France harvests miscanthus for energy
Name: Miscanthus giganteus ('elephant grass', 'e-grass'). Origin: Asian grasslands. Use: ideal energy crop for the production of green electricity, heat and bioproducts. Remark: follows C-4 path during photosynthesis.
For the first time, France has harvested the promising biofuel crop as part of a commercial enterprise. Together with farmers from Bretagne, the company Bical France has gone beyond the experimental phase and is now harvesting the tall grass that will be used as a biomass feedstock in a series of industries:
Cooperative organisation
The plantation was created in 2004 by Bical France, a daughter of Biomass Industrial Crops Ltd which has already produced 400,000 tons of the crop in the UK. The company which was formed by British farmers in 1998 is the main European supplier of industrial miscanthus (amongst a dozen smaller companies). The company's turnover in 2005 was €6 million. In order to get a hold in France, Bical contracted local farmers in Bannalec, in the Finistère region, and in Voves, in the Eure-et-Loire region.
"We work in a cooperative system. All the member-producers retain a part of Bical France's capital. We wish to see them obtaining a regular and decent income from the venture", explains Emmanuel Maupeou, general director.
An astonishing energy content
The first batch of miscanthus was bought by a leader of an energy-intensive industry, the cement group Lafarge Ciments, which was seduced by the impressive calorific content of the elephant grass -- it is considerably higher than most kinds of woody biomass. The 'lower heating value' (LVH) of the grass is around 4700kWh/ton, compared to 3300 for woody biomass, which makes it a very profitable bioenergy feedstock.
Created in Asia from Miscanthus sinensis and Miscanthus sacchariflorus, the hybrid can replace up to 50% of all coal used in an average coal-fired power plant, without the need for any modifications of the plant. It can be used in dedicated biomass power plants as a single feedstock, as well as in smaller but highly efficient Combined Heat and Power systems and in ordinary biomass boilers for homes.
When miscanthus is burned, it emits less CO2, because the grass stores the bulk of its carbon in its rhizomes, the underground roots that allow it to renew itself. In a sense, elephant grass temporarily acts as a carbon sink because only the biomass above the ground is harvested. This makes it an interesting crop for power producers and industries that want to reduce their carbon emissions and receive carbon credits for doing so.
Before the arrival of Bical France, miscanthus was only cultivated in the context of scientific experiments and research:
biomass :: bioenergy :: biofuels :: energy :: sustainability :: France :: ethanol :: miscanthus ::elephant grass ::
But now it has attained a phase where commercial use becomes viable and several European countries are starting to invest in the biomass source. Together with the Roubaix based company Kalys, the French Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique (Inra) has established full-scale plantations and has studied ways to reduce the production costs involved in cultivating miscanthus. Its conclusions: the grass can be grown both in greenhouses as well as in open fields, and remain economically competitive under both systems.
No pests, no diseases
A plantation of elephant grass does need a considerable amount of financial and human means, though, because even though it can be harvested mechanically, planting has to be done manually. The soil in which the grass thrives must be aerated and beds must be created by hand. In the first year, growth-threatening herbs have to be removed from the field for the miscanthus to take root and in order to ensure that the grass's rhizomes establish themselves in such a way that they propagate new shoots in the years thereafter. Bad herbs may be removed by hand, but appropriate herbicides do the job too, because miscanthus is quite strong and resistant to chemical treatment. Bical chose for the latter option:
"We use a herbicide during the first year only, because from year 2 onwards, the leaves of the elephant grass become dry at the beginning of the winter and fall off, covering the soil, where they form a rich layer of natural nutrients that prevents bad herbs from growing", explains the general director. "Nor do we use fungicides or insecticides because there is no disease or pest associated with miscanthus".
"Moreover, fields of elephant grass harbor many animal species because the tall grass protects their nests from the rainy season that arrives in March, when the soil is dry or still frozen. As a perennial crop, the grass renews itself naturally and can be harvested over a period of 5 to 18 years. It can grow to a height of 4 metres. And because it is sterile, there is no risk of unwanted dissemination."
Psychological barriers
Even if the qualities of are beginning to be recognized, there is still a lot working against its widespread use: the production cost, the competition of other biomass sources and energy crops, and the difficulty of convincing farmers of adopting a new species... But for Emmanuel de Maupeou, the principal barrier against the development of miscanthus as a basic energy crop is "psychological": "a certain number of environmentalists disapprove of the arrival of a new, non-indigenous plant sepcies, but they forget that this was also the case for maïze and the common potato."
