Native Grasses for Biomass Production at High Elevations - Industrial Crops: Breeding for BioEnergy and Bioproducts - page 101

Keywords Herbaceous perennial biomass • Basin wildrye • Intermediate wheat-
grass • Tall wheatgrass • Native grasses • Lignocellulosic biomass • Cool-season
grasses • Biomass economics • Biomass production costs

Introduction

Considerable interest has focused on producing plant biomass for conversion into
biofuels for the USA. Many biomass crop specie candidates and biomass resources
have been proposed in recent years. Herbaceous perennial grasses as lignocellulosic
resources are a preferred feedstock source for biofuels because they have a neutral
carbon budget, require few agronomic inputs, can be readily managed to be
environmentally friendly, and have the potential to be grown on a variety of
lands, soils, and crop production situations. Plant species and their associated
crop production systems used for sustainable biomass crop production have a
number of requisites that should be taken into account when considering crop
selection for commercial biomass production (Table 6.1 ).
Much of the popular and scientific attention on plant biomass has been centered
on warm-season grasses with their production being located primarily in the Great
Plains, midwest, and areas of the east and southeast USA where these warm-season
grasses are adapted. Accordingly, a considerable amount of breeding and genetic
research on the development of dedicated energy crops in the USA has been
directed on warm-season perennial grasses, such as switchgrass ( Panicum
virgatum ) and Miscanthus sp.
Large regions of the Mountain West in the USA are dominated by cool-season
grasses. In a study conducted in Utah comparing the performance of warm- and
cool-season grasses for biomass production, cool-season grasses were found to be
the most productive for total annual biomass production [ 1 ]. Elevations of 1,200 m,

Table 6.1 Prerequisites of plant species used for biomass production for biofuel
High yields in comparison to inputs Low-input production requirements

Does not compete with established food/feed sys-
tems or for established food/feed cropland

Drought tolerant with high water-use effi-
ciency/low water-use requirements

Should be carbon neutral and preferably carbon
negative

Facilitate mechanical harvesting and
processing

Have desirable sociological aspects Perennial growth and long-lived

Little allocation of dry matter to reproduction Not weedy

Low moisture content at harvest Minimum plant-to-plant competition

Good competition against weeds Must be profitable to agriculture and

others

Resistant against diseases and insects Inexpensive and easy to plant and

establish

Have positive environmental characteristics