The Rural Energy for America Program (REAP) is designed to help agricultural producers and rural small businesses reduce energy costs and consumption and help meet the Nation’s critical energy needs. For 2012, USDA has approximately $25.4 million budget authority available to fund REAP activities, which will support at least $12.5 million in grant and approximately $48.5 million in guaranteed loan program level awards.

USDA is accepting the following applications:

• • renewable energy system and energy efficiency improvement grant applications and combination grant and guaranteed loan applications until March 30, 2012;
• • renewable energy system and energy efficiency improvement guaranteed loan only applications on a continuous basis up to June 29, 2012;
• • renewable energy system feasibility study applications through March 30, 2012; and
• • energy audits and renewable energy development assistance applications through February 21, 2012.

More information on how to apply for funding is available in the Jan. 20 Federal Register, pages 2,948 through 2,954.

“I think they’re basing conclusions on old information that’s not as accurate as it once was,” said Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack during a press conference on another subject Tuesday afternoon. “I think it’s unfortunate that reports based on, in my view, outdated information are suggesting that we ought to just give up the ghost.”

“We’re not going to give up on this industry,” Vilsack continued. “This industry’s too important to the United States, it’s too important to rural America, it’s too important to our future in terms of national security and it’s too important to the whole innovative culture we’re trying to accelerate in this country.”

Listen to Vilsack’s comments here: Tom Vilsack comments on NAS Report

This idea has really captured my fancy and got my head spinning around all the ways it could be carried out. But let me take a step back. Today, our food travels on average 1,500 miles from field to table. Crazy. Much of our produce and fruits come from places like Mexico and South America. Wouldn’t it be cool if they could come from your own city?

That is exactly what Despommier is promoting. In the middle of an urban area could be a “vertical farm” that grows produce, fruits and grains and houses things such as fish farms. These future farms would grow our food year round while the excess waste, or biomass could be used to produce bioelectricity and biofuels. In fact, Despommier says that in some cases, a vertical farm could have up to five harvests per year.

He writes that ideally, they would be cheap to build, modular, durable, easily maintained, and safe to operate. A vertical farm would mitigate external influences on crops such as too much rain or drought and disease along with the need for fertilizers, herbicides or pesticides. Vertical farms would provide well-paying jobs and improve economics. He also believes they should be independent of economic subsidies and outside support once they are up and running and they should be profitable.

Other advantages include:

• • allowance for ecosystem restoration
• • use of 70-95 percent less water (70 percent of all water used globally is for agriculture and 20 percent of all fossil fuels are used in the ag sector)
• • no agricultural runoff
• • greatly reduce food miles
• • more control of food safety and security
• • purification of grey water to drinking water
• • animal feed from postharvest plant material

While today no one has actually built a vertical farm, designers around the world have provided concepts of what they would look like. Despommier writes that there are four major themes that designers and engineers must include: capture sunlight and disperse it evenly among the rocks (one way to capture sunlight is through solar energy); capture passive energy for supplying a reliable source of energy (could be wind or geothermal); employ a good barrier design for plant production; and maximize the amount of space devoted to growing crops.

With land and water at a premium, increased environmental concerns, growing concerns over energy,  and the need to grow more food throughout the world, Despommier’s vertical farm may just be one viable part of the solution. It is well-worth the read.

In 2010, DuPont exceeded revenues of $1 billion from sales into the photovoltaic market and has set a goal of surpassing $2 billion by the end of 2014 based on continued growth supported by new innovations and improved technologies.

“Innovalight has very exciting technology that improves cell efficiency and DuPont can help expedite its adoption,” said David B. Miller, president – DuPont Electronics & Communications. “DuPont and Innovalight share a commitment to innovation in materials that have a common purpose – to make solar energy more efficient and more affordable.”

The company is based in Sunnyvale, Calif and was founded by Conrad Burke. They have developed several silicon ink products that use DuPont’s Solamet photovoltaic metallization pastes to boost the amount of electricity produced from sunlight. The resulting product is known as Emitter solar cells. The company anticipates its Selective Emitter technology could represent 13 percent of crystalline silicon solar cell production by 2013 and increase to 38 percent by 2020.

