A total of 150 acres was harvested, from fields ranging in size from 2 to 19 acres. Web. If we look at the structure of switchgrass, we will see that it is extremely tall, therefore its roots are extremely deep. Miscanthus has been much talked about in the past year as a strong contender as a feedstock for advanced ethanol. With the yield and switchgrass composition shown above about 1689 tonnes of switchgrass (dry) will need to be processed per day (>600,000 tonnes per year). I personally believe we do have the infrastructures available but as of now, I do not think Canada is ready to take on such a huge responsibility. I will discuss maintaining switchgrass as a biofuel in Canada. As you can see, the amount of disadvantages is much lower than the amount of benefits, which is a very good thing! However, once it is established it will produce biomass for a period of fifteen to twenty years. In addition, various studies such as the ‘Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences’ have found that switchgrass grown and managed as a biofuel can produce 500 percent more renewable energy than the energy it needs to be grown and processed. Thanks so much for the introduction. The University of Tennessee implanted a research program  with the government wear approximately seventy million dollars of taxpayers money were used towards the plan to produce ethanol from switchgrass. As the worldwide demand for traditional fuels increases, the supply can dwindle and prices for this commodity can increase significantly. Create a free website or blog at WordPress.com. Effects on Economy. I’m Linda Marcus and I will be talking to you about advantages and disadvantages of using switchgrass as a biofuel.