OLIVIA — We are not likely to leapfrog from corn-based ethanol to using switchgrass and other cellulosic sources to produce the renewable fuel. The oft-predicted transition to cellulose will most likely take place at corn-based ethanol plants, and then only in stages, according to speakers at a two-day renewable energy conference that concluded Friday in Olivia.
“All of this is kind of talk,” said Bill Lee, general manager of the Chippewa Valley Ethanol Company, Benson, of the predictions for a cellulosic eth-anol industry. “We have to get real plants on the ground making the product.”
Lee said major technological challenges must be overcome before a cellulosic ethanol industry becomes financially viable. Even if a technological breakthrough to were to occur, the infrastructure needed to make cellulosic ethanol must still be developed. The logistics of harvesting, storing and transporting bulky cellulosic materials like switchgrass are serious impediments at this point, said Greg Cuomo of the University of Minnesota Outreach and Education Park.
We face equally formidable agronomic challenges as well. Cuomo pointed to one prediction that switchgrass could produce 16 tons of biomass per acre. “Never,” he said, explaining that yields of that magnitude would require massive fertilizer and other inputs. “Is that a realistic system?” he asked. Lee said he believes that cellulosic ethanol will develop as it is “grafted” onto corn-based ethanol plants. For example, the Benson facility he manages is planning to use biomass to replace natural gas as its energy source for steam power. The development will help create a local market and the infrastructure for the collection of biomass.
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