Burke added, “Innovalight brings in-depth knowledge of solar devices, silicon technology and Selective Emitter technology, and DuPont adds expertise in materials science, manufacturing capabilities and global market access. Our offerings are complementary to one another, and together we will broaden and accelerate our ability to meet customer needs and address today’s energy challenges with our continued innovations.”

This is the second renewable energy company that DuPont has been in partnership this year that it has acquired. Earlier this year, it purchased Danisco.

The study encompassed a continuous 6-week feeding trial of a statistically significant sample of 36 dairy cows living in barns housed at the University of Minnesota. It measured the algae meal against a 17.5 percent protein alfalfa diet and measured nutrient intake, milk yield and composition. With the positive results, PetroAlgae anticipates its micro-crop meal will be highly competitive in the feed market.

The University of Minnesota study is the first to validate PetroAlgae micro-crop meal in the dairy diet against the industry standard. Several key findings included algae meal having higher dairy efficiency values, higher energy values than alfalfa, and algae meal matched the alfalfa diet in milk, milk yield, body score, and body weight.

“The results of this study show that PetroAlgae micro-crop meal is a desirable ingredient for high producing dairy cattle and that it performed comparably to high-protein alfalfa meal,” said Dr. Noah Litherland, who performed the study at the University of Minnesota. “We are encouraged to see this product perform so well against one of the more universally understood products in dairy nutrition.”

Litherland added, “There is also an intriguing opportunity to alter the lipid composition of the meat and milk for added human health benefit.”

“These greater levels of usage have placed a strain on the agricultural production system, resulting in low inventories that leave little room for any production shortfalls,” Hurt said. “Producers certainly have responded to try to meet those demands, but what we’ve seen is that demand has really outpaced the ability of the world to supply.”

Hurt said wheat stocks are in better shape than corn and soybeans that are near “bare minimums” in the U.S. In the past, he said there was enough for 46-60 days or more but anticipates that this won’t be the case after this fall’s harvest.

“With corn, it looks like we could be down to about a 24-day supply at the end of this marketing year,” said Hurt. “That, of course, means any further threats to the 2011 crop yields would send markets into deeper shortages and higher prices.”

Historically, the majority of the corn becomes livestock feed, but in recent years, a larger amount as been going to ethanol production. Hurt said this has led to increased corn acreage and higher prices.

“Fifty-nine percent of all the growth in corn use in the entire world over the last five years has been in a category where ethanol would be placed: industrial use,” Hurt continued. “Here in the United States over the last five years 100 percent of the increase in corn usage is for ethanol, representing 2.5 billion bushels of corn.”

About 27 percent of the U.S. corn crop is used for ethanol, compared to 10 percent in 2005, Hurt estimated. This somewhat factors in the fact that much of the corn used in ethanol production goes back into the market as livestock feed in the form of dried distillers grains.  All told, says Hurt, 16 million additional acres of corn from the 2010 crop was required to produce ethanol versus 2005.

A soybean short fall is also estimated. The USDA has estimated that the soybean supply may be only 22 days on August 31. The U.S. has experienced a 60 percent growth in soybean exports between 2005-2010 with China accounting for the largest growth estimated at 23 million acres.

Hurt says that American farmers have their work cut out for them since the world is relying on them, more than any other country, to provide food and fuel. He concluded, “Either of these demand surges would have had significant impacts on crop prices, farm incomes and land values, but because they were both big and came at the same time the impacts were even larger.”

The Bonsucro certification standard addresses labor and environmental concerns that are often associated with sugarcane production and companies that ask for certified products can be ensured they are more sustainably produced. In addition, the standard includes criteria related to legal compliance, biodiversity and ecosystem impacts, human rights, production and processing, and continuous improvement.

Other companies driving change include the oil industry who is ramping up renewable energy production through the purchase and production of sugarcane ethanol. The Environmental Protection Agency has designated sugarcane ethanol as an advanced biofuel that lowers greenhouse gas reductions by more than 50 percent as compared to gasoline. How a feedstock is produced factors into a fuel’s carbon intensity score (the carbon reduction of the fuel as compared to 100 percent gasoline) and policy such as California’s low carbon fuels standard is driving agricultural production changes.

