Miscanthus is Better than Corn

This article caught my eye when I was looking for the ethanol yield of Miscanthus. Sounds interesting !!

In Khosla's simple arithmetic, with irrigation and other inputs, it would be possible to grow 20 tonnes of crops per acre and each ton of crop would yield 100 gallons of ethanol
Thus 50 million acres would generate as much as 100 billion gallons. He recommended switching over to a tall grass called miscanthus in the US, which would yield a higher profit.

However, this – when also related to land use is where Khosla's vision may not apply to developing countries, while it may make good sense in the US and Europe.

The fact is that any conversion of land to produce ethanol, particularly if it is with crops like miscanthus that require fertile soil, could only be at the cost of food and fuelwood.

Full article

Miscanthus in a Nutshell

As discussed earlier, Miscanthus is a promising non-food crop yielding high quality lignocellulosic material which can be used in a number of ways, including energy and fibre production, thatching, and industrial use.

A recent report published by Earthscan publications explains in detail 'Miscanthus -- For Energy and Fibre', encompasses the results and recommendations arising from extensive trials and experiments carried out by the leading European research organizations and institutions in the field.

Much of the research was performed under the auspices of the Miscanthus Productivity Network, established under European Union's Directorate General for Agriculture (DG VI)

.This book is believed to present expert guidance to growth conditions and breeding of Miscanthus, potential productivity and economics, environmental aspects, and harvesting, storage and utilization.

For all the sustainable minds - Miscanthus bioenergy

Is Miscanthus the Miracle Crop ???????

I am just thinking about the prospects if Miscanthus , if commercialized. Oh man !! its great. Do you know what ! A species of Miscanthus called M.giganteus ( discussed in my previous posts) can yield about two and a half times more ethanol per acre against corn and sorghum.This doesn't even require much fertilizer inputs like the corn and sorghum, nor its gonna cause the food vs fuel problem.

Yet another fascinating thing about this crop is that it is a perennial plant and it can adapt to any sort of weather.Recently I came across an article which said that a handful of scientists were trying to commercialize the production of Miscanthus in North America due to the fact hat it can accustom any kind of climate. Good isn't? Many research studies revealed that they even grow to great heights which enables them to receive plenty of sumlight and like I said earlier this porcupine weed can grow even in poor soils with less or no pesticide requirements. It will be great if people can make use of such crops as fuel. .

However,as the saying goes the devils is in the details: planting Miscanthus crops can be a bit challenging. They are grown by planting root-like stems called rhizomes. The scientists working on sustainability that the Miscanthus commercialization is still in its nascence.However,they are pretty confident that they will find better ways of planting it soon as possible.

Lets wait and watch . May be in ten- years time , I will look at this post and feel joyful that my dream of Miscanthus biofuel have come true.

Miscanthus - Highly cellulosic !!

I was just wondering where I could gather information about the composition of Miscanthus for my research studies till my eyes landed upon this article. I have only focused only the composition of a specific species of Miscanthus. Apparently, this article also produces many other interesting details of this emerging energy crop.

Interestingly, studies reveal that 0.4 kg of oil can be extracted from 1 kg of Miscanthus dry matter. A species of interest here is the Miscanthus.sinensisis is known to consist of a large quantities of Cellulose, which shows that it can be considered a great bio ethanol producer. Additionally it also contains negligible amounts of hemicellulose, lignin and ash which is clearly illustrated in the pie-chart below:



For those interested : Full article.

Miscanthus:Overview of the research efforts in Europe.

Miscanthus. a tall perennial grass can be extensively cultivated for using it as a biofuel. This biofuel crop as discussed in the previous posts has got a great capability to get accustomed to any kind of climate. This scientific paper claims that M. x giganteus a very important species of Miscanthus has been propagated to yield large quantities of plant-oi in Europe. Tests reveal that this crop requires very less fertilizer inputs like the Camelina and therefore can be widely cultivated. As previously discusses, this crop doesn’t require too much of pesticides and can benefit the societies working on sustainability.

