The critical piece of this effort is 1,000 acres of switchgrass which will be planted near Guymon, Okla. in the state’s panhandle. This switchgrass field will be the first of its size anywhere in the world focused on biomass production. Additional acreage of sorghum and switchgrass will be planted near Chickasha and Maysville in central Oklahoma.

“Rising food costs recently resulted in a pushback against renewable fuels. However, cellulosic ethanol from sources like switchgrass and sorghum are non-competitive with food sources for animals and humans and remove cellulosic ethanol from this discussion,” said Oklahoma Secretary of Energy David Fleischaker. “More so, this dedicated land will allow us to demonstrate the advantages of switchgrass.”

Switchgrass is a perennial grass that is naturally drought resistant and grows on marginal lands. The OBC demonstration fields will provide academia and industry a unique “living laboratory” to understand the production and long-term impact of bioenergy crops, as well as experiment with new production techniques and critical harvest, collection and transport methods. The fields also will serve as a “living classroom” where agricultural producers, policymakers and the general public can see and experience these crops, which will play a key role in the United States’ energy future.

“These fields are vital for the continued development and understanding of dedicated energy crops,” said Michael A. Cawley, president and chief executive officer for the Noble Foundation, which will directly manage the Guymon site. “This is more than just a research project that ends in the field. We have a market endpoint.”

A cellulosic biorefinery currently being constructed by Abengoa Bioenergy in Hugoton, Kan., will be less than 35 miles from Guymon, and the switchgrass fields in the panhandle will provide material to this biorefinery. The Abengoa Bioenergy facility is expected to be operational in 2010.

“The value of the Oklahoma Bioenergy Center to the cellulosic ethanol industry cannot be overstated,” said Gerson Santos-Leon, executive vice president, Abengoa Bioenergy New Technologies. “The early and aggressive establishment of 1,000 acres of switchgrass will provide researchers, scientists, agricultural producers and industry – not only in Oklahoma but across the nation – with important information that will help establish the emerging cellulosic ethanol industry.”

Revenues received from the sale of biomass will be reinvested in the OBC for additional bioenergy and biofuel research.

The 1,000 acres of switchgrass leverages the extensive agricultural infrastructure and farming expertise located in Oklahoma’s panhandle.

“The agricultural producers in Oklahoma’s panhandle have a rich heritage of ingenuity and excellence in farming and ranching,” said Gus Blackwell, Speaker Pro Tempore, District 61. “Their experience will certainly provide great assistance to this project.”

This undertaking is made possible through a lease arrangement with Hitch Enterprises, Inc., one of the region’s most renowned agriculture operations. A family owned and managed agricultural company, Hitch Enterprises has conducted extensive cattle feeding, cattle production, pork production and agricultural operations near Guymon for 119 years.

The participation of Hitch Enterprises enables the concentrated establishment of the 1,000-acres in one geographic location, which will enable critical research in the areas of harvest, collection and transportation that challenge the emerging biofuels industry.

Signed into law in 2007, the OBC brings together Oklahoma’s comprehensive higher education institutions – the University of Oklahoma (OU) and Oklahoma State University (OSU) – with the world-class plant and agricultural research of The Samuel Roberts Noble Foundation to initiate a biofuels industry within the state.

The OBC demonstration fields will benefit from the involvement of a contingent of national organizations. In addition to Abengoa Bioenergy, Ceres Inc., based in Thousand Oaks, Calif., will provide seed and agronomic direction for the establishment and management of the fields. Idaho National Laboratory, the lead feedstock supply and logistics laboratory for the Department of Energy, will provide expertise in harvest, collection and processing of biomass in coordination with Abengoa Bioenergy.

The Noble Foundation also will manage the Maysville sites. Oklahoma State University will manage the Chickasha site.

“The 1,000 acres of switchgrass marks another monumental event in Oklahoma’s heritage of energy production.” Fleischaker said. “I’m confident there are many more to come.”

