Helsel is trying to figure out which of the grasses are best-suited for South Florida`s climate, and which have the potential to produce the most energy.The research, which costs about $1 million, is being conducted at a time when record-high fuel prices have increased interest in renewable energy.
Helsel and Curtis Rainbolt, a weed scientist at the center, made the first energy crop plantings about a year ago.After initial evaluations, the two scientists selected the top 20 highest-yielding grasses in terms of biomass and planted them in a second 2-acre block near Clewiston in cooperation with landowner Florida Crystals Corp. of West Palm Beach.
The crop mix includes giant reed, or Arundo donax, a tropical grass that has become a seriously invasive weed in California and Texas.
Millions of dollars have been spent trying to eradicate it from natural areas there, Rainbolt said.
"We don`t have records to indicate its behavior in Florida," he said. "It has not become an invasive problem yet. We are being very cautious with it. We are keeping it very confined."
Helsel and Curtis Rainbolt, a weed scientist at the center, made the first energy crop plantings about a year ago.After initial evaluations, the two scientists selected the top 20 highest-yielding grasses in terms of biomass and planted them in a second 2-acre block near Clewiston in cooperation with landowner Florida Crystals Corp. of West Palm Beach.
The crop mix includes giant reed, or Arundo donax, a tropical grass that has become a seriously invasive weed in California and Texas.
Millions of dollars have been spent trying to eradicate it from natural areas there, Rainbolt said.
"We don`t have records to indicate its behavior in Florida," he said. "It has not become an invasive problem yet. We are being very cautious with it. We are keeping it very confined."
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