The U.S. Department of Energy recently awarded Iowa State a $481,000 grant that will help turn switchgrass, a native Iowa prairie grass with excellent burn qualities often used as hay, into an electrical energy source.

Lee Burras, associate professor in agronomy, said the Department of Energy is seeking to use switchgrass as an energy crop.

Switchgrass would be used in place of coal to make electric energy, Burras said.

“The plan is to replace five percent of the coal with switchgrass,” he said.

Michael Barker, research associate in agronomy, said the process of using switchgrass in conjunction with coal is relatively simple.

The switchgrass is “cofired” with coal, Barker said. Before burning, the switchgrass is chopped up and then is blown in to the plant to burn with the coal.

Stephen Barnhart, professor of agronomy, said research at Iowa State will most likely deal with the logistics of using switchgrass as an energy source.

“The logistics and overall feasibility of this renewable resource for energy production have to be considered,” Barnhart said. “Ultimately if this is to become a viable process, there needs to be a constant supply of biomass to the power plant.”

Burras said switchgrass could become an economical crop for Iowa farmers if it becomes a widely-used energy source.

“This is a new crop — a crop that’s worth a fair amount of money,” Burras said. “People will pay more for energy than they will for food so it makes sense to grow energy crops.”

Burning switchgrass is a good way to boost the rural economy, Burras said.

He said currently using switchgrass is not a cheaper source of energy, but it is more environmentally friendly because it increases soil and water quality.

“We grow some in Iowa but most of the switchgrass currently grown in Iowa is part of the USDA Conservation Reserve Program, or CRP,” Burras said.

With the Conservation Reserve Program, landowners pay a fixed price per year to take highly-errodable land out of production, Burras said.