Dr. Steve Fransen, a Washington State University scientist located at Prosser, is leading a USDA-NIFA funded National Facilitation Project which is assessing the potential of growing switchgrass and other grassy plants as biofuels on irrigated agricultural land in the western USA. About five years ago world oil prices started increasing. Recently world oil was breaking price records daily. Americans started recognizing the need to develop our own biobased energy supply and become more energy independent of foreign oil imports. We think western irrigated agriculture will play a tremendous role in supplying part of American’s bioenergy needs through oil seed crops for biodiesel and cellulosic biomass for liquid fuels. This is a new venture for everyone and requires developing new relationships between the feedstock producer (farmers) and the processor (biorefineries). The biorefinery needs an adequate supply of daily cellulosic feedstock biomass to maintain the refining process for a constant production of liquid fuels. Feedstock producers need an adequate return on their investments while sustaining the environment and farm infrastructure. This new partnership, based on the need for locally grown and high tonnages of biomass, brings together two new worlds. To be competitive, to supply contracted feedstock biomass and to be sustainable, future irrigated cellulosic feedstock producers must increase feedstock water use efficiency through better technology based on new research findings, to consider using alternative water sources, to sustain high biomass yields and quality while keep production costs low. Without a reliable supply of feedstock biomass with high conversion efficiency to liquid fuels biorefineries could find themselves out of business. Imagine this new frontier of biobased energy as a three legged stool: one leg is the feedstock producer, one leg is the processor and the third leg is the consumer. All three legs need to be working properly to keep the stool strong. The focus of this new research project has the following objectives: Field trials on switchgrass conducted at Prosser, Washington. To determine biomass and ethanol yield potential of perennial warm-season grasses grown under various irrigation rates in the western U.S. To determine changes in water use efficiency and consumptive water use of perennial warm-season grasses grown under different rates of irrigation water in the western U.S. To develop decision making tools for economically optimal irrigated biomass production for western U.S. growers. To develop educational publication materials with research-based recommendations to transition western bioenergy technology to potential western growers.

Pacific Northwest Regional Water Quality Coordination Project Partners Land Grant Universities Alaska Cooperative Extension Service Contact Fred Sorensen: 907-786-6311 http://www.uaf.edu/ces/water/ University Publications: http://www.alaska.edu/uaf/ces/publications/ Idaho University of Idaho Cooperative Extension System Contact Bob Mahler: 208-885-7025 http://www.uidaho.edu/wq/wqhome.html University Publications: http://info.ag.uidaho.edu/Catalog/catalog.html Oregon Oregon State University Extension Service Contact Mike Gamroth: 541-737-3316 http://extension.oregonstate.edu/ University Publications: http://extension.oregonstate.edu/catalog/ Washington Washington State University WSU Extension Contact Bob Simmons: 360-427-9670 ext. 690 http://wawater.wsu.edu/ University Publications: http://pubs.wsu.edu/ Northwest Indian College Contact Charlotte Clausing: 360-392-4319 cclausing@nwic.edu or http://www.nwic.edu/ Water Resource Research Institutes Water and Environmental Research Center (Alaska) http://www.uaf.edu/water/ Idaho Water Resources Research Institute http://www.boise.uidaho.edu/ Institute for Water and Watersheds (Oregon) http://water.oregonstate.edu/ State of Washington Water Research Center http://www.swwrc.wsu.edu/ Environmental Protection Agency EPA, Region 10 The Pacific Northwest http://www.epa.gov/r10earth/ Office of Research and Development, Corvallis Laboratory http://www.epa.gov/wed/ For more information contact Jan Seago at 206-553-0038 or seago.jan@epa.gov
	The Project Land Grant Universities, Water Research Institutes and EPA Region 10 have formed a partnership to provide research and education to communities about protecting or restoring the quality of water resources. This partnership is being supported in part by the USDA’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA). Our Goal and Approach The goal of this Project is to provide leadership for water resources research, education and outreach to help people, industry and governments to prevent and solve current and emerging water quality and quantity problems. The approach to achieving this goal is for the Partners to develop a coordinated regional water quality effort based on, and strengthening, individual state programs. Our Strengths The Project promotes regional collaboration by acknowledging existing programs and successful efforts; assessing program gaps; identifying potential issues for cross-agency and private sector collaboration, and developing a clearinghouse of expertise and programs. In addition, the Project establishes or enhances partnerships with federal, state and local environmental and water resource management agencies, such as by placing a University Liaison within the offices of EPA Region 10.
	To accomplish project goals two locations were selected to represent the irrigated West. In cooperation with Dr. Mike Ottman warm-season grasses were established in 2008 on a Casa Grande Sandy Loam at the University of Arizona-Maricopa Agricultural Center, Maricopa, AZ. At the Washington State University Irrigated Agriculture Research and Extension Center (Prosser) grasses were established on a Warden Silt Loam soil. The research results will be widely applicable because nearly all irrigated western warm-season grass producers and future biorefineries will fall within this latitude range. Switchgrass has been in the news since President Bush mentioned this biofuel species in his State of the Union speech. Switchgrass has been successfully grown since 2002 for biomass/biofuel at WSU in Prosser. Based on research at WSU other perennial warm-season grasses shown to have feedstock potential that were included in this study are big bluestem, indiangrass, Eastern gamagrass and Kleingrass. A core of species and varieties were established at both locations in 2008. Under irrigation we receive two feedstock biomass harvests per growing season. An economic analysis of these results will be used to develop enterprise budgets that will be useful to both feedstock producers and biorefineries. This research is important because it will determine if biofuels have a place in the irrigated landscape of the western USA. In addition to Drs. Fransen and Ottman, Dr. Troy Peters, an irrigation specialist at WSU (Prosser), is also participating in this important project.
	National Water Quality Program Areas The four land grant universities in the Pacific Northwest have aligned our water resource extension and research efforts with eight themes of the USDA's National Institute of Food and Agriculture. Animal Waste Management Drinking Water and Human Health Environmental Restoration Nutrient and Pesticide Management Pollution Assessment and Prevention Watershed Management Water Conservation and Agricultural Water Management Water Policy and Economics
	This material is based upon work supported by the National Institute of Food and Agriculture, U. S. Department of Agriculture, under Agreement No 2008-51130-4734.

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HOME | About | Calendar | Contacts | Links | PNW Water Updates | Sitemap NIFA National Water Quality Program This material is based upon work supported by the National Institute of Food and Agriculture, U.S. Department of Agriculture, under Agreement No. 2008-51130-04734. all external sites will open in a new browser window page last modified on November 15, 2008