Life in a Grass House

[phantom power]

Wherein the Author Purports To Debunk Four Legends of Switchgrass

Legend 1: Switchgrass does not require fertilizer or irrigation
Legend 2: It is estimated that 15 percent of the North American continent consists of land that is unsuitable for food farming but workable for switchgrass cultivation. If all that land was planted with switchgrass, we could replace every single gallon of gas consumed in the United States with ethanol. (Sam Jaffe, "Independence Way," The Washington Monthly (July/August 2004)).
Legend 3: Switchgrass yields a certain amount now, but in the future, with selective breeding, etc., it will yield much more.
Legend 4: Switchgrass is substantially cheaper as a feedstock than corn for producing ethanol.

http://www.theoildrum.com/story/2006/3/7/03949/82426#more

I'm not quite sure what to make of the Oil Drum. Any site that claims "electric civilization" is absolutely doomed to end with the supply of oil is over-stating the case, in my opinion. But it takes all kinds.