A team from the University of Illinois says the giant perennial grass Miscanthus x giganteus can produce far more biofuels per acre than current sources, such as corn.

To achieve the current White House goal of offsetting 20 percent of gasoline use with ethanol would take about a quarter of all U.S. cropland out of food production, the researchers say.

Writing in the journal Global Change Biology, crop sciences professor Stephen P. Long said that Miscanthus can be grown on land unsuitable for growing corn or other grains, meaning that acreage used for those crops could be once again allocated exclusively for food production.

Long also wrote that Miscanthus is a perennial grass that grows up to 13 feet in height, and once planted will return each year.

It also removes carbon from the atmosphere and places it into the soil far more efficiently than annual crops such as corn or soybeans.

Photo: Don Hamerman
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