Cattail Biomass in a Watershed-Based Bioeconomy

The report details the 'Lake Winnipeg Bioeconomy Project', which investigates the use of cattail (Typha spp.) as a sustainable biomass feedstock. Through pilot harvests at Pelly’s Lake, Manitoba, the study demonstrates that using a rotary disc mower with conditioning rolls improves harvesting efficiency and drying times, enabling the use of large square balers. The harvested biomass was processed into solid fuel cubes and biocarbon (biochar), with the latter showing a higher heating value (31.41 MJ/kg) than wheat straw biocarbon (23.75 MJ/kg). Nutrient analysis indicates that cattail ash can serve as a potassium-rich fertilizer, though its phosphorus is largely insoluble at neutral pH. The report estimates the total cattail biomass resource in southern Manitoba between 2.7 and 5.4 megatonnes per year.

• The use of a MacDon R85 rotary disc mower with conditioning rolls is the preferred method for harvesting cattails because it produces a thinner, narrower swath and crimps the stems to reduce drying time, which allows for the use of large square balers.
• Cattail biocarbon exhibits a significantly higher heating value than wheat straw biocarbon, measured at 31.41 MJ/kg compared to 23.75 MJ/kg, while both maintain similar organic carbon content.
• Harvesting cattails removes phosphorus and nitrogen from the watershed, reducing non-point nutrient loading to Lake Winnipeg; for example, 160 large square bales from Pelly's Lake were estimated to remove almost 120 kg of phosphorus.
• Cattail ash 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 biomass is a viable solid fuel; hybrid fuel cubes (50:50 mix of wheat straw and cattail) produced heat energy almost equivalent to woodchip feedstock in a 2-million BTU Blue Flame Stoker boiler.
• A conservative estimate of the total cattail areal coverage in southern Manitoba is 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 significantly reduced cattail yields at Pelly's Lake 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

{{cite report |last1=Grosshans |first1=Richard |last2=Grieger |first2=Lorne |last3=Ackerman |first3=Joe |last4=Gauthier |first4=Stephane |last5=Swystun |first5=Kyle |last6=Gass |first6=Phil |last7=Roy |first7=Dimple |title=Cattail Biomass in a Watershed-Based Bioeconomy |publisher=International Institute for Sustainable Development |date=March 2014 |url=https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/cattail-biomass-watershed-based-bioeconomy-commerical-scale-harvesting.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

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} }