“Our Bonsucro accreditation fits perfectly with our history as a leading certifier of products with significant environmental and social benefits,” said Dr. Robert J. Hrubes, Senior Vice President of SCS.

“I was honored to be selected for the Council and have the opportunity to share with national policy makers what biomass production can do for farmers, rural communities, job creation and energy independence,” said Rund. “I invited the President to visit my farm to see first-hand what we’re doing to create change.”

Rund has been an early adopter when it comes to biomass research. He is actively developing biomass markets and has been working with local home owners, community school districts and businesses to educate them on how they can utilize biomass energy produced by local farmers.

The meeting Rund attended was just one in a series of meetings being held in DC this summer as part of the White House Rural Council and the White House Business Council to improve economic conditions and create jobs in rural communities. Champions of Change recognizes Americans who are accomplishing great achievements in their communities to out-innovate, out-educate and out-build the rest of the world.

“With the benefit of Achor’s technology and our project design, construction and operating skills, we are well placed to develop our pipeline of new large-scale AD plants, serving our customers in livestock farming and food processing,” said Rupert Fraser, Chief Executive Officer of HRE. “Achor’s technology will enable us to build larger scale anaerobic digestion plants with more competitive economics, so that we can produce truly renewable energy while removing waste problems for farmers and food companies.”

The enzymes increase biogas production from digestible materials including animal and food wastes. The two companies are currently in the process of testing the enzyme at HB Energy’s facility in Wisconsin and preliminary indications are that the improvements are significant. HB Energy uses the ag waste to produce energy including biogas or electricity. To date, they have more than 15 large scale development projects in the works ranging from 3 MW to 20 MW.

Chris Barry, cofounder of Achor and originator of the achorlytic approach to accelerating and enhancing anaerobic digestion, added “Achor Anaerobic is delighted to be working in partnership with HB Energy. The business, engineering and planning base provided by HB Energy provides the perfect platform for the exploitation and expansion of our technology. We aim to make HB Energy the most advanced and profitable AD company in the US and beyond through enabling them to get the very best from the feedstocks available. We will work with them on innovative design and development that will be ‘game-changing’ in the field of anaerobic digestion and bioenergy.”

“We are delighted Craig has joined Cary Street Partners and will be leading our Energy and Commodities team,” said Mark Gambill, chairman. “Over the past decade we have experienced a growing demand for investment banking services from our energy clients. Craig’s hire is yet another step in the on-going expansion of Cary Street Partners’ investment banking business. We welcome his deep industry knowledge, extensive client relationships and successful track record. His breadth of experience, including most recently as the founder of Osage Bio Energy, will provide a unique perspective in serving the needs of our energy industry clients.”

Shealy will begin growing the groups’ portfolio in the ethanol, biodiesel and biomass industries and he says there is enormous opportunities for consolidation in the ethanol and biodiesel markets. He also notes that there is growth capital available for innovative and viable development projects and he believes Cary Street Partners will provide an excellent platform to serve companies in the energy and ag sectors.

“I am extremely excited about helping meet clients’ needs for capital and strategic advice as the energy and commodity-based industries continue to grow and entities seek out consolidation and liquidity opportunities,” added Shealy.

One of the greatest challenges that must be overcome is the fact that while polylactides (PLA) are degradable polymers that can be used in a variety of products, they tend to soften at higher temperatures. This rules them out for extensive use in food and beverage packing applications. Enter Hillmyer. He and his team have developed new types of polyactide-based materials that could overcome this challenge.

Hillmyer believes this discovery could be used in a wide variety of applications that require high temperature stability and toughness. These include plastic bottles, microwave trays, cell phones and more. Hillmyer believes sustainable polymers are the “materials of tomorrow.”

The plasticizers developed by Hillmyer and his team including Dr. Dharma Kodali, are derived from soy oil. Kodali explained that the new plasticizers are synthesized in their lab and could be a viable replacement for petroleum-derived plasticizers. They are comparable in price and performance but are safer, says Kodali, because they are made from renewable resources and degrade readily if leaked into environment.

Current phthalates can leach from plastic and be harmful to the environment and people. Various studies have shown them to be carcinogenic and cause hormonal disruptions.

The soybean oil is chemically converted into new molecules that are useful for the production of things such as polyurethane foams (foam bedding, furniture, building materials). The soybean oil is renewable, degradable and cost competitive. Hillmyer said that so far, the plasticizers have demonstrated good general property profiles but they are not yet sure of the performance of foams at extreme temperatures. He also noted that while the rate of degradation varies on external conditions, on average, a cup made out of polylactide will degrade in an industrial compost environment over about two months.

Hillmyer also said that many of these new materials are already cost competitive with petroleum based materials. However, the newer materials they are developing are in experimental stages and process optimization has not been performed. Therefore, the ultimate cost of the new experimental materials is undetermined at this time.

There is a big market for biopolymers. According to a USDA study conducted in 2008, bio-based polymers could account for nearly 33 percent of the total global market by 2025.

“The global polymer market is hundreds of billions of dollars,” said Hillmyer. “Our technologies could account for some fraction of this huge number.”

Marc Hillmyer’s research has taken place over the past four years, supported by grants from the USDA and Natureworks LLC. Dharma Kodali’s project is in its third year and is funded by United Soybean Board.

The 891 kilowatt solar energy system was designed and installed by SPG Solar. It is comprised of 3,240 Suntech solar modules and two Solaron inverters. It is estimated that the system will generate more than 1.7 megawatt hours annually – enough to offset the dairy’s utility power usage by at least 75 percent.

“The recent volatility of milk prices has underscored the importance of hedging our input costs,” said Mike Monteiro, the dairy’s owner. “The solar energy system will help us fix our energy costs and hedge against long term increases in utility power rates.”

The solar system spans four-acres and is robust enough to power Lakeside’s entire dairy operation including an 11,000 square foot milking barn, heifer corral lighting and fans, manure separator equipment and well and irrigation equipment. This is just one effort engaged by the diary operation to become more sustainable. The farm’s manure-handling equipment removes nearly 50 tons of solid manure a day, thus preventing it from going into the lagoon or giving off gases from decomposition.

“Lakeside Dairy continues to show its commitment to solar that positively impacts their operations today, reducing future electricity costs and investing in the community through the creation of green jobs,” said CEO and President of SPG Solar, Chris Robine. “They are laying out a long-term strategy towards the sustainable production and quality of food produced.”

Rabobank provided the construction and term financing for the solar project and will work with Lakeside to help them manage their finances as they pay off the loan. Gianluca Signorelli, Vice President of Renewable Energy Finance for Rabobank added, “By combining the savings from lower utility power bills with federal and state incentives, Rabobank structured the term loan to potentially be cash flow positive throughout the lifetime of the loan. Once the loan is repaid, the solar system is likely to create even larger savings for Lakeside Dairy.”

“We are delighted that the tender has been successful and we can move on to the process of integrating Danisco into DuPont,” said DuPont Chair & CEO Ellen Kullman. “Danisco’s attractive specialty food ingredients businesses and Genencor’s leading industrial enzymes complement DuPont’s own Nutrition & Health and Applied BioSciences offerings. This combination will create an industry leader in industrial biosciences and nutrition and health.”

Ellen continued, “These businesses will work together to drive sustainable growth and market-driven innovation by linking agriculture, nutrition and advanced materials through industrial biosciences. In addition, the R&D combination of DuPont, Danisco and Genencor will enable us to further respond to global megatrends and help provide for the food, energy and protection needs of a growing population.”

Danisco Chairman Jorgen Tandrup added, “We are very pleased that a vast majority of Danisco shareholders have accepted DuPont’s offer, and the two companies may now begin to move forward together. DuPont and Danisco share cultures based in exceptional science and research capabilities. Our combined strengths in biosciences and nutrition and health will deliver innovative new offerings for customers worldwide, while helping to grow these businesses in ways that will benefit employees, shareholders and the communities in which we serve. We look forward to this next exciting chapter of discovery and success for the joined companies.”

