Field Study Computes Farm-Scale Production Cost of Switch Grass as Biofuel Feedstock

A scientific team from the Agricultural Research Service (ARS) of the United States Department of Agriculture (US-DA) and the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, recently published a study which determined the farm production cost of switch grass for use as raw material for cellulose ethanol production. Switch grass is a perennial grass that has been widely reported as a potential feedstock for cellulose ethanol production, on the basis of the following characteristics: (1) low agricultural inputs during cultivation, (2) good energy yield of the biofuel produced (after feedstock processing) and (3) lower greenhouse gas emissions of the biofuel produced (relative to gasoline). In a previous study, the same scientific team also obtained a better estimate of  the actual energy yield of switch grass, using data from large scale switch grass plantations (related information below). The new study, published in the Bioenergy Research journal (URL above), also used data from commercial scale switch grass plantations of ten contract farmers, to assess farm production costs. The study region covered areas from North Dakota to southern Nebraska. The results showed that the average overall production cost across 5 production years was about $68.56 per Mg (1 Mg = 1 Mega gram = 1 metric ton). The researchers concluded that “substantial quantities of [switch grass] could have been produced in [the] region at about $50 per Mg." This would translate to about 13 cents per liter of ethanol.

Related information: http://www.isaaa.org/kc/cropbiotechupdate/biofuels/default.asp?Date=1/11/2008#1935
http://www.pnas.org/cgi/reprint/0704767105v1 (access to full paper may require paid subscription)