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13 Chapter One: Biomass

Switchgrass Switchgrass grows abundantly throughout many regions of the United States, especially the Midwest, South, and Great Plains. Because it is quick to grow, can be harvested for multiple seasons before reseeding, and is particularly drought resistant, it is an efficient crop for biomass. It can also flourish in soil where less hardy plants cannot, and it needs little fertilizer. Switchgrass can even help improve soil quality and protect against soil erosion.

Cows grazing in a field of Iowa switchgrass.

the diesel engine. Rudolf Diesel hoped to use vegetable oils as his primary power source, and in 1900, he successfully ran his engine on peanut oil at the World’s Fair in Paris, France. Such vegetable- or animal-based fuels are called biodiesel fuels. Research in biodiesel continued throughout the 1930s and 1940s, but the widespread availability and relatively low cost of petroleum-based gasoline soon made it the preferred choice for engines. When the costs of importing oil increased dramatically in the 1970s, the automotive industry began to look at ethanol-based alternatives, after several decades of relying on gasoline. While there is still a long way to go in making automobiles more energy efficient, customers today have a greater choice of “green vehicles” that run on biofuels than in years past.