Alfalfa could be feedstock for cellulosic ethanol

As scientists continue to look for more fuel sources to make ethanol, one group is pointing to alfalfa, which is known as forage and hay for livestock but could one day be used more for fuel. "The idea is to have Midwest farmers who now grow corn all the time or corn and soybeans in rotation to start growing corn and alfalfa," Philip Brasher of the Des Moines Register reports. (Photo of flowering alfalfa by Howard Schwartz, Colorado State University, Bugwood.org)

"Critics question whether alfalfa could ever be an economical fuel crop for many farmers," Brasher writes. However, alfalfa can, like soybeans, replenish nitrogen that corn takes from the soil, which would allow farmers to use less fertilizer, reducing runoff into streams. "Alfalfa also could provide soil protection, limiting erosion, because the crop would be left in the ground for a couple of years before the field is replanted to corn." The type of alfalfa used for ethanol production would be a super-sized variety of the crop now planted on 21 million acres nationwide. "The leaves would be sold for cattle feed," Brasher writes. "The stems would be processed into a feedstock for next-generation ethanol plants."

Minnesota Valley Alfalfa Producers, a farmers' cooperative, plans to start construction next month on a facility that would grind alfalfa into pellets that could be processed by an ethanol plant. The group does not yet have an ethanol producer to make the biofuel, Brasher reports. Big producers like Poet are working to reduce the cost of cellulosic ethanol, but "are struggling to reduce the cost to a level that's economically feasible and to attract investors," Brasher writes. Some, like Minnesota farmer Keith Poier, say even if the fuel cost slightly more than gasoline it would be better "than all those dollars leaving the community, going out of the country" for fossil fuels. (Read more)