However, as you all know there are a few bottlenecks we are facing to commercialize this fuel crop. Well, some places have already started using Miscanthus fuel. However, it is not as widely used as we want it to be. The main limitations to produce oil are the high initial costs, over winter at some sites and lack of sufficient water in certain areas of Europe for cultivating this oil crop,extraction, harvesting costs and so on.

New agronomic techniques and new genotypes with improved characteristics are being developed and screened over the wide range of ecological conditions in Europe. Efforts are underway to commercialize this oil crop.

For those with the scientific bent of mind, please refer to the full article.

Note: This research article explains the situation of Miscanthus production only in Europe. Apparently, they have tried utilize their experience in Europe to North America as well.

Miscanthus cultivation to commercialize in Georgia

There are many states in the United States growing Miscanthus for biofuel purposes. Georgia has now joined the cluster to produce Miscanthus as their energy crop. This massive project proposes to build three plants, each of them having a capacity to multiply into tens of thousands of plants progressively. The reason for choosing Georgia is that they provide favorable climatic conditions for the cultivation of Miscanthus. Earlier, Georgia was chosen for commercial production of sugarcane as well. Apart from the climatic conditions, they also have a history of high-quality crop propagation.

The BiUS Company, heading this project is a joint venture between BICAL- a Miscanthus producer in Europea and Pyramid farms- a Miscanthus propagator in Canada. They have planned to cultivate Miscanthus all over Georgia. Moreover, their big focus is on certain areas which they believe to have great potential for large-scale biomass production. Special arrangements have also been made for harvest, storage ,transportation and conversion of this promising energy crops.Well,another highlight of this fuel crop is that it does not require any fertilizers and pesticides and it expects to yield twice the amount of fuel than that of switch grass. Many efforts are underway to accomplish this challenging task.

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Miscanthus : Fuel for the Future ?

Gov. Steve Beshear and several other dignitaries planted four rows of miscanthus seedlings at a dedication ceremony for a new biofuels operation in Kentucky, United States.In a few months, those seedlings will grow into a grass that will be harvested and turned into energy pellets by Midwestern Biofuels LLC.

Midwestern Biofuels is planting about 300 acres of miscanthus at that location and is leasing another 500 acres of property off the Northeastern Kentucky Industrial Parkway for that same purpose. The company also plans to enlist farmers within a 50-mile radius of the facility to grow miscanthus, paying them a per-acre rate for doing so and also purchasing their yields at harvest time.

The pellets produced by Midwestern Biofuels will be used by coal-fired electricity generating plants as a source of low-emissions fuel. Carbon emissions from burning miscanthus are equal to the amount of CO2 the plant uses from the atmosphere, which means the entire process is carbon-neutral. The facility will be producing pellets in less than two weeks. When it reaches peak capacity, plans call for the operation to employ 200 to 300.

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About Miscanthus:

Miscanthus is a perennial grass native to parts of Asia and Africa. Once planted, it grows back yearly for 20 years. It's considered a desirable choice for a biofuel because of its rapid growth, low mineral content and high biomass yield. ( more from here)

Agrosil Energy to Grow Commercial-Scale Miscanthus

Colorado-based Agrosil Energy LLC has begun large-scale growing operations of Miscanthus x giganteus for use in producing heat and power or liquid biofuels. The energy crop has been used for years in the U.K. and Europe, and Agrosil is in the lead position for commercial production in the U.S.

As the sterile hybrid produces no seeds, growing miscanthus involves propagating rhizomes on a smaller scale and transplanting them to large commercial acreage. Custom harvesting crews and machines will harvest the cane and then transport it to a central facility for upgrading according to customer requirements, which could include turning it into pellets, condensed bales or cubes.Miscanthus lowers carbon dioxide by sequestering carbon in the rhizomes and by reducing combustion emissions. Agrosil expects the crops will yield about 15 tons per acre, with the first harvest in the spring of 2012. Long-term contracts for fuel delivery will begin in 2013.

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Hybrid Miscanthus For Future Biomass Energy Research ?

