Ethanol From Cornstalks and Switchgrass Could Come to Missouri

Ethanol production from cellulosic materials such as cornstalks, switchgrass, and fast growing trees could increase world ethanol output tremendously. Research initiatives like the one mentioned below are trying to perfect the technology to make the refining process viable. We will also need to develop optimum methods and crops for growing the feedstock to be made into ethanol.
New biotech firm considers move to Northwest:
Northwest Press Release -- nwmissouri.edu -- July 20, 2005

MARYVILLE, Mo. -- The Missouri Center of Excellence for Plant Biologics at Northwest Missouri State University is negotiating with a second biotechnology company considering a move to Maryville.
Edenspace Systems Corp., headquartered in Dulles, Va., uses living plants to create systems designed to improve human health, detoxify soil, improve water quality and otherwise enhance the environment...
The company is also involved in a biofuels initiative that has received funding through the U.S. Department of Energy. It is this effort that would move to the center, a bioscience business incubator under development on the Northwest campus...
Bruce W. Ferguson, Edenspace' chairman, president and chief executive officer, said Northwest is a promising candidate for the expansion, and that a final decision is likely within the next three months...
The company, said Ferguson, is experimenting with technologies that utilize a larger portion of plant biomass, including stalks and leaves. Such methods, he said, hold the key to more efficient biofuel production by increasing potential ethanol yields per acre of farmland.
Expanding the amount of usable biomass and reducing reliance on grains, he said, opens up the process to perennials, such as switchgrass, that don’t have to be replanted every year...