The Biofuels Center of North Carolina, a state-funded non-profit organization working to develop a large-scale biofuels industry in the state, lists the plant Arundo donax (also known as “giant reed” or “giant cane”) as one of the energy grasses being investigated as a potential feedstock crop for the state. However, David A. Crouse, a soil scientist at North Carolina State University (NCSU) in Raleigh, N.C., has expressed concerns that Arundo could—if widely cultivated—become a runaway invasive species. Crouse recently told John Murawski of The News and Observer, “Arundo has got a lot of us scared. We have that concern that it could be kudzu-like.” Kudzu is an invasive plant originally introduced decades ago in the United States for erosion control; Kudzu is now considered a notorious and practically ineradicable invasive plant in North Carolina.

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Post tags: arundo, arundo donax, biofuel, Biofuels Center of North Carolina, biomass, cane, cellulosic ethanol, David Crouse, energy crop, giant reed, invasive species, north carolina, renewable energy