ENVIRONMENT

Transforming grass into petrol

Transforming grass and plants in general into petrol has long been a dream. This time, however, scientists seem to be taking the idea more seriously. We understand from the European Commission that a specific project is now devoted to this idea: BIOREGEN, short for Biomass, remediation and regeneration, reusing brownfield sites for renewable energy crops. With a budget of 1.2 million euros as part of the Life programme, BIOREGEN is clearly not one of the most heavily funded initiatives, but its potential seems very real.
At the University of Teesside, Richard Lord and Richard Green are devoting their research to transforming disused and/or abandoned land into renewable energy fields. Their aim is to cultivate this land and transform the crops harvested into fuel applets or briquettes for use in small biomass-fuelled power plants or schools where green fuel provides both electricity and heating.

http://www.bioregen.eu