Oat Hulls Help Power a College Campus.

• Position: BIOMASS - Brief article

Burning oat hulls has considerable benefits to the environment as well as to human health, according to a study by the University of Iowa, Iowa City, which examined the practices at the UI Power Plant, where technicians have burned a mix of oat hulls and coal for more than a decade. The researchers found that a 50-50 oat hulls-coal mix, when compared to burning only coal, reduced fossil carbon-dioxide emissions by 40%.

"Our general conclusion is that when optimized, co-firing--burning biomass with coal--presents a good option for energy production without incurring the negative environmental effects that come with burning fossil fuels alone, like fossil carbon dioxide emissions and harmful particulate matter," says Betsy Stone, assistant professor of chemistry.

It may seem logical that controlled burning any type of biomass--from grasses to wood chips--would be good for the environment. After all, shouldn't any of these sources be more preferable than coal, known for its deleterious environmental and public-health effects?--not necessarily, as biomass burning...