> Oak Ridge National Labs in Tennesee has been doing work on using
> grasses and short rotation tress for energy production.
A few years ago we did a lot of work on growing grasses for fuels.
The idea was to harvest them in a lush green state, extract the
protein (around 20% of dry-matter content), and sell this as a
by-product. The fibrous material remaining is finely divided and
readily dried, or alternatively hydrolysed to sugars, then fermented
to alcohols. The fibre is largely hemicellulose rather than
cellulose as found in mature grasses, and there is less lignin, so
hydrolysis is easier than for high-cellulose crops. As usual, it
was not economic given the ruling oil prices.
************************
mcdonaldr@hort.cri.nz <Rod McDonald>
Engineer/scientist
Horticulture and Food Research Institute
Private Bag 3123, Hamilton, New Zealand
Phone +64-7-8385675 work, +64-7-8552019 home, Fax +64-7-8385655
************************