At a time of rising fuel prices and a renewed push to get rid of field burning, it is no great mental leap to wish that grass straw could be turned into ethanol.

To explore this, the Oregon Seed Council needs research funding and is asking the state Agriculture Department for a grant from the smoke-management research fund toward that end. The money comes from fees paid by grass farmers.

Cellulosic ethanol made from grass straw would use what essentially is a waste material and make something useful and highly prized. Unlike the corn ethanol industry, it would not raise the price of food.

The key question is whether this conversion can be achieved without consuming more energy than it produces. (Albany residents may remember the wood-to-oil project of almost 30 years ago, which led nowhere.)

Let’s hope the funding request is granted and this experiment pays off. (hh)