“Starting with a high level overview of the linkages with agriculture and energy, EIA estimates that energy use on farms accounts for about 1 percent of total U.S. energy consumption. In addition to direct farm use energy, agriculture is indirectly affected by energy requirements in the fertilizer industry. Agriculture has also current and potential future role as an energy supplier,” said Newell in his testimony. “Ethanol use in motor vehicles as grown from 1.7 billion gallons per year in 2001 to an estimated 13.2 billion gallons per year in 2010. Other important energy supply opportunities for agriculture include biodiesel, energy sources from waste, and the siting of wind farms on farms with attractive wind resources.”

Listen to Dr. Richard Newell’s testimony here: Dr. Richard Newell's Testimony to the Senate Ag Committee

Newell said that the EIA expects continued tightening in world oil markets over the next two years. particular in light of recent events in North Africa and the Middle East, the world’s largest oil producing region. The organization’s forecast, issued in March, projects retail gasoline prices at the pump will average $3.77 per gallon this summer and $3.56 per gallon for the entire year. This is about 77 cents per gallon higher than last year’s level. Highway diesel prices are expected to be nearly $1.00 per gallon higher than in 2010. This month the EIA issued an updated forecast and called for a 40 percent increase in pump prices this summer.

During his testimony, Newell cautioned that there are regional price variations as well as significant uncertainties in these forecasts. He then went on to forecast what role his agency thinks ethanol might play in the coming years.

“While ethanol production has grown nearly eight fold since 2001, EIA expects slow growth in ethanol production over the next two years with forecast production of 13.8 billion gallons in 2011 and 14 billion gallons in 2012, about 9.9 percent of the forecast volume of gasoline sales in those years,” said Newell.

Although the EPA has granted waivers for the use of E15 in vehicles model year 2011 and newer, the EIA expects both slow growth in E15 and also E85 (as explained in detail in his written testimony). In conclusion, the EIA expects biofuels to grow to 24 billion gallons of ethanol equivalent by 2022 and 39 billion gallons in 2035.

“Novus International is an eco-conscious corporation that has invested wisely in the future of clean energy,” said Pat Romano, president and CEO at Coulomb. “Workplace charging is important for EV drivers that need a safe and available place to fuel during the day. The ChargePoint Network’s advanced solutions give Novus numerous options for their staff and future green fleet vehicles.”

Novus has installed three Coulomb Technologies Level I and II dual output ChargePoint stations. Two of these stations have been installed in the employee parking lot, covering four parking spaces, and one has been installed on the visitor parking lot, covering two parking spaces. The solar array on the roof of the headquarters facility, part of the original building design, was recently expanded to offset the electrical requirements for the charging stations.

“Novus is taking another step towards making all of our business practices more sustainable and environmentally responsible by installing charging stations for electric cars,” said Thad Simons, President and CEO of Novus. “Currently, there are numerous preferred parking spots for employees who drive low-emitting or fuel efficient vehicles, so these charging stations are a logical next step.”

Coulomb’s ChargePoint Network is open to all drivers of plug-in vehicles and all manufacturers of plug-in vehicle charging stations.

“Sapphire’s expertise in algal research offers a novel platform that will allow us to screen and identify promising genes faster,” said Robb Fraley, Monsanto’s chief technology officer. “We face a common goal in looking for ways to improve upon an organism’s ability to achieve greater productivity under optimal and sub-optimal environmental conditions. Together with Sapphire, we can identify genes affecting such traits in algae that might also be applied to corn, cotton, soybeans and other crops.”

Fraley notes that algae is an ideal plant to research because they have a similar photosynthetic process to other plants but are simple and efficient to work with. Algae also can be grown, screened, tested, and selected with high throughput tools, which enables a relatively fast process for researchers.

“Monsanto has always been at the forefront of agricultural technology developments and innovation,” said Jason Pyle, chief executive officer for Sapphire Energy. “Through this collaborative partnership, we’ll focus our leading-edge research agenda on some of the biggest questions facing both agriculture and energy. By leveraging our algae platform and tools to improve crop yield and enhance crop performance, Sapphire will be able to accelerate our ability to produce a renewable crude oil replacement and reduce our country’s dependence on foreign oil.”

