According to a guest op-ed in today’s NYT, switchgrass is the road to world peace. And a pony.
I’m ready to be convinced about this stuff. If switchgrass really flourishes on marginal land, soaks up pesticides, absorbs CO2, looks great in floral arrangements, and — this is key — could eventually be scaled to compete with the abundance and price of corn, count me a cheerleader.
I think biofuels will be only a small part of the long-term energy solution, but low-impact crop fuels are necessary and comparatively unobjectionable as a bridge technology.