Because Arkansas is “prime real estate” for bioenergy crops, the recent announcement of a joint U.S. Department of Energy/University of Arkansas research effort is most welcome, says Chuck West, who along with University of Arkansas-Monticello researchers, is evaluating production systems for switchgrass, several sorghum varieties and cottonwood as cellulosic feedstock.

West’s research group is aiming for “a sustainable ligno-cellulosic feedstock production practice for energy crops.” The group’s four objectives are:

• weed control and establishment practices for switchgrass.
• diseases potentially limiting switchgrass and sorghum production.
• information on the management, productivity and quality of sweet sorghum for sugar and biomass.
• hybrid, giant miscanthus for future biomass research.

Hybrid miscanthus is a plant native to Asia. It grows very tall — “12 feet tall, easily” — and densely with a lot of stems and leaves. In other states, hybrid miscanthus has produced two or three times more biomass per acre than switchgrass. It’s already being cultivated as a biomass crop in Europe.

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Miscanthus Could Offer Long-term Source of Carbon-Neutral Energy ?

Planting crops for biofuel could improve biodiversity in the British countryside as well as helping soften the impact of human carbon dioxide emissions, according to new research.

The paper, published in the Journal of Applied Ecology, suggests that crops like coppiced willow or miscanthus grass can support more wild species than traditional arable crops, particularly in the uncultivated margins around the edges of fields. These fast-growing crops are grown to be burned in biomass power stations; because this emits only the carbon that the plants absorbed while they were growing, advocates say it could offer a long-term source of carbon-neutral energy.

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Miscanthus, Switchgrass & Restored Prairie Tested As Potential Energy Crops

On the University of Illinois South Farms, 320 acres are devoted to the largest biofuels research farm in the U.S., growing crops that could be used to produce renewable energy. Last year the farm planted miscanthus, switchgrass, corn, and restored prairie as bioenergy crops. The goal is to compare insect and disease challenges, environmental benefits, economic opportunities and potential energy per acre of each.

Tim Mies, who directs the Energy Farm, said that research at Illinois has already shown that the giant miscanthus grass can produce over double the biomass per acre as corn. "It does this apparently without the need for any nitrogen fertilizer, very few other inputs and it adds significant amounts of organic matter to the soil. So, miscanthus might be a third crop for Illinois, and one particularly suited to marginal land," Mies said.

full article here

BICAL Believes in Miscanthus

BICAL was established to provide renewable and profitable diversification for farmers and landowners, through supplying growers with Miscanthus planting material, developing a wide range of end use markets and providing contractual and crop marketing support.

BICAL is committed to the expansion of Miscanthus production across the EU and wider. Through the collaboration with leading scientists in the Miscanthus research field,BICAL have set up 4 award winning fuel producer groups across the UK To supply Miscanthus fuel into a range of energy based Projects. BiSel is one of these producer groups, which has a contract to supply 300,000 tonnes per year of Miscanthus to Drax power station in North Yorkshire.

BICAL offers a full service package, from rhizome supply to cane purchase contracts.

Web site:http://www.bical.net/

University of Illinois Professor Long Compares Corn, Switchgrass & Miscanthus

Long is the deputy director of the BP-sponsored Energy Biosciences Institute, a multi-year, multi-institutional initiative aimed at finding low carbon or carbon neutral alternatives to petroleum fuels. Long is an affiliate of the U. of I.'s Institute for Genomic Biology, and he also is the editor of Global Change Biology, which published his team's Miscanthus research in july 2008.

Corn, switchgrass and Miscanthus have been grown side by side in experimental plots in Urbana, Illinois since 2005 in the largest field trials of their kind in the United States. In field trials in Illinois, researchers grew Miscanthus and switchgrass in adjoining plots. Miscanthus proved to be at least twice as productive as switchgrass. In trials across Illinois, switchgrass, a perennial grass which, like Miscanthus, requires fewer chemical and mechanical inputs than corn, produced only about as much ethanol feedstock per acre as corn, Long said.

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Hybrid grass Miscanthus - A valuable fuel source

Giant Miscanthus, a hybrid grass that can grow 13 feet high, may be a valuable renewable fuel source for the future, researchers at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign say.

