U of Ill. economists analyze weedy invaders-to-energy concept

Biomass Magazine

By Sue Retka Schill | December 11, 2013

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WSSA SAYS BIOFUEL BEST PRACTICES ARE IMPERATIVE TO PROTECT AGAINST PLANT INVADERS

Weed Science Society of America
June 18, 2012

The biofuels industry is hitting its stride, with both small farms and large-scale plantations producing renewable crops that can be converted to energy. But scientists with the Weed Science Society of America (WSSA) caution that many of these crops also are known as invasive weeds in some of the regions where they are planted. That means growers must exercise caution in order to protect our natural ecosystems.

"We don't yet have sufficient research and risk models to predict the environmental impact of these new crops in the field," says Jacob Barney, Ph.D., assistant professor of Invasive Plant Ecology at Virginia Tech. "In many ways it's a large-scale experiment, with few regulations or policy guidelines. Voluntary precautions taken by stakeholders are virtually our only line of defense."

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A new war on weeds: UT and R&D partners work to bolster switchgrass as biofuel crop

knoxvillebiz.com
By Larisa Brass
Knoxville News Sentinel
Posted January 10, 2011 at 9:11 p.m.

Switchgrass is pretty good at growing anywhere — on poor soil, in drought conditions, and even in seawater.

But the native grass turned bioenergy crop has a nemesis: weeds. Without exception, the farmers, researchers and businesses working to grow the plant say alien competitors, most notably crab grass, give newborn switchgrass fields a run for their money.

It's one of several issues researchers at the University of Tennessee — in collaboration with Genera Energy and other private companies — are tackling as part of domesticating the native switchgrass plant into a new source of energy and Tennessee cash crop.

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Biodiesel plan sees a payoff in weeds

TimesUnion.com (Albany, NY)

Albany company gets financing to produce fuel from unwanted plants

By ERIC ANDERSON, Deputy business editor
First published: Friday, June 6, 2008

ALBANY -- Could weeds be the next big source of biodiesel?

An Albany-based startup believes so, and is lining up millions of dollars in financing to construct plants in Fulton, Oswego County, and Hampton, Washington County.

Innovation Fuels Inc. already operates a plant in New York Harbor that makes biodiesel from nonedible oils -- animal fats and used vegetable oils -- producing 40 million gallons a year.

The 1-year-old company also has acquired a biodiesel production facility being developed at the Port of Milwaukee.

But Innovation Fuels also is looking at other plant sources -- mustard seeds, pennycress and camelina -- that could produce the oils for biodiesel, said chief executive John Fox.

"They grow in northern regions, and grow in the shoulder months," he said in a phone interview Thursday. The plants could be interplanted with corn and soybeans, and harvested with the same equipment. "You can do two plantings a year."

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