<
i>
Cymbopogon flexuosus<
/i>
, lemongrass, and <
i>
C. martinii<
/i>
, palmarosa, are perennial grasses grown to produce essential oils for the fragrance industry. The objectives of this study were (1) to evaluate biomass and oil yields as a function of nitrogen and sulfur fertilization, and (2) to characterize their utility for lignocellulosic ethanol compared to <
i>
Panicum virgatum<
/i>
(switchgrass). Mean biomass yields were 12.83 Mg lemongrass ha<
sup>
-1<
/sup>
and 15.11 Mg palmarosa ha<
sup>
-1<
/sup>
during the second harvest year resulting in theoretical biofuel yields of 2541 and 2569 L ethanol ha<
sup>
-1<
/sup>
respectively compared to reported 1749 3691 L ethanol ha<
sup>
-1<
/sup>
for switchgrass. Pretreated lemongrass yielded 198 mL ethanol (g biomass)-1 and pretreated palmarosa yielded 170 mL ethanol (g biomass)<
sup>
-1<
/sup>
. Additionally, lemongrass yielded 85.7 kg essential oil ha<
sup>
-1<
/sup>
and palmarosa yielded 67.0 kg ha<
sup>
-1<
/sup>
with an estimated value of USD 857 and 1005 ha<
sup>
-1<
/sup>
. In conclusion, these data suggest that dual-use crops such as lemongrass and palmarosa may increase the economic viability of lignocellulosic biofuels. Introduction