USA agriculture expert Ken Vogel published a potentially explosive study last week. In it he and his team of researchers from the University of Nebraska claim that Switchgrass (geek name Panicum Virgatum) can yield 540% more energy than it takes to make the stuff, and what’s more its cleaner too, with 88% less greenhouse gas emissions than the process used for conventional ethanol. So if one acre (0.4 hectares) of grassland could, on average, deliver 320 gallons of profitable, climate-friendly bioethanol, how does this compare to other biofuel crops?

Until Ken & Co came along, algae was considered the most efficient source of biofuel on the planet. Algae produces more than 100 times the oil yield of common biofuel crops such as corn, it requires a fraction of the cultivation area and it soaks up lots more of CO2 into the bargain. One acre of corn crop nets 51 gallons of ethanol, whilst the same area of palm oil nets 650 gallons. The same area of algae nets 15,000 gallons. Genetically modified algae goes even further, enhancing the oil yield by a factor of 25 times The downside – algae needs to be grown most ideally in closed tanks which makes cost of production soar. To be successful, production costs need to be down at $1 per litre, a target which comes close according to Ken Vogel when Switchgrass is used. So that’s the fuel crisis sorted then, no more need to fight everyone over oil reserves, we can just join hands in fields of switchgrass like some kind of global Lenny Kravitz. Well, not quite, because a number of organisations, including the UN, have expressed concern that biofuels could do more harm than good, taking large areas of land out of food production, inflating crop prices and giving limited carbon emission savings.

With the price of crude oil now firmly staking its claim above $100 a barrel, the race for sustainable alternatives has never been greater. So what happens when we find a food crop that can be turned into cheap fuel? Do we stop feeding the rest of the world to fuel our demand for energy?

Biofuel fans say there is plenty of spare land to grow the crops without stopping food supply and that the main issue is transport to and from the refineries, creating the need for local production and consumption. Most biofuels require a lot of steady rain fall and hot, dry countries will need solar power technology to wean them off the black stuff. Close but no cigar this time round Ken, keep up the good work though.