Under the agreement, Monsanto will make an equity investment in Sapphire and the two companies will collaborate on algae-based research projects.

Dehner said that the company sells a performance blend of diesel fuel called Dieselex Gold that helps improve fuel efficiency and protects the fuel while in the hands of GROWMARK’s customers. From there, GROWMARK adds various biodiesel blends to that fuel, whether it be B2, B5, B11, which is typical in Illinois, or B20.

Illinois has been very progressive when it comes to the use of biodiesel. The state has a sales tax motor fuels between 6 1/4 percent up to 7 1/2 percent. However, the state passed a waiver that if you use a blend of biodiesel of B10 or higher, effectively B11, there is no sales tax. This becomes very cost effective for the user.

When factoring in this state incentive, the state biodiesel mandate, along with other state biodiesel mandates, the federal Renewable Fuels Standard (RFS2) and the blenders tax credit, Dehner sees good growth for their business this year and in years to come. Yet he said that to ensure this happens, there still needs to be some consumer education. In his experience, he’s found that when you have a chance to speak one-on-one with a customer or potential customer to address misperceptions and perceived issues about the fuel, you are usually able to clear them up and get them on board with using the fuel. But ultimately, as with any product, the fuel must be handled properly and used correctly.

GROWMARK is a huge supporter of renewable fuels and they believe that when a consumer understands the benefits they will be for the same reasons: its homegrown, its good for the environment; and it reduces our dependence on foreign oil. That’s why the company will continue to sell renewable fuels – because it the right thing to do.

You can listen to my full interview with Mark here: Interview with Mark Dehner

2011 National Biodiesel Conference Photo Album

The ground-mounted panels will cover nearly 10 football fields. Nearly half of the solar installation will be located at the Perdue corporate offices in Salisbury, Maryland and the remaining will be located at their feed mill in Bridgeville, Deleware. The panels are being installed by Standard Solar Inc.

“Stewardship is one of our company’s core values, so this is a perfect fit for the way we do business,” said Steve Schwalb, Perdue’s Vice President of Environmental Sustainability. “Using solar power means we’ll have a clean energy source that doesn’t pollute or create greenhouse gases, while lowering Perdue’s energy costs over the life of the project.”

Perdue has also engaged in several other “green” projects. Last year they began renovation their corporate office and hope to obtain LEED certification for environmental leadership from the U.S. Green Building Council. Three years ago, the company began the first to sign a Clean Waters Environmental Initiative with the EPA to aid poultry growers in adopting better pollution prevention practices.

Harry Warren, president of WGES said of the project, “By hosting this project, Perdue is also helping both Maryland and Delaware achieve their statewide solar energy goals. “The Maryland and Delaware Renewable Energy Portfolio Standards Acts call for a growing contribution from solar energy each year through at least 2022, and Perdue’s project will contribute significantly to Maryland’s and Delaware’s total solar power production goals for 2012 and beyond.”

The year-long promotion, designed to highlight the many uses of corn and its importance to Iowa, traversed a year of Iowa State versus Iowa sporting events that included football, basketball and wrestling matches. Iowans were able to register to win from August 20th through November 20th and the grand prize was free food and fuel for one year valued at $5,000 in groceries and $2,500 in ethanol from Kum & Go.

Runner-up prizes were also awarded. Marc Foster, also of Iowa City, was randomly selected to win free food and fuel during the Iowa versus Iowa State wrestling meet on Friday, December 3. In addition, Chris Dodel’s name was drawn to win the same prize during the Iowa versus Iowa State women’s basketball game on Thursday, December 9th. He resides in Urbana, Iowa.

“We’ve reached thousands of people with the Iowa Corn Fed GameDay GiveAway promotion,” said Mindy Williamson, director of communications and public relations for the Iowa Corn Promotion Board (ICPB) and the Iowa Corn Growers Association (ICGA). “Ethanol use was just one benefit featured in the program, which included food and feed uses for corn and messages about corn’s importance to Iowa’s economy, environment and energy independence.”

