The amount of energy that corn produces is only 25% more energy then it costs to produce it, however a recent article in the Scientific American says that switchgrass can. with optimal rain fall, produce 540 percent more energy then it takes to grow it.
The main reason for this, is that switch grass only needs to be planted once and then it can be harvested over and over again. However, the main problem is that "right now there are no biorefineries built that handle cellulosic material" like that which switchgrass provides". Oops. Hopefully this study will lead to these biorefineries soon. Corn is a harsh crop, that depletes soil nutrients. It requires crop rotations and its impact on food prices is not to be over looked. Finding alternatives to corn based ethanol would be a real winner.
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