By TIM THORNBERRY
Kentucky Correspondent

MAYSVILLE, Ky. — The new year has already brought about a buzz concerning new forms of alternative energy perhaps because of the slumping economy or the fact there is an incoming president who has promised it to be high on his priority list.

Whatever the case, efforts have been underway in the state to find a right combination of agricultural crop to use as a supplement to a vast array of energy supplies from electricity to motor fuels.
The University of Kentucky College of Agriculture (UK) is teaming up with East Kentucky Power Cooperative (EKPC) to experiment with the use of switchgrass as a supplement to coal, which is used to supply the majority of electrical power in the state.

While the use of a biomass such as switchgrass will only serve to compliment the use of coal rather than replace it, the project will study the possibility of growing the crop economically with sustainability to the point of replacing three to 10 percent of normal coal use. A grant to the Kentucky Forage and Grassland Council from the Kentucky Agricultural Development Board is funding the project.

The first real test came last month when officials from UK and EKPC at the co-op’s Spurlock Station in Maysville. This was believed to be the first time switchgrass was used as fuel for a power plant in Kentucky. During the test, switchgrass was mixed with coal feedstock replacing one to two percent of the coal that would normally have been used.

One of Spurlock Station’s generating units features circulating fluidized bed technology that allows it to burn a wide range of fuels, including switchgrass.

“We want to find out if switchgrass can be a viable supplemental fuel for our power plants,” said Bob Marshall, president and CEO of East Kentucky Power. “This test will provide valuable information about how burning switchgrass affects our plant’s fuel-delivery systems, boilers and emissions.”

Nick Comer, a spokesman for EKPC said the test went without a hitch working the way it was anticipated without any change in electrical production.

Commer also said the project has two years left and although it has no targeted goals as far as the amount of switchgrass will ultimately be used, the purpose of the project as far as EKPC is concerned is to find a reliable and affordable power source for their customers.

As far as what this could mean to farmers, the fact that it is switchgrass has some advantages.

Tom Keene, UK hay marketing specialist said the grass is native to the state and dates back to the era of Daniel Boone. At that time, buffalo and elk grazed on it but mistreatment and poor grazing practices eventually did away with switchgrass in the state. But the fact that it is a native plant coupled with the fact that many areas, especially in the eastern part of the state are conducive to its production, the opportunities for growing it are plentiful
“As people drive around northeastern Kentucky, they see a lot of land that lays fallow, and those are acres that have great potential for switchgrass production because it grows well even on marginal soils. We don’t even have to take acres out of forages for cattle production,” said Keene. “The opportunity is there.”

Ray Smith, UK forage extension specialist echoed those sentiments. “Kentucky farmers successfully producing switchgrass open up tremendous opportunities for them in the emerging biomass market,” he said. “While further research is needed to determine the economic returns to producers, this project is allowing Kentucky farmers to be at the forefront of this movement.”
In 2007, seven plots of switchgrass were established with 13 more coming last year. It was planted in the spring and cut and baled like hay after the first frost.

About 70 tons were harvested and taken to the Maysville plant for the test.

The big deal about switchgrass

There has been much mention of switchgrass lately and how beneficial it could be to farmers as a crop alternative not to mention its use as an alternative energy source. But just what is it and why all the excitement now?

David Bransby, a professor at Auburn University’s College of Agriculture writes in a switchgrass profile that “because it is native, switchgrass is resistant to many pests and plant diseases, and it is capable of producing high yields with very low applications of fertilizer.

“This means that the need for agricultural chemicals to grow switchgrass is relatively low. Switchgrass is also very tolerant of poor soils, flooding and drought, which are widespread agricultural problems in the southeast.”

Bransby also reports that “because of its perenniality, compared to annual crops switchgrass is a true conservation crop which will substantially reduce soil erosion and release of soil carbon which are related to annual tillage, and it will reduce the use of toxic chemicals.

“When fossil fuels are burnt, carbon is removed from below ground (gas and oil wells and coal mines) and released into the atmosphere as carbon dioxide (CO2). This is a greenhouse gas that increases the risk of global warming. In contrast, switchgrass (like all other plants) removes CO2 from the atmosphere and incorporates it into plant tissue, both above and below the ground.”
Bransby adds, “The accumulation of carbon, especially below the ground, is known as carbon sequestration, and is considered to be a very important strategy for reducing atmospheric CO2.

Switchgrass is unquestionably one of the best crops for doing this.
“When above-ground switchgrass is harvested and burned for energy, CO2 is once again returned to the atmosphere from where it was originally obtained by the plant.”

As concerns over the environment grow and the need for alternative fuels increases, switchgrass may be one of the answers.
Farmers could certainly benefit from it as well and as Keene puts it because it is renewable and burns cleaner than coal, it is a win-win situation.