More information:
Novethic.fr - media en ligne du dévelopement durable: Le miscanthus, combustible biomasse prometteur
Bical France: environmental aspects of miscanthus as a bioenergy crop [*pdf]
BioMatNet: European Concerted Action on Miscanthus - leaflet and report
For the first time, France has harvested the promising biofuel crop as part of a commercial enterprise. Together with farmers from Bretagne, the company Bical France has gone beyond the experimental phase and is now harvesting the tall grass that will be used as a biomass feedstock in a series of industries:
- combustion in biomass power plants (co-fired with coal or as a single feedstock)
- second generation ethanol
- production of particle boards
- bioplastics feedstock
- environmentally friendly building materials
Cooperative organisation
The plantation was created in 2004 by Bical France, a daughter of Biomass Industrial Crops Ltd which has already produced 400,000 tons of the crop in the UK. The company which was formed by British farmers in 1998 is the main European supplier of industrial miscanthus (amongst a dozen smaller companies). The company's turnover in 2005 was €6 million. In order to get a hold in France, Bical contracted local farmers in Bannalec, in the Finistère region, and in Voves, in the Eure-et-Loire region.
"We work in a cooperative system. All the member-producers retain a part of Bical France's capital. We wish to see them obtaining a regular and decent income from the venture", explains Emmanuel Maupeou, general director.
An astonishing energy content
The first batch of miscanthus was bought by a leader of an energy-intensive industry, the cement group Lafarge Ciments, which was seduced by the impressive calorific content of the elephant grass -- it is considerably higher than most kinds of woody biomass. The 'lower heating value' (LVH) of the grass is around 4700kWh/ton, compared to 3300 for woody biomass, which makes it a very profitable bioenergy feedstock.
Created in Asia from Miscanthus sinensis and Miscanthus sacchariflorus, the hybrid can replace up to 50% of all coal used in an average coal-fired power plant, without the need for any modifications of the plant. It can be used in dedicated biomass power plants as a single feedstock, as well as in smaller but highly efficient Combined Heat and Power systems and in ordinary biomass boilers for homes.
When miscanthus is burned, it emits less CO2, because the grass stores the bulk of its carbon in its rhizomes, the underground roots that allow it to renew itself. In a sense, elephant grass temporarily acts as a carbon sink because only the biomass above the ground is harvested. This makes it an interesting crop for power producers and industries that want to reduce their carbon emissions and receive carbon credits for doing so.
Before the arrival of Bical France, miscanthus was only cultivated in the context of scientific experiments and research:
biomass :: bioenergy :: biofuels :: energy :: sustainability :: France :: ethanol :: miscanthus ::elephant grass ::
But now it has attained a phase where commercial use becomes viable and several European countries are starting to invest in the biomass source. Together with the Roubaix based company Kalys, the French Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique (Inra) has established full-scale plantations and has studied ways to reduce the production costs involved in cultivating miscanthus. Its conclusions: the grass can be grown both in greenhouses as well as in open fields, and remain economically competitive under both systems.
No pests, no diseases
A plantation of elephant grass does need a considerable amount of financial and human means, though, because even though it can be harvested mechanically, planting has to be done manually. The soil in which the grass thrives must be aerated and beds must be created by hand. In the first year, growth-threatening herbs have to be removed from the field for the miscanthus to take root and in order to ensure that the grass's rhizomes establish themselves in such a way that they propagate new shoots in the years thereafter. Bad herbs may be removed by hand, but appropriate herbicides do the job too, because miscanthus is quite strong and resistant to chemical treatment. Bical chose for the latter option:
"We use a herbicide during the first year only, because from year 2 onwards, the leaves of the elephant grass become dry at the beginning of the winter and fall off, covering the soil, where they form a rich layer of natural nutrients that prevents bad herbs from growing", explains the general director. "Nor do we use fungicides or insecticides because there is no disease or pest associated with miscanthus".
"Moreover, fields of elephant grass harbor many animal species because the tall grass protects their nests from the rainy season that arrives in March, when the soil is dry or still frozen. As a perennial crop, the grass renews itself naturally and can be harvested over a period of 5 to 18 years. It can grow to a height of 4 metres. And because it is sterile, there is no risk of unwanted dissemination."
Psychological barriers
Even if the qualities of are beginning to be recognized, there is still a lot working against its widespread use: the production cost, the competition of other biomass sources and energy crops, and the difficulty of convincing farmers of adopting a new species... But for Emmanuel de Maupeou, the principal barrier against the development of miscanthus as a basic energy crop is "psychological": "a certain number of environmentalists disapprove of the arrival of a new, non-indigenous plant sepcies, but they forget that this was also the case for maïze and the common potato."
More information:
Novethic.fr - media en ligne du dévelopement durable: Le miscanthus, combustible biomasse prometteur
Bical France: environmental aspects of miscanthus as a bioenergy crop [*pdf]
BioMatNet: European Concerted Action on Miscanthus - leaflet and report
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