Published: November 29, 2008 02:01 am      

WVU studies old mine sites for switchgrass farming efforts

Energy-producing potential hot topic among researchers

MORGANTOWN — For now, they amount to little more than snow-dusted stubble on 30 otherwise barren acres. But in Jeff Skousen’s mind, the switchgrass seeds planted on three former strip mines will someday be 3- to 10-foot-tall fields, swaying in the breeze and ready to be turned into fuel.

And if all the pieces fall into place — a big ’if,’ he admits — the vision will be repeated on thousands of acres across West Virginia, with abandoned and reclaimed coal mine sites finding new life as farmland.

Switchgrass and its energy-producing potential are hot topics among researchers nationwide. At Oklahoma State University, for example, the federal government is investing $20 million in research on how best to convert it and other grasses into biofuel.

Skousen, a soil science professor at West Virginia University, has a more narrow focus: Can the slow-starting switchgrass take hold on mine sites that are often stripped of topsoil, eroded and acidic, or loaded with rocks?

“We have thousands or tens of thousands of acres that are just sitting there,” he says. “In general, the principles are sound. It’s just a matter of whether we can make it happen. Will the coal companies adopt it? And will we be able to find the people to harvest it and make it their livelihood?”

Switchgrass fields could even create jobs for residents who could help compact the plant material, turn it into pellets or build refineries.

But that’s getting ahead of himself, he says: “We first have to demonstrate we can do it.”

Using a $40,000 grant from the governor’s office, WVU and the state Department of Environmental Protection targeted three reclaimed, 10-acre sites for planting in May: the former Magnum Coal Co. Hobet 21 mine near Madison in Boone County; a former Coal-Mac Inc. mine near Holden in Logan County; and a former mine site now owed by the Upper Potomac River Commission near Piedmont in Mineral County.

Surface mines can range from 1,000 to 12,000 acres and often have roads, water, utilities and even possible sites for ethanol processing, says the DEP’s Ken Ellison, director of the Division of Land Restoration.

But to know if they’re feasible farm lands, the state needs research.

WVU’s Water Research Institute will manage the project. Skousen, Travis Keene and their fellow scientists will monitor growth for three years, then harvest and assess switchgrass’ fuel-making potential.

At each site, they expect to learn something different. The Piedmont site, where sewage and paper-mill sludge were dumped for years, promises the best fertility, Skousen says. But it also has weeds that can choke out the switchgrass.

Abandoned mine lands might be acidic, eroded and barren, so switchgrass could help reclaim them. Their soils, however, may not be fertile and may require much more preparation. Reclaimed lands might require less preparation work because coal operators have restored the topsoil.

But regardless of whether a site is abandoned or reclaimed, there is another problem. An abundance of rocks could make harvesting impossible, or at least expensive.

The challenges don’t end there.

While studies have shown the net energy yield of switchgrass ethanol is about six times better than corn ethanol, there is no consensus on how best to covert it into sugars for fuel. Nor are there commercial-scale refineries or a distribution network for the fuel once it’s made.

Because switchgrass has a much lower energy potential than coal, Skousen says it won’t be economically feasible to ship it far. That means refineries will have to be close to the fields.

“We’re a little concerned,” he says, “but that’s a problem everywhere.”

Still, he says, this is a possibility worth exploring.