Grass Pellets

Gassifier Pellet Stove

Those sneaky Canadians… now they are using biofuel pellets made from switchgrass (Panicum virgatum) for use in space heating applications. Gassifier pellet stoves and furnaces are capable of burning moderately high ash pelleted agricultural fuels at 81-87% efficiency. In this system, switchgrass pellets are used much like wood pellets and provide fuel conversion efficiencies and particulate emissions in the same range as modern oil furnaces.

REAP-Canada has pioneered this development, which can significantly reduce greenhouse gases and heating costs. Resource Efficient Agriculture Production means greater energy efficiency and sustainability for rural communities.

Fast growing warm season perennial grasses have been identified as ideal candidates for biomass fuel production due to their high net energy yield per hectare and low cost of production. Switchgrass is one type of warm season perennial grass native to the Great Plains and eastern North America. It is favourably viewed as it easily adapts to marginal soils and arid climates with minimal fertility and management requirements.

Switchgrass, when pelletized, has considerable potential to displace oil, natural gas, and electricity used for heating fuel. Grass biofuel pellets are likely to overtake the existing wood pellet heating industry due to cost. While much more gradual than rises in the price of fuel oil or natural gass, wood-based pellets have been rising in cost due to ongoing improvement in industrial wood utilization, which is reducing the waste fraction of delivered roundwood.

The cost-effectiveness of pelletized grass as a fuel results from:

  • Efficient use of low cost marginal farmland for solar energy collection
  • Minimal fossil fuel input in field production and energy conversion
  • Replacement of expensive high-grade energy forms in space and water heating
  • Minimal biomass quality upgrading which limits energy loss from the feedstock
  • Efficient combustion in advanced, affordable, and user-friendly devices

Burning switchgrass or other similar, renewable feedstock could achieve even greater efficiency through combined heat and power. Before, buying a pellet stove an engineer urges you to consider the downside, especially health issues resulting from secondary smoke.

For more information, refer to Pellet Fuels Institute.

Continue reading here: Agri-Char

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