Switchgrass as fuel touted for energy, cost benefits

Anita Weier  —  7/15/2008 11:33 am

Switchgrass grown on marginal farm acreage could be an efficient renewable fuel source while also protecting wildlife habitat and water quality, according to "Growing Wisconsin Energy," a study by Agrecol Corp.

Switchgrass is a perennial grass native to Wisconsin.

The study produced by the Madison-based seed company with a grant from the state Department of Agriculture found that converting native grasses into renewable fuel could be a profitable enterprise for farmers and a relatively inexpensive fuel source for businesses and schools.

Businesses in the study reduced fuel costs an average of 42 percent by switching from traditional fuel sources to pellets made from switchgrass, the study found.

Agrecol, a seed company that specializes in native prairie grasses and produces biomass pellets for heat, is also developing a pellet stove for residential and commercial heating. Its study focused on the feasibility of developing a native grass pellet bioheat industry in Wisconsin.

Renewable "biomass" includes corn stalks, straw and other agriculture crop residue as well as wood chips and wood residue.

"Grass-based biomass can reduce carbon dioxide and global warming pollution, promote farmer-grown energy crops, expand local rural economies and reduce reliance on fossil fuels," the study said.

Building biorefineries to pelletize switchgrass into bioheat could have significant economic impacts for Wisconsin the Midwest, the study said. Developing a bioheat market could enable Wisconsin farmers and cooperatives to build, test and refine a switchgrass feedstock supply chain.

"Wisconsin has a strong agricultural cooperative infrastructure that is uniquely suited to carry on the role of aggregating biomass," the study said.

Agricultural co-ops have ongoing relationships with farmers and have the equipment, staff and expertise for planting, harvesting, pelleting and storing biomass, the study said.

Premier Cooperative in Mount Horeb recently received a state grant to pilot a biomass aggregation project, and Landmark Cooperative in southeastern Wisconsin sees a market in providing biomass pellets to their more than 10,000 propane customers.

The report studied the feasibility of heating three businesses and a rural school with switchgrass pellets. They were Agrecol's Evansville facility, the Oakhill Correctional Institution in Oregon, America's Best Greenhouse in Cottage Grove and Pecatonica Elementary School in Hollandale.

Biomass pellets are being successfully used to replace more expensive natural gas and fuel oil in Europe and Canada, the study said.

"Switchgrass, even when grown on marginal sub-prime land in Wisconsin, produces more than nine times the energy per acre of land than does the leading biofuels technology of corn (grain) ethanol," the study said.

That is because switchgrass efficiently captures solar energy, the entire plant is used for fuel processing, bioconversion retains all the energy captured in the field and the conversion process is more energy efficient than that of producing corn ethanol, according to the Agrecol study.

The study was authored by consultants Pamela Porter, owners of P Squared Group; Jonathan Barry, a farmer and businessman who is development director for Operation Fresh Start; Roger Samson, executive director of Resource Efficient Agricultural Production Canada and Mark Doudlah, president and general manager of Agrecol.

Brett Hulsey, president of Better Environmental Solutions, an energy and environment consulting firm, was not involved with the study but agrees heartily about the potential of switchgrass.

A study he did last year titled "Cellulose Prairie" found that Wisconsin has about 3 million tons of switchgrass, which, combined with other biomass, could displace 15 millions tons of coal, over half of Wisconsin's current coal use, if it were used for electric power.

Increasing biofuel and biopower projects could reduce the drain in money and jobs that Wisconsin experiences by importing oil and gas, Hulsey said.

He added that the University of Wisconsin-Madison is considering the use of biomass such as switchgrass at its Charter Street Plant and that Alliant Energy hopes to use biomass and coal at its proposed hybrid power plant in Cassville.

Anita Weier  —  7/15/2008 11:33 am