Projects
Projects: Projects for Investigator |
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| Reference Number | NF0412 | |
| Title | Field scale establishment of Miscanthus from Rhizomes | |
| Status | Completed | |
| Energy Categories | Renewable Energy Sources(Bio-Energy, Applications for heat and electricity) 100%; | |
| Research Types | Basic and strategic applied research 100% | |
| Science and Technology Fields | BIOLOGICAL AND AGRICULTURAL SCIENCES (Biological Sciences) 100% | |
| UKERC Cross Cutting Characterisation | Not Cross-cutting 100% | |
| Principal Investigator |
Project Contact No email address given ADAS UK Ltd |
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| Award Type | R&D | |
| Funding Source | DEFRA | |
| Start Date | 01 April 2000 | |
| End Date | 30 June 2001 | |
| Duration | 15 months | |
| Total Grant Value | £129,560 | |
| Industrial Sectors | No relevance to Underpinning Sectors | |
| Region | London | |
| Programme | DEFRA Bioenergy | |
| Investigators | Principal Investigator | Project Contact , ADAS UK Ltd (99.999%) |
| Other Investigator | Project Contact , Russell, Baldwin & Bright (0.001%) |
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| Web Site | ||
| Objectives | Objectives not supplied | |
| Abstract | Generating energy from biomass grown on agricultural land is now central to MAFF and Government strategic objectives. This has the duel benefit of providing CO2 ‘neutral’ sources of energy and alternative non-food uses for land, with corresponding environmental and socio-economic benefits on a local and national scale. Miscanthus has been identified as a perennial crop with high potential as a biomass species and commercial planting of the crop is now planned. Successful adoption on a commercial scale will require effective crop establishment. Whilst the general biological requirements for successful rhizome establishment are relatively well understood, there has been very little evaluation of planting methodologies which tie detailed biological performance measurements with comparative delivery systems. Field scale establishment techniques have received little research effort in the UK but are identified as the major barrier to commercialisation of the crop (Bullard, 1999. MAFF final report for project NF0403 ‘The agronomy of miscanthus for fuel and industrial applications’). The work proposed here is to evaluate three mechanised establishment techniques (‘broadcasting’), ‘veg planting’, ‘potato planting’ and specialist miscanthus precision planter’) at four contrasting sites in the east and west of the UK. This will enable us to test a number of hypotheses and to provide guidelines for the most acceptable establishment technique. The methodology employed will ensure predictive ability on other soils in other seasons. The specific hypothesis tested will be: Optimal field-scale establishment can be attained through precision planting to a pre-determined plant spacing rather than broadcasting; The work will focus on M.x giganteus, with supplemental experiments conducted on M.sacchariflorus. A total of 360,000 rhizomes will be provided as a ‘contribution-in-kind’ to the project;160,000 M. sacchariflorus rhizomes from ADAS, and an equal number of M.x giganteus from RB&B necessary for the study, will be provided by ADAS as contribution in kind. The results of the research will be reported in refereed and popular press articles and will feed into existing miscanthus research projects. The current project covers the costs of establishment and associated research only, with the principal objective of identifying appropriate establishment techniques. Subsequent to the establishment year each partner will maintain the crop whilst it remains a commercially viable exercise. Specifically, commercial viability for RB&B means that both sites will remain intact for at least 3 years and on site for 5 years. Subsequent to that they must generate rhizome propagules in order to plan up much larger areas. For ADAS and IACR, the miscanthus crop will remain a ‘commercially viable enterprise’ after the establishment year whilst in receipt of research funding to study thecrop’s performance. Every effort will be made to secure this funding in order to ensure long-term maintenance of the sites. This will include submissions to DTI, EC as well as MAFF | |
| Publications | (none) |
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| Final Report | (none) |
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| Added to Database | 22/12/11 | |
