Monday, June 7, 2010

Prairie Power

  Photo by jborevit  
Researchers at the University of Illinois are working on advancing a sustainable method of creating energy from land which was previously unused or underused.
                The research, headed by assistant professor D.K. Lee, is investigating how grasses native to Illinois can be used as a source of renewable energy, while providing a boost to Illinois agriculture.
                Switchgrass, a variety of perennial grass native to Illinois, has shown to be much less sensitive to both water and soil stress than traditional crops such as corn and soybeans, and can therefore be grown with high yields in land which would be considered to be of marginal quality, such as that on an incline where most crops would be washed away due to a shallow root system.  In this case, the benefits of planting switchgrass in place of annual crops would include the promotion of soil and water conservation, in addition to a higher yield crop.
                Furthermore, perennial grasses such as switchgrass require much less time and far fewer resources to maintain in comparison to traditional production crops.  As a perennial, only a single planting and an initial application of fertilizer is needed for the crop to continue to keep coming up year after year, and as long as the entire above-ground biomass of the plant is harvested, there is no need to burn off the crop after harvest.
                Perennial grasses also can be used to form efficient buffer zones between traditional crop fields and waterways, preventing the runoff of chemicals and topsoil.
                As with other forms of biomass, switchgrass can also be used in place of coal in coal-burning power plants.  Furthermore, these facilities are now facing stiffer government regulations requiring reduced emissions, which can be accomplished through switching to biomass, or by simply burning biomass along with the coal.  Most any organic matter can be used for this purpose.  However, switchgrass has been found to be among the most efficient sources, as it burns at a higher BTU, or British thermal unit, than biomasses such as lawn clippings.
                In addition to its use as a source of renewable energy, switchgrass also assists in soil sequestration, thereby pulling carbon from the air into the ground.  In a recent ACES publication entitled ACES Afield, Lee explained this process stating “switchgrass builds a large root mass underground and is able to store carbon in its roots.  Not only does it reduce carbon dioxide emissions in the air, but it also increases the soil’s organic carbon, which increases its organic matter and improves soil quality.  We lose a lot of organic carbon from the soil in our agricultural process.  This helps us replace what we use.”

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