Britain will Burn Elephant Grass

Work will start this year on Britain’s first major power station fuelled by elephant grass as Prime Minister Tony Blair tries to make his country more environmentally friendly. The $14.8-million power station in Staffordshire, central England, will supply 2,000 homes with electricity. Amanda Gray, director of Eccleshall Biomass, the company behind the project, said burning elephant grass would release only as much carbon dioxide as the plants had soaked up while they were growing. The plant will operate for 8,000 hours a year on a 24-hour basis and save one tonne per hour of carbon dioxide compared with using fossil fuels to generate electricity. About 170 local farmers will grow the grass needed to feed the plant.