Viaspace Inc. has been attempting to promote Giant King™ Grass as a biofuel feedstock as studies have shown that it yields two to five times more per acre than switchgrass. The company gave a presentation at the International Biomass Conference and Expo held in Minneapolis, Minnesota from May 4-6.
"The extremely high yield of Giant King Grass and its multiple different energy applications generated a lot of interest," said company CEO Dr. Carl Kukkonen. "Because of its high yield, it can meet the cost targets for biomass power plants, energy pellets and as a feedstock for biogas production and liquid cellulosic biofuels."
Viaspace is growing Giant King Grass in Guangdong province in China and is also looking for additional growing opportunities in Indonesia, India, Africa, Central America and South America. Giant King Grass offers economic advantages as well as energy efficiency, since it is a non-food crop that can be grown on land that is marginal for other agricultural purposes. The company announced in June 2009 that it had signed a MoU with India’s privately held Auro Infra to develop an agricultural project in Tanzania using the energy crop to power an electrical generation plant.
Last June, Kukkonen said at the Biofuels and Jatropha Markets Asia conference held in Jakarta, “Since giant king grass can be used for both grassoline and diesel fuel, we see promising potential in the Indonesian biofuels market.”
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