Chris Murphey

Switchgrass

Switchgrass can be used as an alternative biofuel. however the use of it is limited in

modern society as it needs to be grown in a 40 - 50 mile radius of an ethanol plant. Switchgrass
has a lifespan of 10 - 20 years. you can produce 500 gallons of ethanol for every acre harvested.
there are two main types of switchgrass. the upland variety can grow to be five to six feet and
most adapted for the midwest. the souther kind can grow to be six to seven feet. Switchgrass is
one of the leading biofuels even though it thrives in warm climates. It can be used to make
bioethanol switchgrass has a very limited use. They have found that it has been able to grow in
soil that had been left close to barren. It has also been found that the part of the grass that can't be
converted to an ethanol product can be used to create electricity. This shows a little bit of
promise to help keep the costs down for ethanol plants because it helps the plant use less
electricity. The main difficulty when growing switchgrass is that you need to keep the soil at
approximately 5 ph level. There isnt any difference in harvesting it for energy or livestock. it
one of the more relevant things that it is currently used for is the production of plastics and
fertilizers.

Work cited
bioenergy.ornl.gov/papers/misc/switgrs.html

utextension.tennessee.edu/publications/documents/sp701-a.pdf
ww.extension.org/pages/26635/switchgrass-panicum-virgatum-for-biofuelproduction#.VQL6P454p8M
google.com

Response

I have learned that there are many ways chemistry can be seen in everyday life. It might
not always be easy to see but almost every item that has been made has probably been modified
in some shape or form thanks to chemistry. Hopefully we can continue to progress in the fields of
chemistry to produce a cleaner fuel than what is currently being used today.