We all need it. Now, more than ever, we need more of it.
Fuel – It’s a double-edged sword. It operates society, yet its creation can be considered by some to be problematic to society.
To meet the demand for renewable fuels, a fuel source that is heralded for its eco-friendly bases and sustainability, the U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) new Biomass Crop Assistance Program (BCAP) subsidizes farmers who produce non-food crops that can be used to create fuel.
BCAP is designed to advocate for the establishment of a sufficiently large base of new, non-food, non-feed biomass crops in anticipation of future demand for renewable energy consumption.
“Domestic production of renewable energy, including biofuels, is a national imperative,” said U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack. “That’s why USDA is working to assist in developing a biofuels industry in every corner of the nation.”
The Renewable Fuels Association states that the U.S. will use about 138 billion gallons of gasoline this year. The Renewable Fuels Standard mandates that the U.S. use 36 billion gallons of renewable fuel annually by 2022. To help achieve this standard, the use of biofuels, including corn-based ethanol and soybean-derived biodiesel, is imperative.
As part of the 2008 Farm Bill Program, BCAP has a two-pronged approach to support renewable fuel production that will reduce reliance on imported oil and boost rural economies:
1. Provides matching payments for the transportation of certain eligible materials that are sold to qualified biomass conversion facilities to assist both agricultural and forest landowners and operators
2. Provides assistance for the establishment and production of eligible renewable biomass crops within specified project areas
BCAP Quick Facts
- Payments up to 75 percent of the cost of establishing eligible perennial crops
- Payments up to 15 years for woody perennial crops
- Annual payments up to five years for growing annual or perennial herbaceous or non-woody crops
- Increased costs for refiners related to use of the new biomass crops will be paid up to $281.5 million that remains from the 2008 Farm Act
- Biomass or biofuel production plants must be certified with the Farm Service Agency for the farmers to claim the payments
Increased use of ethanol and biodiesel in the fuel supply is a step toward the progressive use of renewable fuels.
Recently, The Environmental Protection Agency approved increasing concentrations of ethanol blended with gasoline for U.S. vehicles made in 2007 and later to 15 percent from 10 percent. A decision about whether to extend that ruling to cars built from 2001 to 2006 will come next month after more testing, reports a Bloomberg story.
Additionally, Vilsack noted that Congress should help build the biofuel industry by “reinstating the Biodiesel Production Tax Credit and providing a fiscally responsible short-term extension of the Volumetric Ethanol Excise Tax Credit (VEETC),” as reported by the National Association of Convenience Stores (NACS).
A federal tax credit that provided blenders of biodiesel $1 for every gallon produced is expired, while a federal tax credit that provided blenders of ethanol 45 cents for every gallon produced (VEETC) expires Dec. 31, 2010.
BCAP facilitates biofuel’s potential to help America assert its energy security. I hope it continues to foster more positive strides regarding renewable-fuel use.
Photo obtained from: allfreelogo.com
To increase the production and use of renewable-energy sources, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) is soliciting federal grants for biorefinery projects.
One such project, the Biorefinery Assistance Program, provides guaranteed loans for the development and construction of commercial-scale biorefineries or for the retrofitting of existing facilities (including, but not limited to, wood-products facilities and sugar mills) for the development of advanced biofuels.
“Renewable-energy production is a key to sustainable economic development in rural America,” said U.S. Agriculture Sec. Tom Vilsack. “We must rapidly escalate production of biofuels to meet the 2022 Federal Renewable Fuels standard goal, and much of this biofuel will come from feedstocks produced by America’s farmers and ranchers. This will be an increasing source of income for rural America and it represents an opportunity to increase the number of green jobs available not only to farm families, but also to residents of rural communities.”
Vilsack specifically mentioned feedstocks – crops or products that can be used as or converted into biofuels and bioenergy. Common feedstocks include soybeans and rapeseed while alga and ethanol byproducts are emerging feedstocks.