On behalf of ICGA and ICPB, Williamson thanked Kum & Go, Cyclone Sports Properties and Hawkeye Sports Properties for helping to sponsor the Iowa Corn Fed GameDay GiveAway sweepstakes that is part of a four-year contract with both Hawkeye Sports Properties and Cyclone Sports Properties. The promotion includes radio, television, internet, and on-site marketing and highlights the many uses for corn and its importance to Iowa- as everyday is GameDay for Iowa’s farmers.

“It is an honor to be recognized among this impressive group of clean technology industry leaders,” said Charles R. (Chas) Eggert, President and CEO of OPXBIO. “This recognition strengthens our responsibility and commitment to realize the economic and sustainability benefits of our breakthrough first commercial product – renewable BioAcrylic – for consumer and industrial customers.”

According to OPXBIO, they have developed a proprietary technology known as EDGE (Efficiency Directed Genome Engineering) to manufacture renewable bio-based chemicals and fuels that are lower cost, higher return, and more sustainable than existing petro-based products. Of special note, the company has developed a diesel fuel bio-processed from carbon dioxide and hydrogen. The U.S. Department of Energy has awarded OPXBIO $6 million to support this development.

Other notable winners in the GoingGreen Silicon Valley Top 100 include; Amyris, Chemrec, Cobalt Technologies, CoolPlanetBioFuels, Coskata, EdeniQ, Gevo, LS9, Mendel Biotechnologies, Sapphire Energy, Solazyme, Synthetic Genomics, and ZeaChem.

Weston McBride, Greentech Editor at AlwaysOn said of the winners, “The GoingGreen Silicon Valley Top 100 winners have thrived during trying economic conditions through innovation and creativity. It is by their example that the next generation of clean technologies will transform the global economy with more robust systems primed for sustained growth.”

Of special interest will be speaker Craig Shealy, President of OSAGE BioEnergy who will present the Appomattox Barley Ethanol Plant model. The plant, which is scheduled to go online in November, will become the first working barley to ethanol plant in the country. Additional speakers include Phil Madson, President of KATZEN International, who served as the construction and service provider for OSAGE.

Also speaking is Bruce Nelson, Farm Service Agency State Executive Director, who will conduct a brief community outreach forum focusing on the 2010 USDA Biofuels Strategic Production Report. The presentation will follow the Biofuel Summit. Nelson chairs USDA’s Montana Food and Agriculture Council.

Individuals including agricultural producers, consumers, biofuel distributors, educators, students, livestock producers, and financing institutions are especially encouraged to attend. The event is open to the public and is free to attend compliments of funds provided by a Growth Through Agriculture Grant from the Montana Department of Agriculture. Registration forms and additional information is available at the EPAC website at www.ethanolmt.org, or by calling 1-406-785-3722.

Renewable Fuels Association Vice President of Research Geoff Cooper notes that the record yields effectively demonstrate that U.S. farmers can meeting increasing demands without needing to expand acreage as well as meet the growing demands for food, feed and fuel.

“This will be the third 13 billion bushel crop on record and it’s worth noting that this year’s crop will be produced on nearly 6 million fewer acres than the first 13 billion bushel crop just three years ago. Once again, today’s report further undermines the theory that U.S. farmers will need to convert non-agricultural land to cropland to keep up with increasing demand. The rapid adoption of new technologies and practices is allowing the nation’s farmers to continue to produce more grain on fewer acres.”

To put the significance of the increase in perspective, this year’s estimated crop will be twice as large and the corn crop produced 30 years ago in 1980 but it will be achieved using only 4.6 percent more acres than in 1980. Also of note, the USDA projects that 4.7 billion bushels of corn will be processed into ethanol for the 2010/11 marketing year, producing approximately 13 billion gallons of ethanol.

Turfal’s operations are located 25 miles from Novozymes’ Latin American headquarters in Curitiba and will become the platform for all of Novozymes’ sustainable agriculture business in Brazil.

“The main reason for the acquisition is that we want to expand Novozymes’ position within the market for sustainable agriculture,” said Thomas Videbæk, Executive Vice President, BioBusiness, Novozymes. “We see exciting growth opportunities on the Brazilian bioagriculture market, and Turfal will give Novozymes direct access to this market.”

