Switchgrass As a Bioenergy Crop for the Pacific Northwest.

There is increasing demand for biofuel-producing biomass crops. Biofuel production from biomass is a maturing technology that would require huge amounts of feedstock. The need to develop sustainable biomass sources for biofuel production to counter the over-dependence on fossil energy has seen significant interest in the recent past especially with the rise in gas prices.  This has led to questions about western agriculture’s ability to grow sufficient biomass where irrigation water is required to profitably grow most crops. This study presents results of a three year study of irrigated switchgrass in Washington and Arizona. An understanding of field water requirements of these perennial grasses are shown and how well they respond to different levels of limited irrigation thereby analyzing the west’s ability to sustainably produce these crops to help satisfy the nation’s energy needs.