Grass Pellet Brief

February 8, 2006

This brief examines the feasibility and environmental impact of using grass pellets as a heat and energy source. Grass production and combustion generates significantly less carbon dioxide than fossil fuel production and combustion; in addition, cultivating grass would also remove significant amounts of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere as the grass root systems would sequester carbon in the ground. Grass cultivation would also have beneficial effects for rural area economies and for the soil.
The cultivation, harvesting and pelletization of bioenergy grasses has been repeatedly demonstrated. Although there are currently no stoves specifically designed for use with grass pellets, other stoves have been successfully adapted. The current lack of a grass pellet market means that price estimates for grass pellets are subject to a degree of uncertainty. In the short-run, grass pellets are probably not price competitive with fossil fuels for home electricity generation (although there is strong future potential if the government requires carbon permits and trading). For home heating, it is reasonable to believe that grass pellets are comparable in price to (or potentially slightly cheaper than) low-cost sources such as corn, wood, wood pellets, and natural gas.