Farmers of these and other sources of feedstock can benefit from biorefinery developments because of increased market opportunity. However, the advancement of this renewable energy comes with a price tag.
According to a blog at Biofuels Digest, “Because biofuels projects cost in the hundred of millions, the “family member” guarantor of choice in the U.S. is Uncle Sam – the one with the balance sheet and the policy interest to make commercial biofuels happen.”
But programs such as the Biorefinery Assistance Program expand the promise for biofuels in America.
Program Information: - Eligible applicants: Individuals, tribal entities, state-government entities, local-government entities, corporations, farm cooperatives, farmer cooperative organizations, associations of agricultural producers, national laboratories, institutions of higher education, rural-electric cooperatives, public-power entities and other groupings of any of the previous entities
- Loan limits: Maximum of $250 million; no minimum requirement; maximum loan will be reduced by the amount of other direct federal funding the eligible borrower receives for the same project
Eligible projects: - Projects must be located in a rural area (50,000 or less population)
- Projects must use “eligible technology,” which is defined as either:
- A technology that is being adopted in available commercial-scale operation of a biorefinery that produces an advanced biofuel; or
- A technology not described in the previous paragraph that has been demonstrated to have technical and economic potential for commercial application in a biorefinery that produces an advanced biofuel
In 2009, this initiative, and other provisions within the overarching program to stimulate energy development, funded 1,557 projects in 50 states, the territory of Puerto Rico and the Western Pacific Islands, expecting to reduce greenhouse gases by 1.5 million metric tons of carbon. These investments will generate a projected equivalent of 1.5 million kilowatts of electricity.
As America works to develop a clean-energy economy, the use of programs like the Biorefinery Assistance Program, is vital. This program, and others modeled like it, provide rural, green jobs and propel us toward energy independence. They also provide more economic incentive for American farmers to continue the production of feedstock crops.
*Photo obtained from www.clear.certh.gr/img/bio-refinery%201.jpg
Recently, our country’s first offshore wind farm was created six miles from Hyannis Port, Mass., which has renewed interest in the wind-power industry.
Wind power is the fastest-growing energy source in the world and farmers could take advantage of the weather opportunity.
An article in Distributed Energy cleverly titled, “Wind: The easiest crop to harvest,” outlines the benefits of wind farming for our country’s farmers and ranchers.
“Farming is all about maximizing profits and reducing risk. Wind energy does both,” said Patrick Pelstring, National Wind co-chair, the nation's leading utility-scale community wind developer.
For example, farmers can lease land to wind developers, use wind generated from wind turbines located on their farms to power their own farms and/or become wind-power producers to capitalize their land.
“Now we grow corn on the ground and generate power in the air—all on the same piece of property," said Delbert Watson, a farmer in Clear Lake, Iowa, in a Christian Science Monitor article.
Windustry.org outlines the land-lease process for farmers at its Web site.
According to a blog posted at the Union of Concerned Scientists:
“The U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) "Wind Powering America" initiative has set a goal of producing five percent of the nation's electricity from wind by 2020. DOE projects meant to achieve this goal will provide $60 billion in capital investment to rural America, $1.2 billion in new income to farmers and rural landowners and 80,000 new jobs during the next 20 years.”
Wind farm facts (National Wind)
- Wind turbines are much quieter than most people think
- Each turbine needs a plot of about 100 acres to separate it from other turbines (the actual footprint of each turbine is less than one acre).
- Typical lease arrangements for placement of a 1.5-megawatt turbine on property run between $6,000 and $9,000 a year.
Not only can farmers use wind turbines to supplement their income, but in an industry dependent on the weather, wind farms can also serve as a buffer against unfavorable conditions.
“This allows the farmer to diversify his income and reduce risk,” said Pelstring. “After construction is complete, the practice of farming continues as it has for generations, with the bonus of added financial security.”
Farmers used to diversify their income by adding new commodity crops to their rotation. But now, depending on their wind-assessment results, they could look to wind farming as lucrative earning potential.
*Photo obtained from http://www.ucsusa.org/
