Cattail Biomass in a Watershed-Based Bioeconomy

This report by the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD) evaluates the commercial-scale harvesting of cattail (Typha spp.) biomass in Manitoba, Canada, as a method for nutrient capture and the production of bioenergy and biocarbon. The project demonstrates that harvesting cattails from wetlands and water retention sites removes phosphorus and nitrogen from the watershed, reducing nutrient loading into Lake Winnipeg while providing a sustainable feedstock for solid fuels and soil amendments.

• Harvesting cattail biomass serves as a nutrient management tool by removing phosphorus and nitrogen that the plants absorb during growth, thereby reducing non-point nutrient loading into Lake Winnipeg.
• The use of a MacDon R85 rotary disc mower with conditioning rolls in 2013 improved harvesting efficiency over previous methods by producing narrower swaths and crimping the stems to accelerate drying.
• Cattail biomass is a viable feedstock for solid fuel; combustion trials using hybrid fuel cubes (50:50 mix of wheat straw and cattail) in a Blue Flame Stoker boiler produced heat energy nearly equivalent to woodchip feedstock.
• Cattail-derived biocarbon (biochar) exhibits a significantly higher heating value (31.41 MJ/kg) compared to wheat straw biocarbon (23.75 MJ/kg), while maintaining similar organic carbon content.
• Analysis of cattail ash indicates it can be used as an agricultural fertilizer to supply potassium and phosphorus, with heavy metal concentrations remaining below the Canadian Council of Ministers of the Environment (CCME) allowable limits.
• The solubility of potassium in cattail ash increases significantly when the pH is lowered; soluble K increases from 46% at pH 12.4 to 81% when the pH is lowered to 6.7.
• Cattail biocarbon shows potential as an activated carbon medium for water filtration, with preliminary tests yielding excellent results.
• A conservative resource assessment of southern Manitoba estimates total cattail areal coverage at 269,000 hectares, with an estimated aboveground biomass between 2.7 and 5.4 megatonnes per year.
• Livestock trampling and the growth of competitive grasses were identified as primary factors that reduced cattail biomass yields at the Pelly’s Lake site in 2013 compared to 2012.

APA

Grosshans, R., Grieger, L., Ackerman, J., Gauthier, S., Swystun, K., Gass, P., & Roy, D. (2014). Cattail Biomass in a Watershed-Based Bioeconomy. International Institute for Sustainable Development. https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/cattail-biomass-watershed-based-bioeconomy-commerical-scale-harvesting.pdf

Chicago

Grosshans, Richard, Lorne Grieger, Joe Ackerman, Stephane Gauthier, Kyle Swystun, Phil Gass, and Dimple Roy. Cattail Biomass in a Watershed-Based Bioeconomy. International Institute for Sustainable Development, 2014. https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/cattail-biomass-watershed-based-bioeconomy-commerical-scale-harvesting.pdf.

Wikipedia

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BibTeX

@techreport{grosshans2014cattail, author = {Grosshans, Richard and Grieger, Lorne and Ackerman, Joe and Gauthier, Stephane and Swystun, Kyle and Gass, Phil and Roy, Dimple}, title = {{Cattail Biomass in a Watershed-Based Bioeconomy}}, institution = {International Institute for Sustainable Development}, year = {2014}, month = mar, url = {https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/cattail-biomass-watershed-based-bioeconomy-commerical-scale-harvesting.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }