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ARS Home » Midwest Area » St. Paul, Minnesota » Plant Science Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #206489
Title: Comment on "Carbon-Negative Biofuels from Low-Input High-Diversity Grassland Biomass"

Author
item Russelle, Michael
item MOREY, R. VANCE - UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA
item Baker, John
item PORTER, PAUL - UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA
item Jung, Hans Joachim

Submitted to: Science
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 5/16/2007
Publication Date: 6/15/2007
Citation: Russelle, M.P., Morey, R., Baker, J.M., Porter, P.R., Jung, H.G. 2007. Comment on "Carbon-Negative Biofuels from Low-Input High-Diversity Grassland Biomass". Science. 316:1567b.

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: There are serious flaws in the highly publicized report “Carbon-negative biofuels from low-input high-diversity grassland biomass” (8 December, p. 1598), by our colleagues D. Tilman, J. Hill, and C. Lehman (1). We agree with the contention made by them (and others) that land of marginal value for agriculture could be used for biomass production, and that using herbaceous perennial species on such land is desirable for several reasons. However, the experiment they report does not substantiate their conclusions, their methods and interpretations are questionable, and their estimation of global importance of this approach is unjustified.