Switch grass has gone from a relatively unknown prairie grass a year ago to the rising star of the ethanol industry since being featured in the President’s State of the Union address in January.
The Chicago Tribune reports on the growing interest in the grass for ethanol production.
Agribusiness giant Archer Daniels Midland Co., the world’s largest producer of ethanol made from corn, this month unveiled plans to ramp up research into switch grass as another source to make ethanol and other biofuels for cars, homes and industry. In Washington, the Democrats soon to take over as heads of the House and Senate Agriculture Committees have put development of switch grass as a fuel source high on their priority list.
This is a “natural evolution of an industry that could be massive,” said Patricia Woertz, chief executive of Decatur, Ill.-based ADM.
An Iowa-technology company released a report last week that is fueling debate over whether ethanol plants should be powered by coal or natural gas, or something else. 
A recent pledge by the nation’s top automakers to produce more E85 vehicles is great news for the industry, according to the 
Former Wisconsin governor Tommy Thompson is considering a presidential bid while he serves as chairman on the board of a new ethanol plant.
For a third year, the biodiesel industry has chosen farmer-leader Darryl Brinkmann to lead the 