by technological developments that promise enhanced efficiencies in converting biomass to useable energy.
Of special interest is the research to develop cost-effective processes for converting cellulosic material, including wood and grass as well as corn and sugarcane stalks, to ethanol. The mastery of this technology would make possible the production of liquid fuels for transportation from a wide range of fast-growing plants. Other research is developing
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