The Great Lakes Zephyr - Wind Energy & Hydrogen Journal

Illinois Grass hailed as potential source of clean energy

By Patricia Reaney Tue Sep 6,12:50 PM ET

<> DUBLIN (Reuters) - A tall, decorative plant that can be grown in Europe and the United States could provide a significant amount of energy without contributing to global warming, scientists said on Tuesday.

Field trials of the grass called Miscanthus in Illinois showed it could be very effective as an economically and environmentally sustainable energy crop.

Professor Steve Long and his colleagues at the University of Illinois obtained a yield of about 60 tonnes per hectare of the tall willowy grass last year.

"If about 8 percent of the land area (of the state) was given over to this grass, and assuming only half of those yields were obtained, we would obtain enough dry matter to generate the total electricity used by of the state if Illinois, which includes the city of Chicago," he told a science conference.

Full story: http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20050906/sc_nm/environment_energy_dc