Yield and quality of cool-season perennial grasses for forage and biomass feedstocks in Northeast Colorado
type: CreativeWork
description: The burning of fossil fuels has led to an increase of the greenhouse gas CO2, which traps heat and increases temperatures of the global climate. The increases of the greenhouse gases, CO2, CH4 and N2O, have been attributed as the cause of the climatic warming during the industrial era. One identified GHG mitigation strategy is the use of long term perennial grass production for bio-fuel use and rangeland restoration. It is estimated that biofuels could offset 30% of current fossil fuel use. Switchgrass, a C4 grass species, was chosen by the DOE as the model crop for cellulosic biofuel because of the plant's perennial nature, high water use efficiency, wide range of exploitable genetics, and its ability to be grown in diverse regions. Yield potentials are often lower for cool-season grasses, but for warm-season grasses like switchgrass difficult establishment and winter stand loss from extreme conditions can be a problem for production. There are many C3 species utilized in the Northeastern and the Western of the United States for rangeland and pasture cattle production. Production difficulties are less likely in some of the hardier C3 grasses in cooler environments. C3 grasses have been historically utilized for animal forage because of superior digestibility and high feed values. The high digestibility is directly correlated to reduced lignin content. Lignin is a primary barrier to the bioconversion process to make ethanol. Increasing the polysaccharide to lignin ratio is one identified route to increasing bio-fuel feedstock quality. These qualities produced in C3 grasses could create a dual feedstock for both animal and bio-fuel production. This may even decrease competition for land resources between livestock producers and bio-energy crop production. Relying on a diversity of bio-energy crops in ecologically different regions will allow for greater stability, resistance, and resilience to climatic and environmental variability. The goals of this study are to com…
abstract: The burning of fossil fuels has led to an increase of the greenhouse gas CO2, which traps heat and increases temperatures of the global climate. The increases of the greenhouse gases, CO2, CH4 and N2O, have been attributed as the cause of the climatic warming during the industrial era. One identified GHG mitigation strategy is the use of long term perennial grass production for bio-fuel use and rangeland restoration. It is estimated that biofuels could offset 30% of current fossil fuel use. Switchgrass, a C4 grass species, was chosen by the DOE as the model crop for cellulosic biofuel because of the plant's perennial nature, high water use efficiency, wide range of exploitable genetics, and its ability to be grown in diverse regions. Yield potentials are often lower for cool-season grasses, but for warm-season grasses like switchgrass difficult establishment and winter stand loss from extreme conditions can be a problem for production. There are many C3 species utilized in the Northeastern and the Western of the United States for rangeland and pasture cattle production. Production difficulties are less likely in some of the hardier C3 grasses in cooler environments. C3 grasses have been historically utilized for animal forage because of superior digestibility and high feed values. The high digestibility is directly correlated to reduced lignin content. Lignin is a primary barrier to the bioconversion process to make ethanol. Increasing the polysaccharide to lignin ratio is one identified route to increasing bio-fuel feedstock quality. These qualities produced in C3 grasses could create a dual feedstock for both animal and bio-fuel production. This may even decrease competition for land resources between livestock producers and bio-energy crop production. Relying on a diversity of bio-energy crops in ecologically different regions will allow for greater stability, resistance, and resilience to climatic and environmental variability. The goals of this study are to com…
author: Gillette, Katrina Lynn, author
author: Hansen, Neil C., advisor
author: Brummer, Joe E., committee member
author: Qian, Yaling, committee member
language: eng
language: English
keywords: biofuels, forage quality, cool-season grasses, climate change
date published: 2011
date modified: 2026-07-27T19:13:16Z
provider: Colorado State University
publisher: Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations
type: WebPage
source organization: Colorado State University. Libraries

PropertyValue
property ID: Handle
value: http://hdl.handle.net/10217/47308

PropertyValue
property ID: DOI
value: 10.25675/3.018809