May 15--CANTON -- Grass could be an effective alternative fuel source to heat north country homes.

St. Lawrence County Cornell Cooperative Extension agronomist Peter M. Barney said that while the concept is in its infancy, pelletizing grass for use as an energy source is environmentally friendly and economical.

"We literally have hundreds of acres of underutilized hay grounds," Mr. Barney said. "All this vegetation has the potential to be put into grass pellets for use in stoves or boilers."

The grass can be grown on marginal farmland and could be a "cash crop" for farmers and entrepreneurs.

"With the energy crunch coming up in the country, turning grass into an energy source can be viable," Mr. Barney said. "We could see literally hundreds of acres used locally to make grass pellets. It can be locally produced and a locally used product."

Cornell University agriculture professor Jerry H. Cherney is researching the concept, which appears to show promise, but the commercial market hasn't caught up to the grass pellet research.

"We need some encouragement from government to have the manufacturers modify stoves that can handle the ash produced from the grass pellet," Mr. Barney said.

Companies are attempting to modify wood-pellet-burning stoves to use grass pellets because there's a high ash content associated with the grass. Wood pellets have ash content of about 1 percent, while grass pellets have about 3 percent to 5 percent ash content, Mr. Barney said. It requires frequent removal of ash to be practical.

Tests have determined the yield of British thermal units, or BTUs, of grass pellets is nearly identical to that of wood pellets, Mr. Barney said. He also said grass fuel could be cheaper to purchase because of its abundance.

"Wood pellets are very efficient to heat homes," Mr. Barney said. "But the demand on wood pellets has gone up; so has the price of the wood pellets."

However, facilities for turning grass into pellets are scarce, and it could be some time before it is accepted as an energy source. Still, the Bush administration has said developing alternative fuel is a national priority.

"The door is opening up as our representatives are looking at alternative types of fuel," Mr. Barney said.

He said that while showing off the benefits of using grass pellets this month at the 11th annual North Country Sustainable Energy Fair at SUNY Canton, he received a favorable response from fair attendees.