PIKETON, Ohio — Grasses, shrubs and trees that once were given little attention are now being viewed as possible energy resources. Ohio State University researchers conducted several “bioenergy crop” workshops this spring, and have shared their findings that such plants can produce something that is always in high demand: Energy.

These researchers have been evaluating a number of these so-called bioenergy crops for their suitability to different regions of the state, their biomass yield and their potential to become value-added crops for farmers.

“These crops can grow on marginal land and will not take away good land from food production,” said Rafiz Islam, a soil, water and bioenergy specialist with OSU’s South Centers at Piketon. “Our idea is to use degraded soils and land not suitable to grow food crops for bioenergy production.”

Islam leads several bioenergy crop trials in southern Ohio, which, along with the eastern part of the state, has plenty of hilly terrain and strip-mined land that could be used to grow these new crops. Plants include switchgrass, various prairie grasses, miscanthus, hybrid willow, Sudan sorghum grass, sweet sorghum and guayule.

“Miscanthus is getting a lot of attention across the Midwest because of its adaptability to many different soil types, low-nutrient requirements, fast-growing nature, confined growth and lack of dispersal,” Islam said. “This plant grows 15 to 20 feet tall and has a high biomass output that can be used for combustion or conversion to cellulosic ethanol or butane.”

According to Islam, these perennial crops can produce biomass for many years before the stands need to be replanted.

Other projects going on at OSU South Centers, funded by the U.S. Department of Energy, involve growing switchgrass and big bluestem grass on a one-acre plot of degraded land where corn and other food crops cannot grow. The researchers are studying the nitrogen requirements of a mixture of prairie grasses and how many times a year the crop can be harvested, depending on the amount of nitrogen is applied.

Fast-growing hybrid willow trees are also being researched in a half-acre plot. “These trees are growing in waterlogged, high-clay, high-acidity and overall bad soil,” Islam said.

“Trees may not provide as much biomass as grasses because it takes several years to harvest them, but they can be planted in areas where nothing else will grow and they can also help improve the soil.”

Taller than corn and capable of producing up to 25 tons of biomass per acre, Sudan sorghum grass has been growing at OSU South Centers for the past eight years.

“We can’t grow sugar cane in Ohio, but sweet sorghum can produce the same amount of sugar as sugar cane and requires half the nutrients as corn,” Islam explained. “It is also drought-resistant and produces three types of energy: sugar or ethanol or butane; cellulosic alcohol; and biomass that can be used as animal feed.”

Islam said guayule is also being studied in Piketon. A woody shrub native to the southeastern United States, it produces a hypoallergenic rubber and a hydrocarbon that can be converted into a diesel-like transportation fuel.

“Last year we successfully managed to grow guayule for the first time outdoors in Ohio,” Islam said. “This plant is very drought-tolerant, but it doesn’t like standing water, so we are growing it in raised beds.”

According to Eric Romich, an OSU extension field specialist, more than 1 billion tons of agricultural and forestry-related biomass could sustainably be collected and delivered to biorefineries.