# # #

Contributors to the Oklahoma Dedicated Energy Crop Demonstration Fields

Oklahoma Bioenergy Center (www.okbioenergycenter.org) is a publicly-funded initiative by the State of Oklahoma developed as part Governor Brad Henry’s vision for tomorrow’s Oklahoma. Through the collaboration of its contributing institutions, The Samuel Roberts Noble Foundation, University of Oklahoma and Oklahoma State University, the OBC intends to deliver practical outcomes to enable the competitive and sustainable production of liquid biofuels in Oklahoma, and contribute to the national research effort to enable the United States to achieve prescribed levels of petroleum independence.

Abengoa Bioenergy is Europe’s largest ethanol producer and fifth largest in the United States. To complement its current U.S. production capabilities, Abengoa Bioenergy USA, based in St. Louis, Mo., is building a biorefinery from the Oklahoma-Kansas border. The proposed Hugoton biorefinery will occupy about 400 acres west of Hugoton. This facility is expected to produce about 13 million gallons of cellulosic ethanol a year, using 930 tons per day of cellulosic material, and another 88 million gallons of starch ethanol. The cellulosic feedstock will be comprised of crop residues (e.g., corn and milo stover, and wheat straw) and switchgrass.

Idaho National Laboratory (INL), based in Idaho Falls, Idaho, is the lead feedstock supply and logistics laboratory for the Department of Energy’s Office of Biomass Programs. INL has conducted considerable work in the area of feedstock gathering and processing for crop residues (wheat straw).

Ceres, Inc., based in Thousand Oaks, Calif., is a leading developer of high-yielding, dedicated energy crops that can be planted as feedstocks for cellulosic ethanol production. Its development efforts cover switchgrass, sorghum, miscanthus, energycane and woody crops.

The Samuel Roberts Noble Foundation, Inc. (www.noble.org), headquartered in Ardmore, Okla., is an independent, nonprofit institute conducting plant science research and agricultural programs to enhance agricultural productivity, which influences agriculture regionally, nationally and internationally. The Noble Foundation also provides grants to nonprofit charitable, educational and health organizations.

Because it is native to places like Oklahoma, switchgrass is resistant to many pests and plant diseases, and it is capable of producing high yields with very low applications of fertilizer. This means that the need for agricultural chemicals to grow switchgrass is relatively low. Switchgrass is also very tolerant of poor soils, flooding and drought, which are widespread agricultural problems across the plains states.

There are two main types of switchgrass: upland types, which usually grow 5 to 6 feet tall and are adapted to well drained soils, and low land types, that grow up to 12 feet tall and which are typically found on heavy soils in bottomland sites. Although switchgrass is native, plant breeders have developed a fairly large number of improved varieties for use as forage.

‘Alamo’ switchgrass is a robust lowland variety of switchgrass most suited to the southern US. In Auburn University test plots, it has frequently produced over 10 tons per acre per year, but on a commercial scale, it is more reasonable to expect 6 to 8 tons per acre. This is because test plots usually have perfect establishment, but commercial plantings almost always have weak spots in the field. However, for comparison, the average annual hay yield for Alabama is about 2.5 tons per acre, and the productivity of forests is only about half that of switchgrass.

Despite poorer soils than in the Midwest, switchgrass yields are higher in the Southeast because of the adaptation of more productive switchgrass varieties in our region, and because we have a longer growing season.

The seed of switchgrass is very small, and much of it is dormant (will not germinate) right after it is harvested. However, aging, treating it with water and chilling temperatures (stratification) or storing it in warm conditions will break dormancy.

Partly because of the small size of the seed, switchgrass seedlings tend to be slow to develop, and are susceptible to weed competition. Unfortunately, there are no herbicides approved by government for weed control during establishment of switchgrass. However, it can still be successfully established by no-till planting and other strategic approaches.

Switchgrass reaches full yield only in the third year after planting; it produces a quarter to a third of full yield in the first year, and about two thirds of full yield in the second year. When managed for energy production it can be cut once or twice a year with regular hay or silage equipment.

