I keep hearing a lot about the potential for turning grasses into ethanol fuel. Is this happening? So first, it’s true that there’s a lot of interest in cellulosic ethanol–that is, fuel made from plants not used for food. And it’s also true that scientists have been experimenting with different grasses as potential fuel crops. We’re not talking about the kind of grass in your average lawn. Scientists are mainly interested in tall grasses that grow quickly–like Miscanthus gianteus. It’s a large perennial grass native to Japan that grows to about thirteen feet. What’s interesting about Miscanthus is that you can grow a lot of it on a relatively small parcel of land. For example, a typical acre of corn produces around 750 gallons of ethanol. But an acre of Miscanthus produces more than 3200 gallons.