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DTI Ryegrass
In 2003 Greenfinch started a research project, with support from the Dti Renewables Programme, to investigate ryegrass as an energy crop. To date, especially in the UK, the attention on energy crops has been towards low moisture, or "woody" biomass which has to be dried before being converted to useful energy by means of a thermal process, e.g. combustion or gasification. A disadvantage of this approach is that most nutrients in the crop are discharged to atmosphere.
The benefits of growing ryegrass to be converted to useful energy through anaerobic digestion are:
- The UK has one of the best climates in the world for growing grass.
- The high moisture content of grass is not a limiting factor.
- Biogas comprises only carbon, hydrogen and oxygen; therefore only CO2 and H2O are discharged to atmosphere.
- The wet digestate, containing all the nutrients, is returned to the grassland.
- Carbon not transformed to biogas is sequestered into the soil.
- It presents a new opportunity for farm diversification without the need to plant new crops.
- Farmers already have the harvesting equipment and storage resources.
- Farmland could quickly be returned to food production.
- A landscape of verdant grass is familiar to the British Isles.
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DTI
Ryegrass