A HUMBLE ordinary grass could have a whole new life of generating cleaner, renewable energy.

Scientists at a centre researching into contaminated land and water wanted to discover what types of plants could grow best on brownfield sites as a way of "beautifying" such disused industrial areas.

Now, the work by the BioReGen project team at Teesside University, north-east England, has shown that reed canary grass can be changed into an excellent fuel for biomass power stations and, on a smaller scale, for heater units in buildings such as schools.

The native grass is turned into bricks and pellets and, as well as burning well, the fuel does not add to greenhouse gases or contribute to global warming.

The team in the Biomass, Remediation, re-Generation (BioReGen) project experimented with four types of plant: willow trees - the current favourite for biomass power stations - and the miscanthus, reed canary and switch grasses.

Tests were carried out on sites around the Teesside region and the work was supported by a grant of 1.2 million euros from the European Union's Life-Environment research programme.

At Teesside University, Dr Richard Lord, who is a Reader in environmental geochemistry and sustainability, said: "We have narrowed the [suitable] plants down to reed canary grass because it grows well on poor soils and contaminated industrial sites.

"That is significant because in areas like Teesside, and many similar ones around the country, there are a lot of marginal or brownfield sites on which reed canary grass can be grown.

"Selecting such sites means that the grass can be grown without taking away land which would otherwise be used in food production, a key concern for those involved in the biomass and biofuel sectors," added Dr Lord.

After reached maturity, which takes two years, reed canary grass is harvested and baled up before being turned into bricks and pellets.

Dr Lord continued: "The test burnings have shown that reed canary grass produces a good, clean fuel without picking up contamination from the soil. Reed canary grass has great potential because it offers a suitable use for unsightly brownfield sites while producing an excellent fuel at a time when the world is crying out for new ways of producing green energy.

"Our research also suggests that the end product is improved soil quality and biodiversity at the greened-up sites. We are now examining ways in which we can commercialise this idea and are already talking to a number of major biomass power station operators," he added.

Some of the sites where the tests were carried out include a former shipyard on the River Tees; part of an old engineering site, at the Tees Barrage; a former colliery and coal yard; a landfill site and former gravel pit near Sunderland; an old sewage treatment works near Houghton-le-Spring, Wearside; a former enamel works site near Bishop Auckland, County Durham, the first site to be planted up in 2004.