By Robyn L. Minor
With climate change legislation still on the federal horizon, Kentucky wants to be poised to meet its challenges by developing alternative energy at home.
A report released Thursday by the Executive Task Force on Biomass and Biofuels Production said there are hurdles to overcome to develop alternative energy from biomass and other agriculture products.
Those hurdles include making sure that already rich productive farmland continues in its current use, that forests are managed sustainably and that the industry develops primarily as a producer-owned or cooperative venture.
“But those are well worth the benefits,” said Frank Moore, director of the Division of Biofuels for the state.
The task force estimates that biomass and biofuels production can add $2.55 billion to $3.4 billion annually to agriculture products’ net value. The report estimates that the new industry could add nearly 10,000 jobs to state employment rolls.
“What is so unique about Kentucky is that we have an immense amount of marginal land, some pasture land, crop land, reclaimed mines and low productive forests that developing a biomass industry ... is not about changing land use but what the task force sees as improving productivity,” Moore said.
“That’s why the state is focused on developing biomass for alternative energy. It can be an entirely new industry in Kentucky without negative impacts to existing industry.”
Moore realizes the state doesn’t have a lot of money to begin developing the infrastructure to handle a biomass industry, but there are some things it can do right now that don’t require money.
His office is establishing a database of pilot programs and research that already is going on across the state.
“That way we don’t have any duplications,” he said.
Ultimately the task force would like to see legislation or a policy establishing the percentage of alternative energy that Kentucky wants to use and ultimately be able to produce at home.
“What we don’t want ... is for federal ... levels (of renewable energy) to be established and Kentucky be stuck purchasing all of its alternative energy from out of state,” Moore said.
Starting a dialogue about the potential for biomass-based energy and ethanol was the major purpose of the task force, Moore said.
State Sen. David Givens, R-Greensburg, said serving on the task force has been an eye-opening experience.
“I felt like it was productive in that it provides a centralized resource ... about the opportunities in the industry,” Givens said. “I am most excited about the potential impact that producing energy from wood waste and cellulose products will have in our rural communities.”
As for any legislation that may be proposed or funding that may come in the short term, Givens said there may be an effort to use some Agricultural Development Funds or direct appropriations to fund studies that could better look at the logistics of getting bio-crops from farm to power plant and how to get that massive crop into a more manageable size.
“The other most pressing and salient opportunity is going to be in co-firing,” Givens said. “I am hopeful we can see an effort made to discover the ideal blend of wood waste, switchgrass or other renewable sources with coal in order to reduce carbon emissions.”
The report also briefly touches on the potential for reducing the carbon footprint of dairy cattle by using anaerobic digesters to produce biogas. The report estimates that each dairy cow in the state has an energy value of $52, for a total of $4.68 million for the 90,000 dairy cows in the state. Manure from large-scale operations of 500 head or more would be good candidates for the process.
Moore said money already is available in loans through the U.S. Department of Agriculture to install such large-scale digesters.
Some of the state’s largest dairy farms are in southcentral Kentucky, including the Robey Farms in Adairville, which has 1,400 head of cattle, according to an earlier report to the biomass task force.
Indiana, Virginia and Illinois have electricity-producing digesters, but there is currently none in Kentucky.
Capturing methane has multiple benefits. In addition to being used to produce electricity, it prevents the methane from being released into the atmosphere, which has even more harmful effects than carbon dioxide, much research has shown.
Until the state’s bottom line improves, Moore wants to continue educating the public about the potential for biomass fuels and energy, so when investment money is available, the state can move quickly. He would like to see the Kentucky Center for Agriculture and Rural Development in Elizabethtown begin an educational effort to let farmers know how to develop the cooperative business structures that will be needed to bring biomass products to energy plants.
“It’s important that we retain as much as possible of the economic benefit in the area where the product is produced,” Moore said.
Specifically, the report recommends five things:
# Directing the Division of Biofuels within the Energy and Environment Cabinet to coordinate and facilitate biomass and biofuels development statewide. (That’s Moore’s division.)
# Mandating a Kentucky-specific Renewable and Efficiency Portfolio Standard to provide significant opportunities for biomass and job development in Kentucky.
# Directing the Division of Biofuels to publish information about current biomass development and technology in the state, along with demand projected from developing technologies.
# Asking the division to develop a standard for biomass sustainability.
# For the Governor’s Office of Agriculture Policy to assess public opinion about funding such production.
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