Thursday, September 08, 2005

Music for the Biomasses

Turns out that invasive grasses in the genus Miscanthus may be our cure for global warming. At least that's what this article from South Africa's Independent would have us believe. Researchers at the University of Illinois have been testing Miscanthus species as renewable energy crops. Apparently the grass is already being used as a combustible fuel in parts of Europe, and has been found to be a highly productive crop. One scientist notes that it would take growing Miscanthus on less than 10% of land in Illinois to power the entire state with electricity. Interested readers may also want to check out this paper (pdf) from Long et al., the lab at U. of Illinois.

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