As a result of research being conducted by Virginia Tech’s plant breeders, Virginia Cooperative Extension specialists, and the USDA Eastern Regional Research Center located in Wyndmoor, Pa., barley is being considered a promising ethanol feedstock.
Through this collaboration, improved hulled and hulless barley varieties are being developed which make barley a suitable feedstock for ethanol production. The new varieties have a heavier test weight and higher starch content, which are more desirable. The hulless varieties show added benefits as the undesirable hulls are loosely attached and easily removed during harvest.
Virginia Cooperative Extension agents and specialists have been educating farmers about opportunities to market barley as an energy crop and about the logistics of growing barley – especially in southeast and southside Virginia.
Osage Bio Energy in Hopewell, Va. will utilize barley as its primary feedstock in its $160 million Appomattox Bio Energy facility, the first major barley-to-ethanol bioprocessing facility in the United States, scheduled to open in 2010. The facility will process more than 30 million bushels of barley annually to produce more than 65 million gallons of ethanol. This stands to triple of the amount of barley sold in the region, from $17 million to more than $50 million. The plant is expected to bring about 50 fulltime jobs and generate $2 million tax revenue annually. Virginia Tech’s focus on research brings environmental and economic impact to Virginia.