Huntsville, Ala.-Fast-growing trees and grass that don’t need as much fertilizer can be an economically viable alternative to corn for producing ethanol within five to seven years, predicts a University of Alabama Huntsville researcher. And, according to Dr. Gopi Podila, a UAH biologist who has been conducting research on high-yield trees for more than a decade, there will be a double benefit, because it will reduce the amount of nutrients flowing into the Gulf of Mexico “dead zone.” “Ethanol from cellulose, whether from trees or other sources, will be the way to go in the very near future,” insists Podila. “Trees are cheaper to raise than corn, have a competitive yield and they don’t need as much of the fertilizers that are causing all of the problems in the Gulf.” Podilla believes these trees also offer the U.S. a realistic option for producing enough renewable energy to make a meaningful dent in fossil fuel imports. Podila concedes that technical challenges remain, including a cost-effective way to convert wood pulp into sugars. But he believes growing high-yield trees like poplar and aspen planted once every 30 to 40 years could be harvested every five or six years because they grow back from the roots. Many of these trees and grasses like switchgrass will grow on land that might have marginal value for farming, he noted.
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