MSU Participates in Bioenergy Field Tour

STARKVILLE, Miss. (Press Release) -– Using fast-growing woody crops as a source of energy and fuel may be the key to energy independence in the United States.

The latest Southeastern biofuels research and production methods will be on display for landowners, industry professionals and community leaders during a month-long series of field days in September sponsored by the Southeastern Partnership for Integrated Biomass Supply Systems.

Mississippi State University, a biofuels research partner, will host the tour stop near Columbus on Sept. 30. The field tour of a 70-acre research area showcasing fast-growing clones of Eastern cottonwood and hybrid poplars begins at 8 a.m.

Visitors can get a close-up view of short-rotation wood crop systems and learn about new research in genetics, stand establishment, disease and wildlife impacts, and biomass harvesting logistics. Auburn University will demonstrate its mobile biomass gasifier, which shows how biomass can be turned into electricity on a small scale.

The deadline for required preregistration is Sept. 19. Admission is free and lunch is provided. To reserve a space, email Randy Rousseau at rrousseau@cfr.msstate.edu.

The research is a combined effort of the Southeastern Partnership for Integrated Biomass Supply Systems, Advanced Hardwood Biofuels, Greenwood Resources and ArborGen.

The tour is one of many that will be held throughout the Southeast and coordinated by the University of Tennessee Center for Renewable Carbon, Auburn University, North Carolina State University, ArborGen and the University of Georgia.

A grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture funded the Southeastern Partnership for Integrated Biomass Supply Systems.

For more tour information, go to http://www.se-ibss.org/.