Special Report

FFA agri-science winner checked grasses for ethanol viability

Eric Koehlmoos set out to determine what might yield the most ethanol – switch grass, prairie grass or wheat straw. The Paulina, Iowa FFA member not only found out that the grasses produce more ethanol than corn does, the project won him a prize at the FFA Agri-science Fair last week in Louisville, Kentucky.

Interestingly, and what made Koehlmoos curious, the grasses grow on marginal land, the same land on which wheat is grown. So Koehlmoos checked to see if wheat straw could produce enough ethanol to entice plants to be built where wheat is grown.

“Maybe then we could get the wheat straw production from your high productive lands and then get switch grass and prairie grass grown in marginal lands for ethanol production,” Koehlmoos told Brownfield Ag News last week in Louisville, Ky., where he awarded the prize.

Wheat straw doesn’t produce as much ethanol as the grasses do, but according to Koehlmoos, it’s still enough to make an ethanol production plant viable.

“Wheat straw could be used in very prime farm ground and be an added source of ethanol without competing with the food supply, while prairie grass and switch grass would work great for ethanol production in CRP lands or other marginal areas that really aren’t suited for agricultural production,” he said.

Koehlmoos talked to Brownfield right after he collected his prize in Louisville.

AUDIO: Eric Koehlmoos (2 min. MP3)