Drive Beyond Oil

FarmPolicy.com - a great source of info

Just want to give a plug for one of my favorite sources of information on agricultural policy: FarmPolicy.com. The author, Keith Good, provides a daily digest of news and opinions for the extremely reasonable price of $35 per year. Today's newsletter includes a good wrap up of recent articles on the ethanol market. It also mentions a recent study written by Amani Elobeid and Simla Tokgoz of the Center for Agriculture and Rural Development at Iowa State University on what would happen if we removed the US ethanol incentive and the import tariff. As Keith points out, the Farm Gate blog provides a helpful summary of the study. The main lesson I draw from reading the summary is that changes in the incentive and tariff would have wide spread and in some cases counter intuitive effects. This reinforces my personal opinion that while these policies need to be revamped, they should be done in the context of a comprehensive reform not piecemeal.

Manure - The Smell of Money

This was written by former NRDC intern, Charles Baron, and is supposed to run in the Omaha World Herald any day now. I think it's a great piece and want to share it here.

Manure - The Smell of Money

by Charles Baron

The odors blasting from feedlots, livestock markets, and slaughterhouses can be enough to knock the sturdiest plainsman out of his boots.  But the process of turning manure into methane fuel, known as biogas, is catching on with big industry and small farmers alike.

An Omaha company, E3 BioFuels, will open the world's first biogas powered ethanol plant in Mead, Nebraska this October. Their "closed loop" design features a 24 million gallon per year ethanol plant linked to a 30,000 head feed lot.

E3's cattle will produce enough manure to meet 100% of the plant's energy needs while eliminating disposal costs. In turn, the ethanol plant will produce enough wet distillers grain to feed 40% of the herd.  This level of cost cutting could revolutionize ethanol's economics.

Biogas works for smaller operations as well. Haubenschild Farms Inc, in Princeton, Minnesota, built a biogas system for its 750 cow dairy herd in 1999. By 2001, the 132 killowatt generator was producing enough electricity for their entire farm and 75 average homes. The $355,000 system produces over $80,000 worth of electricity a year.

Biogas is made by storing manure in large oxygen free tanks or covered lagoons called "Anaerobic Digesters." The manure is heated to speed natural digestion by bacteria. Bacteria then release methane, aka. natural gas, which is piped to an engine to be burned for electricity or heat.

The "cooked" manure can be used as mulch or animal bedding or sold as valuable fertilizer. High in ammonia, phosphorous, potassium, and mineral nitrate, it has been shown to increase crop yields by 10% over conventional fertilizers. Weed seeds are also digested, reducing the need for herbicides.

Biogas also has remarkable benefits for public health. Fecal Coliform Bacteria, which carries Cholera, Typhoid, Hepatitis A, and Dysentery, seeps from manure piles into waterways. Biogas systems have proven to reduce these bacteria by 99% while eliminating odors by 97%.

Biogas also helps reduce global warming. Methane traps twenty-one times more heat per molecule than carbon dioxide. Burning biogas for power converts methane into less harmful carbon dioxide. Biogas proves that what's good for the environment can also be great for business.

By using manure instead of coal, gas, or oil, for power, more of Nebraska's energy dollars can be pumped into the local economy instead of in the oil coffers of the Middle-East.

The manure from each of Nebraska's 3.9 million feedlot cattle can produce 2.3 killowatt-hours of clean electricity per day - enough to meet 10.2% of Nebraska's current electricity needs. In 2002, Nebraska spent $1.4 billion on electricity, $205.3 million of which went to buy coal, gas, oil, and nuclear fuel. This money could be kept instate and private, pumping tens of millions of dollars into the rural economy each year, easing the tax burden on citizens, and making Nebraska's cattle industry more profitable and competitive.

Combine biogas with Nebraska's huge ethanol and wind-energy potential, and you're talking about a possible clean energy bonanza. Nebraska--Saudi Arabia in the heartland?

