DARLINGTON -- The Pee Dee Research and Education Center announced the next step in its study of switchgrass as an alternative energy source during its annual Pee Dee Farm Field Day on Tuesday.
Later this year, the center will introduce a torrefaction system that will turn switchgrass into a product similar to coal, but clean burning with twice the energy output, as well as adding a solar-powered tobacco curer this summer to the facility.
"Our goal at the Pee Dee Research and Education Center is to provide information on traditional and new plant-based systems that will benefit farmers," director Bruce Fortnum said.
Raw product can be input to the torrefaction system and the output is a thermo-chemically treated coal substitute that can be used for energy-dense, water-repellant energy pellets or feedstock for producing ethanol.
South Carolina is ideal for growing switchgrass, which is indigenous to the state, and the center is looking for ways to help farmers understand the conditions for growing switchgrass and how to make it marketable and manageable for both farmers and corporations.
"The whole process can be done right there in the field," said Ralph Pitt, the project manager of Agri-Tech Producers LLC. "The switchgrass will have more energy output than coal, but will also be clean-burning."
Pitt also saidthe torrefaction process will help with the logistics of moving the switchgrass. Feedstock is typically 40 percent water straight off the ground. Torrefaction reduces that to 10 percent, making it more dense and easier to transport.
New regulations proposed by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency National Renewable Fuel Standard Program will require the use of at least 36 billion gallons of renewable fuel for transportation by 2022. The largest single source, corn ethanol, is expected to provide 15 billion gallons. About 8 billion gallons will come from switchgrass.
A 2007 Stanford University study on the net energy of ethanol derived from switchgrass said widespread use could displace 30 percent of the United States' petroleum consumption.
Dr. Jim Frederick, crop production and physiologist at the center, led farmers on tours of a site where switchgrass has been growing for at least three years. The grasses stand about 6 feet tall and are planted in different types of soil to find where to get the best yield. Frederick said a type of switchgrass called Alamo Switchgrass has been the most promising in growth so far.
Torrefaction provides one unit of torrefied product for every three units of biomass input, but contains much more energy — about 10,000 BTU per pound. The Alamo Switchgrass has yielded about a half ton raw feedstock per acre.
Some farmers at the field day were somewhat skeptical. One said it sounded interesting, but there was no money for farmers yet. Others cited logistics and the $3 million price tag on a commercial torrefaction system as reasons why they hadn’t yet embraced the crop.
"It's too stemmy. I don't want it if the cows won't eat it," another farmer said.
Frederick said power companies might not be jumping at the chance to use energy derived from switchgrass and might wait for a mandate or some type of incentive from the government to do so.
"Because it costs a little more to burn, the power companies are going to have to have some incentive, especially when they have to explain raising utility costs," he said.
So far one company, Carolina-Pacific LLC, is using switchgrass commercially, but its market is Europe.
T.J. Savereno, a wildlife biologist with the center, said it 's like a catch-22. Lots of farmers would want to grow it if there was a market for it, but corporations want to see that it's marketable first.
"It's a good idea; the problem is just getting it started," he said.
Others were concerned about growing a crop on land that took up space where other crops could be growing, but one of the ideal things about switchgrass is that it will thrive on land that is too harsh for other crops.
"Switchgrass can grow on harsher land where soybeans and corn and other things can't," Fortnum said. Because of this, researchers say, using switchgrass involves less displacement of land for food production. Sandy areas and areas prone to drought and harder to seed wouldn't work for corn, but would be ideal for planting switchgrass.
Growing switchgrass is also supportive of a healthy ecosystem, Savereno said.
The cover provided by the tall plants provides ecosystem diversity necessary for a balanced food web. For quail that use the plants for nesting, it provides cover and a place to raise their young. The plants also provide cover for field mice, and where prey is, predators such as rattlesnakes and hawks will follow.
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