From Reuters on ABCnews.com
LONDON, April 27 - Spanish farmers are growing 3-meter-high artichokes for burning in special power stations to produce electricity, the Independent newspaper reported today.
The genetically modified monster vegetables, which boast roots more than 7 meters (yards) long, will be generating power for 60,000 people when operations in the northern towns of Villabilla de Burgos and Alcala de Gurrea begin in two years.
The newspaper said twin power stations will burn 105,000 tons of the dried and pulped Cynara Cardunculs each year.
Farmers were persuaded to sow the prickly plant by European Union subsidies and price guarantees from the electricity generator. Burning plants for energy is not a new idea, but the biomass sector has seen a revival in recent years as environmental concerns rise.
While there are already a number of biomass schemes in Europe, they often struggle to compete commercially with other green energy schemes.
An Irish scheme to burn cannabis as a fuel foundered last year because of it was considered too expensive compared with wind-power projects.
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