Offered Papers Theme A: Efficient Production from Grassland
Description
Grass pellets are a renewable energy supply that combines low technology/small-scale with local production/consumption for a cost effective energy system. There have been significant recent advances in pellet furnace technology and some pellet stove manufacturers now claim their stoves are capable of burning biomass with 5-6% ash content. Cool-season grasses have not been considered acceptable for pelleting and direct combustion in the past due to high ash content. Rain after harvest, however, has been shown to leach significant amounts of potassium and chlorine from grass (Sander, 1997). High yields are possible under lax harvest management (Cherney et al., 2003), producing grass biomass with potassium content as low as 0.5%. Ash content of cool-season grasses is dependent on species, plant maturity, soil type, leaching before and after cutting, loss of high-ash plant parts, and soil contamination. Our objective was to develop a strategy for practical commercial production of relatively low ash cool-season grass biomass.
Included in
Agricultural Science Commons, Agronomy and Crop Sciences Commons, Plant Biology Commons, Plant Pathology Commons, Soil Science Commons, Weed Science Commons
Grass Pellet Bioenergy in the Northeastern USA
Grass pellets are a renewable energy supply that combines low technology/small-scale with local production/consumption for a cost effective energy system. There have been significant recent advances in pellet furnace technology and some pellet stove manufacturers now claim their stoves are capable of burning biomass with 5-6% ash content. Cool-season grasses have not been considered acceptable for pelleting and direct combustion in the past due to high ash content. Rain after harvest, however, has been shown to leach significant amounts of potassium and chlorine from grass (Sander, 1997). High yields are possible under lax harvest management (Cherney et al., 2003), producing grass biomass with potassium content as low as 0.5%. Ash content of cool-season grasses is dependent on species, plant maturity, soil type, leaching before and after cutting, loss of high-ash plant parts, and soil contamination. Our objective was to develop a strategy for practical commercial production of relatively low ash cool-season grass biomass.
