permaculture

["robscott@freeshell.org" <robscott@freeshell.org>]

Greetings Earthlings.

In response to Martin Taylor's "wouldn't hemp be a greater resource?" and 
Larry London's "what about amaranth/pigweed?", I'd like to share the 
following. The University of Illinois in Urbana is currently 
investigating Miscanthus as a substitute for coal in the power plant.
Here are some of the specs:

Miscanthus is a perennial grass propagated by rhizomes.

The variety being used in Illinois is difficult to establish, needs a wet 
area and doesn't seem to produce fertile seeds. Establishment takes 2-3 
years.

> From then on, this miscanthus grows 15' tall each year in Illinois.

The material which is harvested is the stalks of the inflorescence. 
It is harvested in winter after the roots have resorbed N, P, K, S, etc.
Most leaves have dropped at that point leaving a duff on the soil.

What remains in the stalk is mainly Carbon, with traces of Silicon and 
Aluminum. The Stalks are burnt at >1800F, and the ash "slays" glass 
as the main mineral output. This Silicon could be put to good use for 
developing a head shop to service the by-products of a complimentary hemp 
industry.

The University of Illinois land is naturally (1) wet, and (2) a tallgrass 
prairie. So the use of a tall grassland to produce fuel is a fairly 
close approximation of the natural biome. There are no records of 
miscanthus invading pristine ecosystems in Illinois (maybe because we 
don't have many pristine ecosystems). The winter harvest allows for 
wildlife populations to establish and make use of the habitat for the full 
growing season, including grassland birds.

Reports suggest that 1 acre of Miscanthus generates enough heat to fuel 3 
middle-class U.S. houses -- or, lets say, a dozen energy-efficient 
Permaculture houses. The acre of Miscanthus is a monoculture in this 
measurement. Permaculture designs could experiment with new systems.

Other crops being investigated are switchgrass (Panicum virgatum) and 
Cattail (Typha spp.). Again it is the dry remainder of the last season's 
growth which is harvested - sometimes called the "carbon skelatons". Plant 
nutrients which are scarce overwinter in the root structures dedicated to 
storing photosynthate (that's the point with perennials). The idea is that 
you use the non-scarce elements to combust for energy, assuming there will 
be no shortage of C, Si, or Al for future plant growth. Plants get C from 
atmospheric CO2, and clays are aluminosilicates. Si makes up about 27.5% 
of the earth's crust and Al is about 8% - that's why you don't read about 
C, Si, or Al shortages effecting farms or ecosystems.

So that's the case for miscanthus. Using "carbon skelatons" instead of 
carbon fossils. A comparison to pigweed would require some idea of the 
chemical composition of dead stalks, biomass per acre, and BTUs or kWhs 
per unit of biomass at agiven temperature. The data on miscanthus are 
still being collected.

Rob Scott
Urbana Permaculture Project
Urbana, IL