Fill ‘er up: biofuels and soil quality

It seems that, everywhere but in Canada’s parliament, we’ve reached a consensus that while biofuels are an important step in finding alternatives to fossil fuels, food-for-fuel isn’t the best use of our crops. Biofuels offer the possibility of a renewable, alternative energy source, but by using crops like corn to produce it, we’ve increased average food prices by as much as 75 per cent, not to mention the inherent controversy in any agricultural subsidy.

The great hope, then, has been “cellulosic materials” — fibrous, otherwise useless crops that, while offering the danger of spreading like weeds, don’t encroach on our food supplies. What’s more, many of them, like switchgrass are tantalizing because they are more efficient at producing ethanol, use very little water and require no fertilization.

Given that one of the most essential arguments against corn as a fuel source stems from its added emission cost in the agricultural process, these “second generation” biofuels strengthen the claim that fuels like ethanol could ultimately reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

And it seems the benefits for cellulosic materials don’t end there.

A recent study by the US Agricultural Research Service found that switchgrass can also improve soil quality. By increasing levels of a soil component called glomalin, the switchgrass helps reduce the risk of erosion, creating a medium for micro-organisms to develop in. It’s a double benefit, given that switchgrass is already a native North American species, and one that will certainly add fuel to the push toward secondary biofuel sources.

A word of caution, though: there was a time when using our corn in our gas tanks seemed like an unqualified success too.