University of Iowa to plant test plot of miscanthus for power plant use

A test plot of nearly 15 acres of miscanthus likely will be planted Friday or Saturday by the University of Iowa, a crop university officials want to use as a renewable energy source for the campus power plant.

The plot of miscanthus will be planted on a farm near Muscatine, where the UI has a five-year rental agreement with a farmer, said Ferman Milster, the university's principal engineer for renewables.

The hope is that within two or three years, the harvest of the plant from the test plot can be burned in the campus power plant as a renewable energy crop. The university also wants to contract with area farmers to grow more of the plant.

"We need thousands of acres of this," Milster said. "This is a very early start."

Miscanthus is a sugarcane-like plant from Southeast Asia that is a leading contender in the dedicated energy crop industry. The university has for years burned oat hulls to produce energy on campus, but officials want to add other renewable fuel sources and dedicated energy crops -- such as miscanthus -- to the mix as they work toward the goal of 40 percent renewable energy consumption.

The plot near Muscatine will be used to test different methods of harvesting and caretaking of the plant, Milster said.

As long as the plant survives, it is a perennial that will grow each year, he said. The university won't harvest a crop the first year, but by the third year should be getting full production from the test plot, he said.

In this first year, costs are about $800 an acre, but Milster said officials hope to eventually lower that to $400 per acre as the target price for establishing the crop.

"Driving down that establishment cost is key to the success," he said. "You only incur that once, but it has to be something you don't strangle on."

The university will hold a meeting in late July for area farmers interested in contracting with the UI to grow miscanthus. Interested farmers should contact Milster at (319) 331-5132.