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1 | HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION
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2 | WHEREAS, America's increasing dependence on foreign oil | ||||||
3 | has contributed to rising gasoline prices throughout Illinois
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4 | and the nation; numerous economic development and | ||||||
5 | environmental
benefits result from the use of renewable fuels, | ||||||
6 | including
strengthening our agricultural sector by creating | ||||||
7 | new renewable fuels industry related
jobs, reducing our | ||||||
8 | dependence on foreign oil, improving our
energy security, and | ||||||
9 | reducing greenhouse gas emissions; and
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10 | WHEREAS, Replacing fossil fuels with renewable raw | ||||||
11 | material significantly reduces the consumption of limited | ||||||
12 | energy sources; the hybrid grass miscanthus requires little | ||||||
13 | energy input for infrastructure, fertilizers and pesticides, | ||||||
14 | and growing and processing;
use of non-renewable raw materials | ||||||
15 | in miscanthus production and processing is limited to | ||||||
16 | infrastructure and transport; miscanthus requires | ||||||
17 | significantly less fertilizer and pesticide input than other | ||||||
18 | energy crops;
miscanthus is a plant that thrives on less water | ||||||
19 | than other crops; targeted below-ground irrigation via pipe | ||||||
20 | systems increases yields; and
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21 | WHEREAS, Mining fossil fuels entails large-scale | ||||||
22 | interference in the landscape, but establishing energy crops | ||||||
23 | preserves rather than endangers landscapes; miscanthus has the | ||||||
24 | best energy per space ratio of all energy crops; harvested | ||||||
25 | miscanthus can be processed down to the last fibre, leaving no | ||||||
26 | production waste; ashes from combustion can re-enter the cycle | ||||||
27 | as fertilizer; and
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28 | WHEREAS, Renewable energy sources have a closed carbon | ||||||
29 | cycle: the CO2 released while burning biomass is absorbed by | ||||||
30 | the next crop growing; in contrast to fossil fuels like coal, | ||||||
31 | petroleum, and natural gas, the atmosphere is not polluted by | ||||||
32 | additional greenhouse gas and CO2 emissions; the danger of |
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1 | water pollution by excessive fertilization is low; compared to | ||||||
2 | food production the pesticide input is extremely low, and | ||||||
3 | miscanthus requires pesticide input only during the first and | ||||||
4 | second year of establishment to keep out competing field | ||||||
5 | plants; so far, no significant pests or diseases have affected | ||||||
6 | miscanthus; and
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7 | WHEREAS, The energy yield from miscanthus is not high | ||||||
8 | enough to make transportation over long distances economically | ||||||
9 | viable, favoring localized conversion and use at the place of | ||||||
10 | availability and the establishment of local infrastructure;
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11 | growing miscanthus has some advantages over conventional food | ||||||
12 | agriculture; perennials offer more animal and plant kinds a | ||||||
13 | habitat than a crop like corn could; the soil improves, and as | ||||||
14 | miscanthus requires only a low fertilizer input, the danger of | ||||||
15 | water pollution is low; miscanthus stabilizes soil threatened | ||||||
16 | by erosion; fields planted with miscanthus produce annual | ||||||
17 | yields over decades without harming the natural balance of soil | ||||||
18 | and ground water; and
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19 | WHEREAS, Growing and converting miscanthus as an energy | ||||||
20 | crop is highly cost-effective;
the conversion of biomass to | ||||||
21 | biogenic solid fuels is labor-intensive and creates jobs; | ||||||
22 | growing miscanthus offers farmers an additional foothold; new | ||||||
23 | employment opportunities benefit economically weak areas; | ||||||
24 | miscanthus can be harvested with existing machinery; biomass | ||||||
25 | fuels are easy to store, even for longer periods of time, which | ||||||
26 | ensures year-round availability; up-to-date conversion | ||||||
27 | facilities pose no health risks; appropriate handling will | ||||||
28 | prevent the development of hazardous fungus spores or toxins | ||||||
29 | that is possible in biofuel storage; and
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30 | WHEREAS, Dry miscanthus stems can be used as a solid fuel; | ||||||
31 | the perennial grass grows from an underground stem-like organ | ||||||
32 | called a rhizome; miscanthus, a crop native to Asia and a | ||||||
33 | relative of sugarcane, drops its leaves in the winter, leaving |
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1 | behind tall bamboo-like stems that can be harvested in early | ||||||
2 | spring and burned for fuel; grasses such as miscanthus are very | ||||||
3 | clean fuels; nutrients such as nitrogen are transferred to the | ||||||
4 | rhizome and are saved until the next growing season;
burning | ||||||
5 | miscanthus produces only as much carbon dioxide as it removes | ||||||
6 | from the air as it grows, that balance means there is no net | ||||||
7 | effect on atmospheric carbon dioxide levels, which is not the | ||||||
8 | case with fossil fuels; and
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9 | WHEREAS, Miscanthus also is a very efficient fuel, because | ||||||
10 | the energy ratio of input to output is less than 0.2; in | ||||||
11 | contrast, the ratios exceed 0.8 for ethanol and biodiesel from | ||||||
12 | canola, which are other plant-derived energy sources;
besides | ||||||
13 | being a clean, efficient, and renewable fuel source, miscanthus | ||||||
14 | also is remarkably easy to grow; upon reaching maturity, | ||||||
15 | miscanthus has few needs, as it outgrows weeds, requires little | ||||||
16 | water and minimal fertilizer, and thrives in untilled fields; | ||||||
17 | in untilled fields, various wildlife species make their homes | ||||||
18 | in the plant's leafy canopy and in the surrounding undisturbed | ||||||
19 | soil; Illinois researchers have found that miscanthus grown in | ||||||
20 | the State has greater crop yields than in Europe, where it has | ||||||
21 | been used commercially for years; full-grown plants produce | ||||||
22 | 10-30 tons per acre dry weight each year; and
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23 | WHEREAS, The Illinois miscanthus crop began three years | ||||||
24 | ago, when 400 miscanthus rhizomes were planted at the | ||||||
25 | University of Illinois, and the three 33-by-33 feet miscanthus | ||||||
26 | plots are considered mature; nine different fields across the | ||||||
27 | State are being used to help estimate miscanthus productivity; | ||||||
28 | plots in Champaign and Christian counties each have more than 2 | ||||||
29 | acres of miscanthus, and DeKalb, Pike, Pope, Wayne, Fayette, | ||||||
30 | and Mason counties have smaller plots; plots in Champaign | ||||||
31 | County have shown the greatest yearly yields, according to the | ||||||
32 | 2004 progress report to the Illinois Council on Food and | ||||||
33 | Agricultural Research, which funded the experiments; and
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1 | WHEREAS, The next step is to demonstrate how miscanthus | ||||||
2 | goes from a plant to a power source; existing U.S. power plants | ||||||
3 | could be modified to use miscanthus for fuel, as in Europe; | ||||||
4 | therefore, be it
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5 | RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE | ||||||
6 | NINETY-FOURTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, THE | ||||||
7 | SENATE CONCURRING HEREIN, that we urge the United States | ||||||
8 | Department of Agriculture and the Illinois Department of | ||||||
9 | Agriculture to fund research and make grants available to | ||||||
10 | determine the efficacy of using miscanthus as a power source; | ||||||
11 | and be it further
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12 | RESOLVED, That suitable copies of this resolution be | ||||||
13 | delivered to the United States Secretary of Agriculture and to | ||||||
14 | the Illinois Director of Agriculture.
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