Bioenergy from Perennial Grasses

This project was funded in part by the Illinois Clean Community Foundation, the City of Decatur, and the Sanitary District of Decatur.

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Discussion Papers

Support Your Local Grass Farmer

The Local Bioenergy Initiative

Report
Establishing a Grass Energy Crop Market in the Decatur Area
Download Adobe Acrobat Reader

A discussion paper, Support your local grass farmer, makes the case for establishing local bioenergy markets, comparable to the growing local food movement. 

Please let us know what you think about this or what you are doing to promote "local bioenergy".     
-- Steve John, AWI Executive Director, sfjohn@agwatershed.org

For more information, contact:

Agricultural Watershed Institute
4004 College Park Road
Decatur, Illinois 62521

Phone (217) 877-5640
Fax (217) 877-5641

E-mail:  info@agwatershed.org

Annual Watershed Celebration Will Have a Cajun Flavor

The 2009 Sangamon Watershed Celebration will be held on June 25 at Richland Community College ’s Shilling Center in Decatur. This annual event is sponsored by the Agricultural Watershed Institute along with several co-sponsors. The theme is “An evening with our Gulf Coast neighbors.” The event will include a reception starting at 6:00 p.m. and a concert by the Lost Bayou Ramblers at 7:30 p.m.

Attendees will be treated to Cajun and local food and will peruse displays about protecting local watersheds and the Gulf of Mexico. There will also be a book sale by Novel Ideas. Read more about the Watershed Celebration here.

Local Bioenergy Initiative

The Local Bioenergy Initiative is a project of the Agricultural Watershed Institute, in cooperation with participating individuals, agencies, and organizations. It is a collaborative project to begin growning and using perennial energy grasses in Central Illinois.

In the not-so-distant future, perennial energy grasses and crop residues may be used to make advanced liquid biofuels for transportation. With current technology, renewable biomass can be used to heat buildings and generate electricity.

Using biomass to replace fossil fuel produces many benefits. The value of ecosystem services is likely to be important to the economic viability of energy crops. [read this brochure]

The Once and Future Prairie State

Done well, production and use of perennial energy crops can provide multiple benefits, including renewable energy with reduced greenhouse gas emissions; protection of soil resources; enhanced water quality, biodiversity, and wildlife habitat; increased and diversified farm income; and sustainable economic development.. [read more*]

*Please note that this is a 6-page, full-color, illustrated brochure that make take some time to load.