The surging interest in Napier Grass

Napier grass, also called Elephant grass and Uganda grass, is a species of perennial tropical grass, a native of the African grasslands. As it has low water and nutrient requirements, it can be grown in many areas with ease.

It has been used as a fodder crop for silage in many tropical and subtropical countries.

But all these still do not explain why many regions in the world are showing an increasing interest in this crop.

The main reason behind the enhanced interest is its potential to be used as a biofuel feedstock.

In the words of the US Dept. of Agriculture, “Napier grass, otherwise known as elephant grass, has the highest biomass productivity of any grass that has been tested for biofuel feedstock cropping in the southeastern United States.”

Given its high cellulose content (35-40%), drought tolerance, water use efficiency and high yields per units area, it appears to be an ideal source to make ethanol, a biofuel that can be blended with gasoline (petrol) to reduce the overall CO2 emissions from transport. The other sources of ethanol – corn, sugarcane – all have high water and land area requirements, and also present the Food vs. Fuel dilemma.

Recent technology advances are also enabling the production of biogas and further down renewable natural gas from Napier grass.

Given all the above, expect to see the simple Napier grass in many more places than you would have so far.