Grass Bioenergy, A Local, Renewable Resource
Perennial grasses, both warm and cool season, when used for combustion, have a 14 to 1 energy balance. They can be grown on marginal lands not well-suited for food production and that increase soil water holding capacity since they provide continuous soil cover. Switchgrass is the best known of the warm-season grasses that are being evaluated across the U.S. as dedicated energy crops. Switchgrass is of interest in NY because it is adapted to a wide range of soil types, including soils with less than perfect drainage.
Cornell University is a leader in the emerging field of grass bioenergy production. Field studies across NYS conducted by Dr. Hilary Mayton, Project Manager of the CALS Bioenergy Feedstock Project show that switchgrass yields of over 5 tons of dry matter per acre are attainable using currently available varieties such as Cave-In-Rock, Blackwell, Kanlow, and Shawnee using little or no fertilizer. Over the past few years we've learned that this crop should be seeded between mid-May and mid-June so the plants get rooted well enough to prevent winter heaving. We have also learned that weed control prior to planting and mowing the crop at a height of approximately 10-inches during the first growing season to limit weed competition are key requirements to get the crop off to a good start. Currently available switchgrass varieties are essentially collections from wild populations and one of their major weaknesses is poor seedling vigor. Ongoing at Cornell are a range of research projects to better understand the factors surrounding seedling vigor and the major diseases limiting switchgrass growth and productivity. To learn more about the CALS Bioenergy Feedstock Project visit http://nybiofuels.info.
Dr. Jerry Cherney in the Department of Plant and Soil Science at Cornell is another researcher looking at the practical side of grass combustion. Dr. Cherney has conducted studies on how to reduce the ash content of cool and warm-season grasses, and continues to investigate the issues involved with burning grass pellets in pellet stoves and other combustion units. He has an excellent website http://grassbioenergy.org. The Frequently Asked Questions section answers many questions folks may have on the benefits and challenges involved with grass combustion. Dr. Cherney points out that grass bioenergy production is one of the ways that NYS communities can move towards energy security.
Dr. Johannes Lehmann in the Department of Plant and Soil Sciences at Cornell is studying biochar, an essentially non-degradable form of charcoal, that can be produced from crop and forest residues, and dedicated energy crops like switchgrass through a process called pyrolysis. Biochar holds great promise because its production can sequester carbon from the atmosphere, pyrolysis can be used to produce valuable synthetic gas products that could eventually replace those made using fossil fuels, and because it can enhance soil health and plant productivity. You can learn more about biochar use by visiting www.css.cornell.edu/faculty/lehmann/index.html and www.biochar-international.org. A number of entrepreneurs have some very interesting projects underway using pyrolysis for biochar production. Two sites that may be of interest to those who would like to sample a bit of what is happening in this emerging field are www.allpowerlabs.org and www.victorygasifier.com. Cornell researchers have been working closely with the staff at Ernst Conservation Seeds in Meadville, PA to better understand switchgrass seed quality and cultivar characteristics. Ernst is a leading supplier of warm-season grass seed for biomass production and supporter of the emerging biomass energy industry. They are currently producing grass briquettes at their facility and are in the early stages of construction of a grass pelleting plant. For more information visit their website at www.ernstseed.com; on their site you can find excellent information about growing warm-season grasses and biomass production.
CCE-Steuben County has worked closely with many of the folks mentioned in this article and hosted a one day workshop on "Growing and Using Perennial Grasses for Biomass" in March where Jerry Cherney, Calvin Ernst and Hilary Mayton were featured speakers. We have worked with local producers who have expressed an interest in growing switchgrass for wildlife cover, bedding and potentially, down-the-road for use as a dedicated energy crop. To learn more of the promise and challenges of using biomass in the Northeast read "Heating the Northeast with Renewable Biomass" online at www.BiomassThermal.org or www.HeatNE.com, and www.newyorkbiomass.org website of the New York Biomass Energy Alliance, a non-profit organization dedicated to using plant material to meet local energy needs while reducing greenhouse gas emissions and contributing to state, regional and national energy goals. In a nutshell using biomass to produce energy, especially through combustion technologies is an emerging industry with lots of promise for circulating more of our energy dollars right here at home.
