Tests show grass's biofuel potential

The findings suggest that reed canary grass (Phalaris arundinacea) could be a useful alternative to the established range of fuel crops on all kinds of land, as well as being an economical means of creating wildlife-friendly habitats from dereliction.

The EU-funded research by the Middlesbrough-based university's Contaminated Land and Water Centre began in 2004, on former industrial sites on the Tees and at Sunderland and Bishop Auckland, and the final report, now being prepared for publication, takes in results from crops harvested in spring and autumn last year.

Overall, the grass yielded more useful tonnage per hectare than willow, miscanthus, or a fourth contender, switch grass, of the kind commonly seen on the American prairies.

The switch grass did not do well but the native grass did, and had less water content than the other two alternatives. And it took only two years to grow to croppable strength, compared to three or four for willow, which is the current favourite, and three for miscanthus, which is non-native and sometimes tricky to establish.

Reed canary grass is related to canary grass, which is so named because it is widely grown for bird food. It is sometimes deliberately grown for game cover, forage, or paper making, so seed is easily purchased.

A number of striped cultivars of it are grown as ornamental plants, sometimes called ribbon grass, including varieties known as Dwarfs Garters and Strawberries and Cream.

The Teesside project supervisor Richard Lord, a specialist in environmental geochemistry and sustainability, said: "It grows well on poor soils and contaminated sites. That is significant because in areas like Teesside, and many similar ones around the country, there are a lot of marginal or brownfield sites on which it can be grown, without taking away land which would otherwise be used in food production. Test burnings have shown it produces a good clean fuel without picking up contamination from the soil. We are already talking to biomass power station operators."

The report will be published at http://www.bioregen.eu/