Project Number: 6216-21630-010-02
Project Type: Nonfunded Cooperative Agreement

Start Date: Jun 01, 2009
End Date: May 31, 2014

Objective:
The objective of the experiment is to observe and quantify the effects of land conversion from grassland or tilled agricultural land (wheat) to a cellulosic biofuel crop of switchgrass. This project will allow cooperation by multiple institutions and multiple disciplines to study feedstock production of cellulosic biofuels on the Southern Plains.

Approach:
Two sites of Alamo switchgrass will be established: one on the Southern Plains Range Research Station in Woodward, Oklahoma and one at the Southern Plains Experimental Range near Ft. Supply, Oklahoma. The data harvested will be watershed carbon, water, and energy fluxes; soil carbon amount and quality, biomass production, water consumption and runoff, and soil erosion. The information gathered will be used to develop recommendations for efficient biofuels production that mitigate impacts on air and water quality.