Study examines biomass harvesting, water quality

High Plains/Midwest Ag Journal
By Larry Dreiling

It's been said that one man's trash is another's treasure. The "trash," or residue, left in no-till fields is considered valuable for soil preservation. Grain sorghum, a crop becoming more popular on the High Plains because of its low moisture needs and heat tolerance, is rich in residue.

With the construction of the Abengoa Bioenergy refinery near Hugoton, Kan.--the nation's first commercial-scale cellulosic ethanol refinery--expected to be fully completed by 2011, the dream of producers selling the refuse of their crops to make ethanol from cellulosic biomass to reduce both dependence on imported fossil fuels and emissions of greenhouse gases is within reach.

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