(HOST) Lately we’ve been hearing a lot about renewable energy being produced from farms, from ethanol to electricity. Commentator Vern Grubinger has some thoughts about what kind of agricultural energy projects are appropriate for Vermont.
(GRUBINGER) Across the nation, people are energized to do something about energy. Three-dollar a gallon fuel has got our attention, and motivated some action.
Sales of fuel-efficient vehicles have surged, Switchgrass has been in the State of the Union speech – twice! And there’s an unprecedented rush to produce fuel from farms.
Ethanol has garnered much of the attention, with dozens of multi-million gallon plants being built in the mid-West, stimulated in part by federal policies that create financial incentives. Large-scale biodiesel plants are also booming, for similar reasons.
These industrial-size energy efforts are helping crop farmers in the short term by raising commodity prices, but the race to deliver energy from agriculture has some people saying: let’s not forget about sustainability.
That means not forgetting to care for the soil and the water that farming depends on, and remembering that rural communities are affected by these fuel plants, and they need to reap a fair share of the benefits.
In other words, we need to keep our eyes on the prize: producing energy in a way that promotes long term farm profitability, stewardship of natural resources, and vibrant rural communities.
Unlike the corn and soy belt, the Northeast is more interested in smaller scale efforts that fit the size of our farms, our hilly landscape, and our diverse supply of feedstocks, which is the stuff that energy can be made from.
Here in Vermont we’re seeing an increasing number of on-farm digesters that make electricity from cow manure. There’s ongoing experimentation with oil seed crops like canola and sunflower to produce both fuel and animal feed for local farms. And many farmers are trying to make better use of locally-produced biomass that can be burned directly for heat, such as wood chips, grass pellets, or shell corn.
Non-carbon sources of renewable energy like solar and wind, are also being pursued on farms, although they don’t seem to get quite as much attention as plant-based energy.
And energy conservation – the logical starting point for reducing our fossil fuel appetite – gets some attention but could use a whole lot more. Besides insulation, energy efficient equipment and lighting, conservation can also include more local food production for local consumption. That can help reduce the need for energy used in transportation, refrigerated storage, and packaging.
As fossil fuel prices continue to rise and the pressure to make energy from agriculture intensifies, it will be ever more important to link the drive for energy independence with technologies that make sense for our communities.
The cost and payback period of various energy systems are important, but so are the questions of scale and ownership, since these usually dictate who makes decisions and who keeps the profit. That in turn can determine whether farmers simply produce commodities to be turned into fuel by others, or whether they control their destiny in the energy marketplace by owning the means of production.
Vern Grubinger is the vegetable and berry specialist with UVM Extension, and coordinator of USDA’s Northeast Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education program.