Here's what we know and where we found it:

About Switchgrass, feel free to do with it as you please, directly quoted from the website (link provided below):

Switchgrass is a long-lived, perennial, warm-season grass that has potential as a biofuel crop in the northern Great Plains. Biomass yields and survival of switchgrass have not been determined in western North Dakota, where production is limited by a short growing season and periodic drought. Eight diverse switchgrass varieties and experimental strains were evaluated at three field sites in western North Dakota for three years. Biomass yield of an adapted variety, Sunburst, at the highest yielding site ranged from 1.4 tons per acre in a drought year to 5.6 tons per acre in a year with above average precipitation. Maximum biomass yield would be obtained from a late-August to mid-September cutting of the variety Sunburst, a time period when small grain harvest is often completed and harvest of late-season crops has not begun.Switchgrass varieties grown more than 300 miles north of their point of origin are not recommended, because of poor winter survival in some years. Biomass yield of switchgrass fluctuates widely from year to year in western North Dakota, depending in large part on available soil water. Nevertheless, the low inputs needed for long-term culture of a perennial grass coupled with environmental benefits from switchgrass are important considerations that favor commercial production of biomass from this grass if biofuel markets develop.

Switchgrass (Panicum virgatum L.) has been identified as a potential biofuel crop for the northern Great Plains region of the USA. Biomass yield, dry matter percentage, stand percentage, and plant height of eight diverse switchgrass cultivars and experimental strains were measured for 3 yr at three field sites in western North Dakota to determine their adaptation and stability of performance. Harvest treatments were single annual cuttings in mid-August and mid-September. Except for 'Dacotah', ND3743, and 'Sunburst', all other entries originated greater than 500 km south of the evaluation sites and were subject to winter injury. Sunburst, from southern South Dakota, ranked first or second in biomass yield in all environments and was the top yielding entry in all environments in the third production year, a drought year at all sites. Trailblazer ranked first, second, or third in biomass yield in all environments, while yield ranking of the other entries was not consistent. Genotype X environment interactions occurred for biomass yield and would be expected based on the wide range in origin among the eight populations. Stand percentage was equal for the two harvest dates, but all eight populations averaged higher biomass yields at the mid-September (5.98 Mg/ha) than the mid-August harvest (5.51 Mg/ha). Biomass yield of Sunburst at the highest yielding site ranged from 3.20 Mg/ha in a drought year to 12.48 Mg/ha in a year with above average precipitation. Biomass yield of adapted switchgrass cultivars fluctuates widely in western North Dakota, depending in large part on available soil water.

enjoy! <3 marie

1/21/08 5:13 pm

Lucia Bragg

This is some of the research I've done:

Biomass Pellets:

"Biomass pellets are taking Austria by storm, as they are by far the cheapest energy source on the heating market and reduce CO2 emissions more efficiently than any other alternative. Credit: proPellets Austria."

"One form of energy has taken absolute center stage because it represents a sustainable alternative to fossil fuels, allows large carbon reductions and has become the most competitive of all renewables: biomass pellets. In Austria, the biofuel used for heating is currently a whopping 46 per cent less costly than heating oil and 30% less costly than natural gas - which explains its soaring popularity. Moreover, a recent study comparing strategies with which households can reduce their carbon footprint, shows biomass is the least costly and most efficient way of all."

http://biopact.com/2007/10/biomass-pellets-revolution-in-austria.html

Fallow Land in Vermont

Underutilized land in Vermont:

- 450 gals/acre; 100,000 acres of underutilized land in Vermont

- 150,000 families = 300 gals/family

www.uvm.edu/~transctr/pdf/ABetts.pdf

List of Sites:

http://www.pelletheat.org/2/index/index.html

http://www.lifeaftertheoilcrash.net/

http://science.howstuffworks.com/peak-oil.htm

http://www.opec.org/home/

"The oil company BP said that we've got plenty of oil left, according to its Statistical Review of World Energy published in June 2007. In the report, the company said that the world has as many as 1,028 billion barrels of oil in proved reserves source: BP. This equals about 40 years of uninterrupted oil supply -- just from oil pumped from the ground and held in reserve alone. These data were compiled from reported reserves from nations around the globe and oil consortiums like OPEC (Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries).

But BP's report invited a hail of criticism from oil industry observers, who waved off BP's data as unfounded. Specifically, the criticism comes because member countries of organizations like OPEC receive funding based on the amount of oil they hold in reserve__. What's more, say critics, the figures reported by individual countries aren't audited by outside sources [source: U.S. Government Accountability Office]. __In other words, member countries may have the opportunity and the motive to exaggerate the number of barrels of oil they have in reserve."

"The theory of peak oil -- the point at which the Earth's oil supply begins to dwindle -- has become a hot-button topic in recent years. At this point, production of oil no longer continues the upswing that helped create the modern world as we know it. Instead, the upswing becomes a downturn. And if demand continues to grow while production begins to decline, we have a problem.

The basis for the concept of peak oil comes from a graph produced by S__hell Oil geologist M. King Hubbert in the 1950s__. The graph shows that oil reservoirs follow a predictable trajectory from discovery to depletion. Once oil is discovered, production from the reservoir continues to increase until it reaches its maximum output. After that, production plateaus, then begins to decline. Once it declines, production continues downward until the reservoir is depleted.

http://science.howstuffworks.com/peak-oil.htm

http://science.howstuffworks.com/peak-oil1.htm

http://science.howstuffworks.com/peak-oil2.htm

BCC:

Biomass Commodities Corporation (BCC) is a Vermont corporation that provides biomass fuel (pellets) and heating systems for large and small institutions such as schools, nursing homes, housing projects, and municipal buildings. BCC is not active in the residential market.

BCC services include heating system evaluation and installation of new systems, fuel delivery and system maintenance. BCC is currently involved in projects with:

· West River Assisted Living Center, Townshend, VT.

· Twinfield Union High School, Plainfield, VT.

· All Souls Interfaith Church, Shelburne, VT.

· Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH.

· Maine Wood Pellet Co., Athens, NH.

(Maybe we could work with them? or they could at least be a reliable source of information?)