Iowa study: Prairie grass has profit potential
Add Axios as your preferred source to
see more of our stories on Google.
Photo: Bruce Bisping/Star Tribune via Getty Images
Prairies could become a source of energy and profit, according to two recent studies headed by researchers at Iowa State University.
Why it matters: Grasslands have environmental benefits, but converting portions of farmland back to prairie must make financial sense for farmers, per the studies.
State of play: The ongoing research focuses on efficiently turning harvested grasses into natural gas through anaerobic digestion (AD), which uses the breakdown of organic matter to produce energy.
- One study published in the journal BioEnergy Research modeled how the city of Ames could supply the municipality's heat and power demands with grasses.
- The other, published in Global Change Biology Bioenergy, concluded that two hypothetical AD systems in southwest Iowa and northwest Missouri's Grand River Basin could produce a combined profit of $400 million over two decades.
Caveat: The most profitable scenarios rely on existing carbon credit programs.
Zoom in: Most existing ADs run on dairy manure.
- The studies, which received more than $20 million in federal grants, provide a road map for building infrastructure for grass-based systems, Iowa State University News Service reports.
What they're saying: The studies support native prairie restorations and encourage farmers to begin with grasses on low-productivity land or from buffer strips to existing fields.
- "The idea is that, with some of the government incentives in place, farmers could grow prairie and get significant revenue from that effort," Mark Mba-Wright, an associate professor in mechanical engineering at ISU and an author of the studies, told Axios.
What's next: Researchers are working with a commercial partner to build and operate an AD system near Stockton where further research will be conducted.
- A free event for farmers and landowners to learn more about the work is scheduled at Sievers Family Farms in Stockton on Aug. 20.