Switchgrass Highlighted at Farm and Field Day
by Carlton Purvis (SCNow.com) Native grass burns cleaner than coal and promotes wildlife.
The Pee Dee Research and Education Center announced the next step in its study of switchgrass as an alternative energy source during its annual Pee Dee Farm Field Day on Tuesday.
Later this year, the center will introduce a torrefaction system that will turn switchgrass into a product similar to coal, but clean burning with twice the energy output, as well as adding a solar-powered tobacco curer this summer to the facility.
…Raw product can be input to the torrefaction system and the output is a thermo-chemically treated coal substitute that can be used for energy-dense, water-repellant energy pellets or feedstock for producing ethanol.
South Carolina is ideal for growing switchgrass, which is indigenous to the state, and the center is looking for ways to help farmers understand the conditions for growing switchgrass and how to make it marketable and manageable for both farmers and corporations.
“The whole process can be done right there in the field,” said Ralph Pitt, the project manager of Agri-Tech Producers LLC. READ MORE
