Tuscola begins growing biocrops to lure biofuel industry

The News-Gazette (Champaign, IL)
By Tim Mitchell
Monday, September 1, 2008 8:57 AM CDT

TUSCOLA – There's more than grass growing by the Tuscola sewer plant.
If city officials are successful, that grass could someday sprout into the foundation for a new energy-fueled economy.

The city of Tuscola is growing biocrops on city-owned property as part of an effort to attract biofuel-related industry and to help develop a market for the crops to aid area farmers.
Brian Moody, executive director of Tuscola Economic Development Inc., said the city worked with a tenant farmer, Dan Meyer, to plant reed canary grass on 160 acres of land the city owns by the wastewater-treatment plant. The grass can be converted into pellets to heat homes and other buildings.

Next year, the city is considering replacing the canary grass with miscanthus, another crop that may be used for energy production.

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