What is Miscanthus?
Miscanthus is a tall grass with panicles at the end, reaching two meters in height and producing large amounts of biomass. It contains approximately 50% cellulose, which allows the plant to be used as a basic raw material in many industries. Previously, these grains grew only in Asia, mainly in China, but scientists from the Institute of Cytology and Genetics of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences (ICIG SB RAS) managed to develop a domestic variety “Soran” suitable for Russia. (named after SB RAS – Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences).
According to Svetlana Kapustyanchik, senior researcher at the institute, miscanthus is a perennial crop that can produce a large harvest every year for 20-30 years – about 10-12 tons per hectare:
“The maximum we managed to achieve was that miscanthus biomass produced about 48% cellulose, which is less than that of cotton.” (cellulose content in cotton – 90%)However, cotton is a very difficult crop in terms of growing conditions and the wood takes a very long time to grow and can only be cut down once every 70 years. Miscanthus doesn’t have those problems.”
As the expert notes, this is a self-sufficient crop that does not deplete the soil. The plant does not compete with food crops for soil and can sometimes even restore low-fertility soils where scientists plan to plant it.
“So we can plant in areas that are not usually used to grow grain in agriculture. These are swampy soils and other disturbances.
In general, three types of miscanthus are registered in Russia: the first is the sugar-flowered one, this is the “Soranovsky” variety, and two more varieties are giganteus. But the latter is suitable only for the southern regions, and “Soranovsky” can grow in all regions of Russia, right up to the northern regions: Tomsk, Krasnoyarsk, Novosibirsk regions. “We can place them all over Russia,” the expert believes.
Now scientists are faced with the task of introducing new varieties. At the current stage of research, experts compare their characteristics and select the best specimens to create new plants of the same species.
“We have a large collection of soran miscanthus specimens. Straw structures vary: some have more cellulose, some have less. Frost resistance also depends on productivity, fiber length, stem thickness, etc. varies depending on We compare them,” said Kapustyanchik.
Airplane wings, fabric and biofuel
According to Peter Kutsenogy, Deputy Responsible for Innovation Activities of the Institute of Cytology and Genetics SB RAS, cellulose is an essential raw material that can be used in various fields, such as steel or coal.
Yes they can do this cellulose yarn replacing biodegradable cellophane, cardboard, paper, viscose, bio-concrete, sheets and blocks for construction, plates, compost, biofuel or nanocellulose. The latter can be used, for example, in the airline industry.
“We can burn the oxygen and hydrogen in the cellulose, and then we have carbon fiber. “It can already be used to make an airplane wing, for example,” Kutsenogy gave an example.
A big plus, according to the expert, is that miscanthus is perennial:
“For example, flax and hemp need to be planted every year, but here you plant once, care for it for two years, and reap the harvest for 30 years.”
Import substitution problem
Kutsenogy noted that the main task now is to replace foreign pulp imports.
“Pulp is an essential raw material from which countries hostile to Russia are trying to cut us off. Our main source of cellulose was cotton, and our second source was bamboo. We wanted to buy from Brazil, but they are stopping us. Therefore, it is important to find alternative sources of raw materials,” said the scientist.
For this purpose, they plan to establish three miscanthus plantations in Russia. The first plantation appeared in the Moscow region in 2020. They later managed to cultivate an area of approximately 100 hectares; now, according to Kapustyanchik, there are more than 300 fields.
“We harvest 10 tons from one hectare, 40-44% of which is cellulose. This is around 4 tonnes in a bad year and around 6-7 tonnes in a good year. Another plantation will appear in Siberia and Kaliningrad in the near future. “There will be a miscanthus area of approximately 2 thousand hectares,” said the expert.
But it is still difficult to say when we can move away from imported pulp. According to Kutsenogy, many factors play a role here. But if everyone cooperates, this is a matter of several years.