In the search for alternative energy sources, MSU researchers have discovered switchgrass as a valuable resource in producing other forms of fuel.
At the MSU Extension in Presque Isle County, researchers are studying how to make fuel pellets out of switchgrass, which is a variety of prairie grass that grows quickly and can survive harsh weather conditions.
Pellets are currently used to fuel some electric power plants in Europe and Canada and can also be used to fuel stoves that heat homes, said David Glenn, county extension director, who leads the research program.
Bales of dry switchgrass are fed into a machine, ground into fine fibers and compressed into fuel pellets the size of pet food kernels, Glenn said.
"We use a certain recipe to make it stick together into pellets," Glenn said. "We also study the effect of humidity in the air to see whether the pellets stay together or fall apart."
He said he hopes that as larger quantities of cheap fuel pellets become commercially available, such power plants will become more popular in the U.S.
"As the cost of electricity and gas for heating goes up and up, switchgrass becomes more attractive because it is a renewable resource," Glenn said. "It can take three years to grow a tree for wood fuel. It takes millions of years to replace oil. With switchgrass, you can harvest it, and it just grows back the next year."
MSU researchers are also using switchgrass to produce ethanol.
Researchers heat the switchgrass with concentrated ammonia then add enzymes which produce sugars that ferment into ethanol, said Bruce Dale, an MSU chemical engineering professor.
"We have always known that there are sugars in plants that can be converted into fuel," Dale said. "The challenge is to get these sugars out economically — at a cost that can compete with fossil fuels."
Dale, who was recently named associate director of MSU's Office of Bio-Based Technologies, said he first became interested in producing ethanol from plant material during the oil crisis in the 1970s.
He also said manufacturing ethanol from plants commercially could create new jobs.
"Rural America is hurting because of a lack of job opportunities," said Dale. "The growing, harvesting and processing of switchgrass will provide employment."
Dale said the first commercial plant producing ethanol from plant material will begin operating next year but added that the location of the plant is still confidential.
"Initially, the plant will provide 50 jobs," Dale said. "But we hope to develop a whole new industry that can produce 100 billion gallons of ethanol. It may take 20 to 30 years to develop, but that industry will be employing half a million people."
Promising results from studies on producing alternative fuels from plants are also sparking research on how to efficiently grow switchgrass.
"We are identifying varieties that are well adapted to Michigan conditions and different ways of planting switchgrass," said Richard Leep, a professor in the Department of Crop and Soil Sciences.
Leep has been studying the growth rate of six different varieties of switchgrass for the past three years. The variety of the grass that generates the highest yield grows up to 8 feet and yields up to 10 tons of plant material per acre within a year in some experiments.
Leep also said switchgrass is hardy and versatile because of its roots.
"Switchgrass is fast growing and resilient because it has a well-developed root system," he said. "The roots go deep into the ground and have many root hairs that make it efficient in taking in nutrients and reaching water that is deep in the soil."
