have found that for every unit of energy input needed to create a biofuel from switchgrass, four units of energy are yielded. In contrast, corn ethanol yields about 1.28 units of energy per unit of energy input. A recent study from the Great Plains indicated that for ethanol production from switchgrass, this figure is 6.4, or alternatively, that 540% more energy was contained in the ethanol produced than was used in growing the switchgrass and converting it to liquid fuel. However, there remain commercialization barriers to the development of cellulosic ethanol technology. Projections in the early 1990s for commercialization of cellulosic ethanol by the year 2000 have not been met. The commercialization of cellulosic ethanol is thus proving to be a significant challenge, despite noteworthy research efforts. Thermal energy applications for switchgrass appear to be closer to near-term scale-up than cellulosic ethanol for industrial or small-scale applications. For example, switchgrass can be pressed into fuel pellets that are subsequently burned in pellet stoves used to heat homes (which typically burn corn or wood pellets). Switchgrass has been widely tested as a substitute for coal in power generation. The most widely studied project to date has been the Chariton Valley Project in Iowa. The Show-Me-Energy Cooperative (SMEC) in Missouri is using switchgrass and other warm-season grasses, along with wood residues, as feedstocks for pellets used for the firing of a coal-fired power plant. In Eastern Canada, switchgrass is being used on a pilot scale as a feedstock for commercial heating applications. Combustion studies have been undertaken and it appears to be well-suited as a commercial boiler fuel. Research is also being undertaken to develop switchgrass as a pellet fuel because of lack of surplus wood residues in eastern Canada, as a slowdown in the forest products industry in 2009 is now resulting in wood pellet shortages throughout Eastern North America. Generally speaking, the direct firing of switchgrass for thermal applications can provide the highest net energy gain and energy output-to-input ratio of all switchgrass bioconversion processes. Research has found switchgrass, when pelletized and used as a solid biofuel, is a good candidate for displacing fossil fuels. Switchgrass pellets were identified to have a 14.6:1 energy output-to-input ratio, which is substantially better than that for liquid biofuel options from farmland. As a greenhouse gas mitigation strategy, switchgrass pellets were found to be an effective means to use farmland to mitigate greenhouse gases