University experiments on a grass already used as a renewable energy source in Europe have attracted attention locally, including an urging from the Illinois lieutenant governor for the University power plant to use the grass.

Miscanthus, a perennial grass that, when burned with coal, leads to a cleaner and more efficient energy output, is already used in Europe, said Stephen Long, a crop sciences professor at the University. The University has planted four acres on the south farms and four acres in Christian County, Ill., south of Springfield, to experiment on the plant.

Illinois Lieutenant Governor Pat Quinn said he was encouraged by the results, especially the plant’s ability to be grown all around Illinois, and said the University was in a unique position to promote growing and usage of the grass, including in the campus’ coal-burning Abbott Power Plant.

“This is another innovation of this great University, and we have to popularize it,” Quinn said. “We’d like the University to be a model for the rest of the state. There’s fairly large energy usage here, and if you could show how to show ways of using energy efficiently, like using miscanthus in your power plant, that would go a long way.”

Quinn said the Power Plant uses local coal, which is high in sulfur.

Long said it would not take a large amount of harvestable miscanthus to generate a significant portion of power for the University.

“If there were four sections, that would produce 10 to 25 percent of the University’s power,” Long said. Each section is equal to a square mile.

David Ruzic, an engineering professor at the University who examines the Abbott Power Plant in some of his classes, cautioned that Abbott could not use miscanthus immediately.

“Is our power plant set up to handle that? Probably not,” Ruzic said. “Could we adapt the plant to do it? Probably. How much would it cost? I don’t know.”

Still, many people familiar with the plant are excited about its potential, including Jen Walling, a University law student and environmental activist. Walling helped put a referendum on the ballot in the 2003 student elections calling for a $2 fee from every student to explore use of alternative energy sources. Part of Walling’s inspiration for the referendum was miscanthus.

“We were aware of it and it did come into our thinking,” she said. “It was very influential for us, especially the research opportunities it presents.”

While the referendum passed, none of the money generated from it has gone to miscanthus so far. Walling, who chairs the Illinois Student Senate subcommittee that allocates the money, said it would be possible in the future to allocate money to miscanthus, but might not be necessary.

“The University has been very friendly to this, so we may not need student money to finance it,” she said.

Long said the University will continue to study the plant, including experimenting with the plant’s yield, propagation, other uses and, perhaps most importantly, environmental benefits.

“It puts a lot of organic materials back in the soil,” Long said. “It’s also a perennial with a dense root structure, so it would be helpful in erodable land. It would give the soil something more to hold on to.”

Quinn was also impressed with some of the grass’ other benefits.

“It helps the environment, it helps create jobs, it helps stimulate the economy,” he said. “In Illinois, we have to have a growing economy. One of the problems with the budget is there’s no economic growth.”

Quinn said miscanthus was ultimately part of a larger effort to make Illinois more energy efficient.

“We’re trying to start a movement for renewable energy sources, especially biomass, because Illinois can produce a lot of that,” Quinn said. “The University of Illinois is really a leader. The eyes of the state, even the nation, are on you guys.”