At maturity, widely spaced switchgrass plants can measure 20 inches in diameter at ground level. Switchgrass has a huge, permanent root system that penetrates over 10 feet into the soil, and weighs as much (6-8 tons/acres) as the above-ground growth from one year. It also has many fine, temporary roots.

All these roots improve the soil by adding organic matter, and by increasing soil water infiltration and nutrient-holding capacity. Switchgrass fields provide habitat and a home for many species of wildlife, including cover for deer and rabbits, and a nesting place for wild turkey and especially quail.

Switchgrass has several other environmental benefits. If it is used to produce energy, it will reduce the risk of global warming by replacing fossil fuels (coal, natural gas and oil). When fossil fuels are burnt, carbon is removed from below ground (gas and oil wells and coal mines) and release into the atmosphere as carbon dioxide (CO2). This is a greenhouse gas that increases the risk of global warming. In contrast, switchgrass (like all other plants) removes CO2 from the atmosphere and incorporates it into plant tissue, both above and below the ground.

Together with its energy benefits, switchgrass offers great opportunity for farmers. Because of its perenniality, compared to annual crops switchgrass is a true conservation crop which will substantially reduce soil erosion and release of soil carbon which are related to annual tillage, and it will reduce the use of toxic chemicals. It could also produce much needed farm income in many regions that are in desperate need of rural development, and it could substantially reduce the need for farm programs and disaster aid which are currently paid from tax dollars.

What is needed to ensure that we fully realize all these potential benefits? Simple! We must demonstrate that the process of using switchgrass for energy can be profitable - for energy producers, farmers, and consumers of energy.

Can it be done? This is the question the Oklahoma Bioenergy Center is focusing on  answering. Perhaps most important, we must recognize that fossil fuels will be our main energy base for many years, and bioenergy from switchgrass is not intended to compete with these valuable resources, but rather, to complement them by softening their environmental impact.

Data Source:  www.switchgrass.com

The Governor successfully launched the OBC last year as part of his policy agenda. The center coordinates biofuels research and development being conducted at the University of Oklahoma, Oklahoma State University and the Samuel Roberts Noble Foundation. The OBC has already attracted more than $10 million in new funding beyond the $10 million that the state appropriated to it last year.

Gov. Henry said the potential impact of the Oklahoma Bioenergy Center is clear in light of recently passed federal legislation requiring the production of 36 billion gallons of biofuels by 2022.

“That amounts to roughly 25 percent of the annual gas consumption in the United States,” the Governor said. “More than half of those 36 billion gallons is likely to come from cellulosic feed stocks such as switchgrass, a perennial grass that grows naturally in Oklahoma and is a main focus of the OBC’s research effort.”

Oklahoma’s expertise in energy and agricultural issues also makes it ideal to take on a leadership role in the development of biofuels, added the Governor.

“Not only is the Oklahoma Bioenergy Center critical to help reduce our nation’s dependence on imported oil, but it will have a significant impact in creating jobs and revitalizing Oklahoma’s rural economy,” he said.

The cost of the initiative is $40 million over a four-year period. Gov. Henry is calling on lawmakers this year to continue their funding commitment with a $10 million appropriation.

“It is important that we adequately fund this initiative. The potential of the Oklahoma Bioenergy Center is too great and too far-reaching to let it languish,” said the Governor.

In addition, Gov. Henry said his executive budget for next fiscal year proposes a $5 million increase to the Oklahoma Center for the Advancement of Science and Technology, or OCAST.

“We must invest in the cutting-edge, high-tech jobs and industries of the future,” the Governor. “OCAST has been a tremendous asset in Oklahoma’s strategies for economic growth. A recent study even indicated that every dollar invested in OCAST has a $27 rate of return. That is an astonishing success, and one well worth building upon.”

Data Source: This article was released from the Oklahoma Governor’s Office, www.state.ok.us/governor/, on January 24, 2008.