Burning Miscanthus produces only as much carbon dioxide as it removes from the air as it grows, said Heaton, who is seeking a doctorate in crop sciences. That balance means there is no net effect on atmospheric carbon dioxide levels, which is not the case with fossil fuels, she said.

Miscanthus also is a very efficient fuel, because the energy ratio of input to output is less than 0.2, Heaton said. In contrast, the ratios exceed 0.8 for ethanol and biodiesel from canola, which are other plant-derived energy sources.

At a research station near Hornum, Denmark, giant Miscanthus has been grown for 22 years in Europe’s longest-running experimental field. The crop has never been invasive and rhizome spread has been no more than 1.5 meters (4.92 feet), said Uffe Jorgensen, senior scientist for the Danish Institute of Agricultural Sciences.

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Mendel Biotechnology Announced Acquisition of Miscanthus Breeding from Tinplant

Mendel Biotechnology, Inc. announced the acquisition of the entire Miscanthus breeding program from Tinplant Biotechnik und Pflanzenvermehrung GmbH, a German breeding and plant science company in march 2007. Miscanthus is one of the leading candidates for dedicated energy crops for production of biofuels such as ethanol from lignocellulosic plant material. This acquisition positions Mendel to be the leading developer of Miscanthus varieties for the cellulosic ethanol industry worldwide.

The detailed terms of the acquisition were not made available. However, the transaction includes a 5-year collaboration between Mendel and Tinplant for ongoing breeding work, and establishes Tinplant as a sales agent for Mendel's Miscanthus varieties.

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University of Illinois - Miscanthus Outperforms Current Biofuels Sources

Researchers from the University of Illinois have determined that the giant perennial grass Miscanthus giganteus outperforms current biofuels sources.

Using Miscanthus as a feedstock for ethanol production in the US could significantly reduce the amount of farmland needed for biofuels, while meeting government biofuels production goals, the researchers reported.

Using corn or switchgrass to produce enough ethanol to offset 20 percent of gasoline use would take 25 percent of current US cropland out of food production, the researchers report.

Getting the same amount of ethanol from Miscanthus would require only 9.3 percent of current agricultural acreage.

“What we’ve found with Miscanthus is that the amount of biomass generated each year would allow us to produce about 2 1/2 times the amount of ethanol we can produce per acre of corn,” said crop sciences professor Stephen P. Long, who led the study.

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Joint venture to Commercialize Arundo & Miscanthus Micro-propagation

Georgia`s Biomass Gas & Electric LLC has created a long-term marketing strategy with Hungary-based Pro System Group to adapt BG&E`s germplasm and micro-propagation technology with PSG`s Fit-Bio-Reaktor technology.

BG&E recently licensed the rights to a micro-propagation technology developed at the University of South Carolina by Laszlo Marton and Mihaly Czako that facilitates the mass planting of sterile-seed plants. The researchers worked with the heavy biomass-producing Arundo donax (giant reed) to develop the patented process. The process will also work with Miscanthus giganteus and over 50 species of perennial grasses. Although arundo and miscanthus can yield between 20 tons and 30 tons per acre, the major limitation in widespread adoption of two biomass crops has been the labor-intensive hand propagation and transplanting required for the sterile grasses. The new micro-propagation process involves a germplasm treatment and the growing of thousands of plantlets in vitro that are then matured in PSG`s bioreactors for mass row planting.

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Rural Development Programme for England supports Miscanthus Cultivation

Miscanthus growers in Cornwall should have a new outlet for their crops later this year - thanks to a Cornish farmer and the Rural Development Programme for England (RDPE).

The Mutton family, of St Mabyn, has been growing miscanthus for six years - starting as a supplier of rhizomes for other growers and then using the crop as a renewable energy source to heat office units on their farm.

More recently they have been trialling the use of miscanthus (elephant grass) for use as animal bedding. Now the family plans to start up its own process plant so it can produce livestock bedding from its own crops and from other local growers.

The project will include building a new barn and installing equipment for processing the miscanthus and the RDPE grant will provide about 40 per cent of the cost.

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