The Free Press, Mankato, MN

Local News

June 10, 2009

Prairie grass slated for biofuel use

Nearly 300 acres of area prairie land could be utilized

By Tim Krohn

For years, there has been talk and plans for converting grass to energy.

Beginning this fall, several groups plan to actually do it.

“We wanted to do something on the ground. We already have the fuel and we have an end user in place,” said Neal Feeken, renewable energy coordinator for The Nature Conservancy in Minnesota.

The fuel is on about 300 acres of native or restored prairies in Nicollet, Le Sueur, Sibley and Rice counties, mostly on Department of Natural Resources or U.S. Fish and Wildlife land.

The user is a new biomass power plant in Shakopee being opened by the Mdewakanton Sioux and Rahr Malting. The plant is designed to use a biproduct from the barley malting process, steam and other biomass to produce electricity.

Feeken said their project, being funded with a $20,000 grant from the Southern Minnesota Initiative Foundation, will determine the cost of harvesting and delivering the biomass to the plant.

By determining what a custom-harvesting business will need to charge per acre and how much a landowner would need to make per acre, Koda will be able to calculate what it will need to charge for the electricity.

But Christopher Anderson, senior media relations manager with the conservancy, said the project is more than just finding ways to help economic activity in rural areas. The conservancy sees it as a way to protect a nearly extinct ecosystem — tallgrass prairies.

“Tallgrass prairie are the most endangered ecosystems on earth. Minnesota is down to less than 1 percent of what it had,” Anderson said.

The hope is that if the tallgrass, planted on marginal land, can be a viable energy crop, it will automatically increase the amount of prairie.

“We’re interested in innovative strategies for conservation of grasslands. If we can create markets for low input high energy products from native grass, that will take a lot of pressure off the prairies,” Feeken said.

He said cutting the grass in the fall is believed to be as beneficial as the traditional spring burning that is done every few years to rejuvenate the prairies. And cutting would be a good alternative as burn management has become more difficult as more homes are built near prairies.

Feeken said the prairie grasses would likely be harvested every three years to provide maximum ecological benefit and maximum energy output. But, he said, private landowners may choose to harvest each fall to increase the economic benefit.

While specific acres for harvesting haven’t been identified, grasses from the Kasota Prairie could be cut for the project.

Other partners in the project are local soil and water districts and the University of Minnesota.

Besides the Nature Conservancy grant, the Initiative Foundation also announced awards to other groups:

• South Central College will use a $20,000 grant for hands-on learning for 14- to 18-year olds interested in agricultural careers through a Farm in the City project in Mankato.

• Rushford’s Institute for Nanotechnology will use a grant of $20,000 to purchase an atomic force microscope and associated nanotechnology training.

• The Faribault Diversity Coalition received $15,000 for an energy generation and conservation project that will involve new immigrants in Rice County’s workforce.

• The Byron School District was granted $20,000 for a wind and solar energy feasibility study at the local high school.

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