News

Prairie Lands Bio-Products Purchases Biomass Project Assets

Thursday, September 9, 2010   View...

Harnessing the Power of Biomass

By Susanne Retka Schill, Biomass Magazine - Wednesday, August 1, 2007   View...

Biomass power producers aren’t pausing while current U.S. federal policies favor renewable fuels development in an effort to reduce the nation’s dependence on foreign oil. Renewable power will play a vital role in the world’s attempts to reduce greenhouse gases. Now that the first-generation technology has matured, work continues on developing new technologies based on lessons learned.

Harkin Announces Additional Funding for Chariton Valley Switchgrass Project

By Jennifer Mullin - Wednesday, June 27, 2007   View...

New crops could fuel new wave of ethanol

By Jerry Perkins, Des Moines Register - Sunday, February 25, 2007   View...

Corn is not enough. Researchers hope to increase the yields from dedicated energy crops, such as switchgrass.

Plant Power

By Fae Holin, Hay & Forage Grower - Tuesday, August 1, 2006   View...

Stephen Gardner, Eddyville, IA, is one of a number of growers with big dreams for switchgrass. The native grass could generate electricity and fuel vehicles while improving marginal lands.

Biofuel Grass Grows Hope

By Greg Wright and David Irvin, Montgomery Advertiser - Friday, July 7, 2006   View...

Brasher: Use of CRP land for ethanol scares wildlife groups

By Philip Brasher, Washington Farm Report - Sunday, June 25, 2006   View...

Doak: Chariton Valley project leads way in switchgrass

By Richard Doak, Des Moines Register - Sunday, June 25, 2006   View...

Job 1: Develop energy know-how

By Des Moines Register - Sunday, June 25, 2006   View...

Burning switchgrass to generate electricity isn't as simple as it sounds. You can't just pitch dried grass into a furnace.

Greenspan Backs Ethanol Made from Biomass

By Des Moines Register - Thursday, June 8, 2006   View...

Greenspan sounds alarm on oil supply

By Reuters - Wednesday, June 7, 2006   View...

Thousands of Iowa\'s Corn Farmers See the Future in Fuel

By Peter Slevin, Washington Post - Sunday, May 21, 2006   View...

Switchgrass test burn ends in Iowa

By Jerry Passer, Brownfield Ag News for America - Monday, May 15, 2006   View...

Summary of Results from Chariton Valley Biomass Project Long Term Test Burn

Thursday, May 11, 2006   View...

Bodman Testimony

By Samuel Bodman, Secretary of Energy - Tuesday, April 25, 2006   View...

Switch turned on for switchgrass energy potential

By Art Hovey, Lincoln Journal Star - Wednesday, March 15, 2006   View...

DOE Press Release - Auburn Bush Biofuels Initiative

By US Department of Energy, Office of Public Affairs - Thursday, February 23, 2006   View...

President Bush\'s Advanced Energy Initiative

Monday, February 20, 2006   View...

Switchgrass: The Super Plant Savior?

By Adrienne Mand Lewin, ABC News - Wednesday, February 1, 2006   View...

Long-Term Test Burn Facility Photos

Sunday, January 1, 2006   View...

Photos of Construction Progress for the Biomass Processing Facility for the Long Term Test Burn

Quarterly Progress Report

Sunday, January 1, 2006   View...

Summary from Latest Quarterly Progress Report

Production Tax Credit Extended

Saturday, December 31, 2005   View...

The 2005 Energy Policy Act of 2005 extended the placed-in-service date for the Section 45 Production Tax Credit (PTC) by two years (to December 31, 2007).

Southeastern Iowa power plant steps closer to utilizing switchgrass for energy

By Jeff Caldwell - Thursday, September 15, 2005   View...

The potential for burning switchgrass for energy in Iowa is one step closer to becoming a reality. Members of the Natural Resource Conservation Service, U.S. Department of Energy, Alliant Energy and Chariton Valley Resource Conservation and Development (CVR&D) and project partners gathered Aug. 31 at Alliant's Ottumwa Generating Station outside Chillicothe, Iowa, for the dedication of a nearly finished building that will house switchgrass for use in energy generation in the facility.

Critical Third Test to Begin on Switchgrass

By Dale Johnson - Wednesday, September 7, 2005   View...

Generating electricity long-term from renewable switchgrass is taking a step closer to reality.

