Thereare a few aspects to this discussion which no one seems to have brought up. If we produce cellulosic ethanol from switchgrass, which is a standing crop all spring and summer, then we are potentially providing wildlife habitat where there would otherwise be shopping malls or monotypic non-native crops. It is suggested that diverse prairie, with switchgrass dominant may actually produce more ethanol per acre than monotypic stands, so could this not be a good thing? The other thing no one mentions is that we can use feedlot, pig farm, poultry farm, dairy lot, etc. waste to fertilize, rather than using petroleum-based N. This blows Pimentel's complaints out of the water...I look forward to your critcism of these comments. Switchgrass production is a potential threat to our praries, yes, but it als has the potential of "returning" land to prairie production for atleast part of the year, promoting microbial, floral,and faunal communities not otherwise supported...
