Researchers Study Impact of Growing Switchgrass on Marginal Lands

Cornell University researchers are looking at the long-term sustainability impacts of growing switchgrass on marginal lands.

Switchgrass has been identified as a potential second generation biofuel crop. This perennial grass grows well on marginal soils that are unsuitable for most conventional agricultural crops. In many cases those marginal soils are wetter and more prone to a process called denitrification, in which nitrate from fertilizer is converted back to gaseous forms. A small percentage ends up as nitrous oxide, which is considered a primary threat to the atmosphere's ozone layer.

The United States is mandated by law to increase the volume of renewable fuel to be blended into transportation fuel to 36 billion gallons by 2022, of which 21 billion gallons will be ethanol derived from non-edible sources. As the area devoted to biofuel crop production continues to expand, bioenergy researchers need to look at the impact of marginal soil-grown biofuel crops on nitrous oxide emissions.

Cornell scientists have been measuring emissions of nitrous oxide and other trace gases emanating from the soil planted to switchgrass throughout the growing season. They are also measuring crop yields and tracking beneficial changes in soil carbon storage and overall soil health. The first results from this study are expected by late 2013.