All Eyes on Energy

By Adaption of information prepared by Marty Braster, Chariton Valley Biomass Project coordinator - Friday, September 2, 2005   View...

Frequently asked questions about the Chariton Valley Biomass Project

The Midwest's Next Big Energy Source

Wednesday, August 31, 2005   View...

“A 'potential gold mine': ...the Midwest's next big energy source,” High Plains Journal, August 2005

Alliant Energy Unveils 2006 - 2013 Generation Plan

By Alliant Energy - Tuesday, August 2, 2005   View...

MADISON, Wis.—August 2, 2005— Alliant Energy Corp. (NYSE: LNT) announced today its domestic utility supply plan for the 2006-2013 time period. The supply plan updates Alliant Energy’s 2003 generation plan that addressed the 2004-2010 time period, and reflects...

Sen. Tom Harkin (D-IA) on Renewable Energy Provisions

Tuesday, July 26, 2005   View...

Statement of Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA) on Energy Conference Adoption of Farm Based Renewable Energy Provisions

Switchgrass Project Approved

Wednesday, June 15, 2005   View...

Sen. Harkin Announces Approval of Funds for Chariton Valley Switchgrass Project

Utilities say: More power to you, Iowa!

By Frank Vinluan, De Moines Register Business Writer - Thursday, January 6, 2005   View...

Two power plants, the first in 20 years, opened in 2004 and another is under construction.

Iowa Switchgrass Project

By U.S. DOE EERE - Wednesday, September 1, 2004   View...

Cofiring Test Success

Wednesday, December 31, 2003   View...

Cofiring Test Success

VIPs Witness Test Burn at Ottumwa Generating Station

Monday, December 8, 2003   View...

Iowa biomass project reaches milestone: VIPs witness test burn, hear project updates at Ottumwa Generating Station

Switchgrass tested as alternative fuel source

By Tom Block - Wednesday, September 4, 2002   View...

Leaders of the Chariton Valley Biomass Project are upbeat regarding the progress of efforts to grow switchgrass commercially for use in fueling power plants. Alliant Energy plans to conduct a second co-fire test burning switchgrass with coal at its Ottumwa generating station in Chillicothe next year. The experiment is part of...

Farmers’ Motivations for Adoption of Switchgrass

By Patricia C. Hipple and Michael D. Duffy - Tuesday, January 1, 2002   View...

Switchgrass (Panicum virgatum L., Poaceae) is a perennial warm-season grass native to Iowa, grown for decades on marginal lands not well suited for conventional row crops. It is now being recognized as a potential energy source and alternative cash crop for Iowans.

Green Energy Project Turns Grass into Electricity

By John Deer - Monday, December 3, 2001   View...

Lenexa, Kansas (December 3, 2001). John Deere equipment and technical support are playing important roles in a groundbreaking project in central Iowa that aims to turn common switchgrass into electricity. More than 80 farmers managing 7,000 acres are working with the project. Switchgrass is a common prairie grass...

Grass of the past may help to shore up future for Iowa lake

By Karl Blankenship, Bay Journal Editor - Saturday, December 1, 2001   View...

In the rolling hills of south central Iowa, where tall prairie grasses once sustained passing herds of bison, a growing number of people believe the region’s ecological and economic future may tied to the grass of the past.

USDA Approves Four CRP Biomass Pilot Projects

By Jillene Johnson, Farm Service Agency - Wednesday, March 21, 2001   View...

In Iowa, the Chariton Valley Biomass Project is a cooperative effort to develop warm and cool season grasses (such as switchgrass) as a source of renewable energy.

Iowa Plant Tests Grass as Fuel

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS - Monday, January 15, 2001   View...

CHILLICOTHE, Iowa -- Some of the heat pouring out of southeastern Iowa furnaces this unusually cold winter is homegrown -- a thought pleasing to environmentally conscious homeowners and area farmers who may have found a new cash crop.

Making fuel from corn in Iowa

By Carol Hills - Thursday, October 5, 2000   View...

The World's Carol Hills takes us to Iowa, where researchers are finding potential energy sources just about everywhere they look.

Switch To Switchgrass?

By Mick Lane, Hay and Forage Grower Magazine - Saturday, January 1, 2000   View...

What do you do with rolling prairie and cleared timber ground that's been judged too erodible for row-crop production? For a group of south-central Iowa farmers and landowners, the answer may lie in switchgrass, a grass that was there when their ancestors arrived.