Biomass production of five biofuel crops and phytotoxicity to seed germination and early growth of nine plants grown in polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons heavily contaminated soil

There are millions of acres of chemically contaminated lands on which biofuel crops can be planted for dual purposes of biomass production and land reclamation. Phytoremediation is a proven technology for environmental cleanup, particularly in tropical and sub-tropical environments. There are advantages in that multiple growing seasons and increased soil temperature accelerate the clean-up processes. Seeds of 13 tropical and temperate plant species were germinated and grown for 10 days in petroleum contaminated soil containing 3148 μg/g of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). The results indicate that the presence of PAHs enhanced both emergence and early seedling growth with some of the species tested. Kiawe tree germination rate was 7-fold higher in PAH soils than that in the control media. The potential biofuel grasses sugarcane, banagrass, switch grass, vetiver and miscanthus showed degradation of PAHs in at least one of the amended PAH-contaminated soils in 35 days of growth. Banagrass biomass pr...