December 17, 2013

Grass as the new biofuel


A new European research project seeks grass crops that could be grown and harvested on marginal lands, away from areas suitable for food crops

Grass could be used to produce biofuels. The advantage of using grass crops is that they can be grown in marginal lands that would otherwise not be used. Marginal lands is a wide definition, admits Susanne Barth, research Officer at Teagasc, the agriculture and food development authority research centre, in Carlow, Ireland. “This can be soils that can be in bad physical condition or prone to flooding, extreme drought or which suffer from salt stress.” Barth coordinates an EU-funded research project, called GrassMargins, which is testing out whether grasses could be used as biofuels.