President Barack Obama wants U.S. scientists to pursue an “all-
of-the-above” strategy in developing new sources of domestic
energy.  Agricultural Research Service agronomist Paul Adler is
providing complete cost-benefit breakdowns for using switchgrass
pellets instead of fuel oil to heat homes and businesses in the
Northeast.  “There have been a lot of studies on bioenergy
potential,” says Adler, who works at the ARS Pasture Systems and
Watershed Management Research Unit in University Park,
Pennsylvania. “Most of them are focusing on transportation, but
we still need a viable, commercial, biobased fuel substitute for
petroleum.  “In the meantime, our studies suggest that we
already have opportunities to use homegrown feedstocks for
producing heat, and that we can save money, reduce petroleum
use, and cut greenhouse gas.”  Adler and others conducted a
life-cycle assessment comparing costs of energy generation from
coal, natural gas, fuel oil, and switchgrass in the form of
energy-dense cubes, briquettes, and p