On March 13, 2020, Hexas Biomass’ CEO, Wendy Owens, spoke at the Panel & Engineered Wood Conference & Expo in Atlanta, GA. She discussed how in the past several decades, researchers and commercial manufacturers have investigated the use of closed-loop biomass crops and agricultural residue for particle board and MDF production to supplement or replace wood. One of the most promising closed-loop crops is Hexas’ Xano Grass
. Xano Grass is perennial and fast growing, with high yields year-over-year. It is highly pest-resistant, grows in different climates and soil types, tolerates drought, and has low ecological demand. Wendy discussed how combining Xano Grass with wood is a means for (1) de-risking price variability and supply through dedicated feedstock production and (2) alleviating wood scarcity in specific locations impacted by environmental degradation while providing significant cost savings over wood-only boards in a sustainable manner.