Biogas systems, while economical, are still expensive. Federal subsidies and no-interest loans are needed. Nebraskacould provide a 1.5 cent/killowat-hour incentive for biogas electricity to spur development as Minnesota does.

Most importantly, Nebraska needs to adopt practical net-metering laws as have many other states including Iowa, Colorado, North Dakota, Minnesota, and Kansas. Net-metering allows private power producers to sell back excess power to the utility - making small-scale electricity generation economical for businesses, homes and farms.

Iowa's net metering allowance of 100 megawatts per property owner has spurred a wind energy boom worth nearly a billion dollars.

Lastly, Nebraska's utilities need to modify their Least Cost Option requirements for utility power generation so that Nebraska can invest in technologies like biogas and wind, keeping more energy dollars and jobs in state.

Biogas means energy made by Nebraskans for Nebraskans. It means giving citizens more control over where they get power. It also means independence from Mid-East oil and gas, a stronger local economy and healthier environment.

With the right strategy, Nebraskacould become a world leader in clean energy. So take a good whiff of what could be Nebraska's biogas boom.

Big dollars for renewable energy

The Clinton Global Initiative is wrapping up here in NYC. This week’s meetings saw the announcement of $4 billion in investments in biofuels and other energy technologies to cut global warming pollution. Yesterday, Sir Richard Branson said that he would invest $3 billion. (“Branson Pledges Billions to Fight Global Warming,” by Andrew C. Revkin, NY Times, 9/21/06), and today President Clinton announced a $1 billion renewable energy investment fund (“Clinton debuts $1B renewable-energy fund,” By Nahal Toosi, Associated Press, 9/22/06). You know the old saying: a billion here and a billion there and soon you start talking about real money. Nothing can substitute for good government policies, but these are big sums and if they’re used well, they will make a difference.

Re-Energizing Iowa

Plymouth Congregational Church

Our waitress at the Raccoon River Brewing Company sounded eager to attend our town hall tonight. Admiral McGinn called in to the top rated Des Moines talk radio show this morning to promote the event. The level of excitement for the town hall is indicative of how important oil dependence and global warming are to hard-working Americans.

The stage is set. The word is out.

Now all we need is for the good people at Delta Airlines to get a couple of our speakers here on time...

Iowa and the New Energy Revolution

The Drive Beyond Oil demonstrated that Americans are hungry for solutions to oil addiction.

We're heading to Iowa to discuss a variety of perspectives on energy security at a town hall sponsored by Re-energize America. Re-energize America is a diverse and growing coalition of concerned individuals and organizations that together reflect the fast-emerging national consensus that America must reduce both its oil dependence and global warming pollution. The best way to do that is to harness clean, renewable energy sources and to improve the energy efficiency of vehicles, buildings and industry. By expanding our energy choices we stimulate innovation, create jobs, strengthen our national security and stop global warming. Re-energize America calls for cutting our oil use by 2.5 million barrels a day within a decade, in large part by relying on cleaner, more efficient technologies like hybrid systems in our cars and trucks, and new biofuels made from crops grown by Iowa’s farmers.

The town hall is hosted by Des Moines Mayor Frank Cownie. Adm. Dennis McGinn, U.S. Navy (ret.), will address the security issues posed by oil addiction. Norm Olson from the Iowa Energy Center will discuss real-world solutions for Iowans. NRDC's Dale Bryk will tackle global warming. The moral dimension of oil addiction and global warming will be addressed by Bishop Alan Scarfe from the Episcopal Diocese of Iowa.

If you are in or near Des Moines, your attendance is welcomed. The town hall starts 7pm on Thursday Septeber 7th at Plymouth Congregational Church at the intersection of 42nd and Ingersoll.

The Des Moines town hall is sponsored by National Council of Churches, Natural Resources Defense Council, Iowa Environmental Council, Iowa Farmers Union, Iowa Interfaith Power and Light, National Catholic Rural Life Conference and the Peace Committee of Plymouth United Church of Christ.