New rhizome root harvester to be unveiled at U of I bioenergy symposium

EurekaAlert.com
Public release date: 21-Dec-2009
Contact: Jennifer Shike
jshike@illinois.edu
217-244-0888
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

URBANA – A new miscanthus rhizome root harvester and planter will be unveiled at the seventh annual Bioenergy Feedstocks Symposium on Monday, Jan. 11 and Tuesday, Jan. 12 at the I Hotel and Conference Center in Champaign, Ill.

In collaboration with the University of Illinois, European bioenergy developer, Tomax Ltd., and Oklahoma machinery manufacturer, Bermuda King, will reveal how the Rizomgen™ Harvester /Planter package can save 50 percent on existing rhizome harvesting and planting costs.

Tomax Senior Bioenergy Consultant Gavin Maxwell said, "Our collaboration with the Energy Crop Science Team at the University of Illinois has enabled us to analyze a greater variety of testing conditions and has allowed our manufacturing partner to apply appropriate engineering solutions to make vegetative rhizome harvesting more competitive."

Recent United States trials demonstrated a 200 percent increase in rhizome collection over manual systems. This will allow regional nurseries to expand more efficiently to meet the demand for both solid and liquid fuel conversion.

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