Greenprint
Greenprint is a West Sussex County Council innovative project exploring the potential for using grass cuttings from highway verges in the production of biofuels and road materials.
Greenprint has been awarded £4million by the Department for Transport to examine whether changing the way grass verges are managed can provide materials and fuels to decarbonise highway operations and deliver broader benefits such as increased biodiversity and resilience to climate change.
In Horsham Town the WSCC Highways teams are trialling a new ‘cut and collect’ verge maintenance routine this growing season.
Normally, Horsham’s urban verges would be cut five times a year, leaving the cuttings on the ground; this year there will be four ‘cut and collect’s. By ‘cutting and collecting’ the grass cuttings, WSCC hope to reduce nutrients in the soil, slow grass growth, encourage a wider variety of plant life and pollinators, boost local biodiversity and increase the capture and storage of carbon in the soil below.
They will also measure the yield of cuttings and work with the University of Nottingham, Invica Industries and Ricardo to explore ways in which cuttings can be used to manufacture biochar. Biochar is produced from a heating process and is a carbon-rich, charcoal-like material that could be used in the production of road surfacing materials.
