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Miscanthus promoted for energy, jobs

The USDA is promoting the planting of giant miscanthus to be processed into renewable energy. U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack Wednesday announced four additional Biomass Crop Assistance Program projects to grow the warm-season grass that can be converted to energy.

“The biomass conversion facilities will essentially pelletize the miscanthus and then use it for agricultural heating, for power generation, for residential heating and potentially for export opportunities as well,” said Secretary Vilsack, during a conference to reporters Wednesday.

The projects, in Missouri, Ohio, Arkansas and Pennsylvania, will total about 19,000 acres. U.S. Senator Roy Blunt, from Missouri, says miscanthus is well suited to ground that is not likely to support much else.

“It’s a crop that will grow on land that is not necessarily the best farmland for anything else,” said Senator Blunt, also on the conference call. “It grows on soil that doesn’t meet the standards that you would often need for corn or soybeans or wheat or other food crops.”

In addition to producing energy, Secretary Vilsack says the four projects growing and processing miscanthus could produce about 4,000 jobs.

Selected producers are eligible for reimbursements of up to 75 percent of the cost of establishing the perennial miscanthus crop. Sign-up begins June 20.

Project areas announced Wednesday include:

Project Area Number 2 is in Arkansas and targets 2011 enrollment of 5,588 acres in Craighead, Greene, Jackson, Lawrence, Mississippi, Poinsett, and Randolph counties. The sponsor for this project is MFA Oil Biomass LLC and the project area surrounds the co-op’s biomass conversion facility in Paragould, Ark.

Project Area Number 3 is in Missouri, and targets 2011 enrollment of 3,000 acres in Audrain, Boone, Callaway, Cole, Cooper, Howard, Moniteau, Monroe and Randolph counties. The sponsor for this project is MFA Oil Biomass LLC and the project area surrounds the co-op’s biomass conversion facility in Columbia, Mo.

Project Area Number 4 is in Missouri, and targets 2011 enrollment of 5,250 acres in Barry, Christian, Dade, Jasper, Lawrence, Newton, and Stone counties. The sponsor for this project is MFA Oil Biomass LLC and the project area surrounds the co-op’s biomass conversion facility in Aurora, Mo.

Project Area Number 5 is in parts of Ohio and Pennsylvania and targets 2011 enrollment of 5,344 acres in Ashtabula, Geauga, Lake, and Trumbull, Ohio, and Crawford, Erie, and Mercer counties, Pennsylvania. The sponsor for this project is Aloterra Energy, LLC and the project area surrounds the company’s biomass conversion facility in Ashtabula, Ohio.