Switch on for Power Plant Fuelled By Grass

May 30 - Birmingham Post; Birmingham (UK)

Britain's first major electricity plant to be fuelled by grass has been given the go-ahead.

The pounds 6.5 million bio-energy power station in Staffordshire will be run on elephant grass, cultivated by a large farming co- operative.

It will be capable of supplying 2,000 homes with electricity.

About 170 local farmers are now diversifying into growing the energy crop to feed the two megawatt steam-turbine generator at the Raleigh Hall Industrial Estate, in Eccleshall. Regional development agency Advantage West Midlands has approved a pounds 935,000 grant to developers Eccleshall Biomass Ltd towards the cost of the plant's construction which will begin later this year.

The firm's director Amanda Gray confirmed that funding and planning permission were in place.

Ms Gray added: 'Energy crops offer a genuinely sustainable and environment-friendly alternative source of business to farmers as well as helping to meet our obligations in reducing carbon emissions.'

An AWM spokesman said agricultural activities accounted for nearly 75 per cent of land use in the region and said the plant would play a vital role in regenerating the rural areas. The plant will operate for 8,000 hours a year on a 24-hour basis and save one tonne per hour of carbon dioxide

The pounds 6.5 million bio-energy power station in Staffordshire will be run on elephant grass n It will be capable of supplying 2,000 homes with electricity n About 170 local farmers are now diversifying into growing the energy crop to feed the two megawatt steam-turbine generator near Stafford

The plant will operate for 8,000 hours a year on a 24hour basis and save one tonne per hour of carbon dioxide n The UK is currently responsible for three per cent of global greenhouse gas emissions even though it has only one per cent of the world's population Power stations produce over a third of the carbon dioxide(54 million tonnes) produced by the UK n The Government wants ten per cent of the UK's electricity to be supplied by renewable sources by 2010 and 20 per cent by 2020Renewable energy plays a key part in the aim to reduce carbon emissions by 60 per cent by 2050.