Italian scientist look at switchgrass as bioenergy feedstock

Italian scientist looked at the current knowledge on the potential of switchgrass used as a bioenergy feedstock to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Their findings indicate that switchgrass can be used to contribute to reducing greenhouse gas emissions but further research would need to be carried out.

According to the leading author, Dr Andrea Monti, Research Scientist at the University of Bologna, Italy, “We reviewed over 100 articles on switchgrass, which found that this crop has a considerable ability to accumulate carbon in the soil compared to several other grasses, and especially row crops.

Although switchgrass has recently received a lot attention as an environmentally beneficial energy crop, it is important to consider that switchgrass had not been planted as a monoculture crop until the mid 20th century. Information needed to make long term predictions on carbon sequestration, such as land use change, carbon turnover rate, and the economic life cycle length are lacking.” Read more ...

New report on biomass from UK Energy Research Centre (UKERC).

A new report from UK Energy Research Centre (UKERC), on how a fifth of global energy could be provided by biomass (plants), without damaging food production. The report reviews more than 90 global studies. “If we make the best use of agricultural residues, energy crops and waste materials then getting one fifth of current global energy supply from biomass is a reasonable ambition,” said Dr Raphael Slade, the report’s lead author and a Research Fellow at Imperial College London.

The report finds that the main reason scientists disagree is that they make different assumptions about population, diet, and land use. A particularly important bone of contention is the speed with which productivity improvements in food and energy crop production can be rolled out. Read more ...

Farmer reaps rewards growing energy crops

In 2006 Farmer Chris Bradley decided to move into energy crops, as his land was struggling to grow wheat so he started to grow miscanthus and planted it on a hundred acres of his land. Blow-away sand that wouldn’t grow wheat and struggled to deliver seven tons a hectare of any cereal has produced an average 14 t/ha of miscanthus for the past two years meaning just short of £750/ha from Drax power station for a harvesting and baling cost of about £200 a hectare.

“Our older crops have filled in quite well over the years,” he said. “In fact we’ve seen clumps growing out by a good four inches a year. But the establishment deficiencies remain for all to see in gappy, uneven crops. The key thing we have all learnt is that you have to establish right. You’re putting it in for 20 years, so it’s worth doing the job properly, especially since patching doesn’t really work after the first year. Unless you replant a whole area, the original crop shades out the new plants, leaving you little better off.” Read more ...

United Nations announces cooperation agreement

The United Nations announced a cooperation agreement with a global crop technology company seeks to develop new technologies that can support sustainable development through the use of bio-energy crops in tropical regions. “On the side of UNIDO, we see the potential of energy crops in developing countries. They can be key for producing green, renewable energy and for poverty reduction through the diversification of income for smallholder farmers. We will strive to combine the scientific, technical and financial resources of Quinvita and UNIDO to cooperate on the development of novel bio-energy crops,” said Philippe Scholtès, Director of UNIDO’s agribusiness development branch. Read more ...