Novozymes is stepping up its game as the company continues to position itself as a worldwide player to help meet the challenges of feeding a growing global population. Experts estimate that global agricultural production will need to increase by 73 percent in order to feed more than 9 billion people by 2050. One sustainable agricultural challenge is to increase yields without increasing the number of acres of cropland.

“The nitrogen-fixating inoculants from Turfal and Novozymes can help farmers reduce their need for nitrogen fertilizers by up to 80 percent on leguminous crops. This is a unique value proposition in a world where farmers are under pressure to increase yields in a sustainable manner,” said Videbæk.

However, prior to addressing the status of the E15 Waiver, Vilsack began by noting that biofuels are a good way to bring prosperity and economic vitality to all regions across the country. Rural America is disappearing and farmers have been one of the hardest hit groups during this financial crises. He explained that its not just growing the crops that help farmers but also the jobs it creates for residents of rural communities who work in the ethanol plants and other companies that are tied to biofuels production.

Circling back to E15, approving a higher blend is essential to reaching the country’s goal of producing 36 billion gallons of biofuels by 2022. Per the mandates as set by the EPA as part of the Renewable Fuels Standard, nearly 10 percent of all fuel will be blended with E10 in 2010. Without higher blends, including E85, there is no where for the fuel to go.

Yet earlier this week, the EPA announced that it was delaying any decision on increasing the blend level to E15 until the end of the summer. Vilsack commented that the purpose of the delay is due to ongoing testing by the Department of Energy to determine what engines can use the higher blend without ill effects. It has already been established that newer vehicles, and all flex-fuel vehicles can use the higher blend safely, “Which suggests to me that we’re going to see an increase in the blend rate,” said Vilsack. He then noted that it will be important to use rural development resources to make sure the distribution systems create the opportunities for people to use higher blends.

You can see photos from Commodity Classic here.

You can listen to Vilsack’s comments on biofuels here.

Dean Morrell, Product Marketing Manager for Hay and Forage Harvesting, was on site and talked with me about their system. He says it’s a one pass system which utilizes combine technology and durable large square baler technology. He says the material doesn’t touch the ground and makes for a very clean bale product. They had to do some major customization on the equipment and they have two units out working in the field as part of the development process.

You can listen to my interview with Dean below.

POET Project LIBERTY Field Day Photo Album

Sam says they’re demonstrating an Axial-Flow 8120 combine and biomass harvesting system. The combine features a massive 350 bushel grain tank and has an attached biomass cart which is receives power from the combine. The cart has an adjustable cleaning system to tailor the cob/stover sample how you want it.

You can listen to my interview with Sam below and watch a video clip of the equipment lined up and waiting demonstration starting with Case IH.

POET Project LIBERTY Field Day Photo Album

The prototype equipment they had on display was a one pass, two stream cob collection system. On the back of their combine they have a new prototype piece of equipment that allows the grain to follow a normal path and the cobs then flow out of an attachment on the back of the combine. He says the equipment allows you some flexibility in how you choose or handle what is being harvested. A wagon is pulled by a tractor alongside the combine to collect the cobs. They’re currently not endorsing the towing of equipment behind their combines but this is equipment that is in development for the future.

You can listen to my interview with Dean below and watch a video clip of their equipment in action.

POET Project LIBERTY Field Day Photo Album

The report, authored by BBI in the fall of 2008 through spring of 2009, intended to define the amount of economically available biomass available in the county as well as explore the financial viability of several different conversion technologies.

Aitkin County is a unique geographical location in Minnesota. The 1,995-square- mile county is a transition zone that forms the northern border of the corn/soybean/wheat region of the state and the southern border of the heavily forested northern region of the state. The area is predominantly deciduous forests, wetlands and grasslands.

Ross Wagner, Aitkin County economic development & forest industry coordinator said, “We felt we had an economically viable biomass resource, but it was all based on anecdotal evidence. Until we could quantify what we actually had, any discussions of a project would be just talk.”

The report will now be used by the Aitkin County Economic Development agency as they work to leverage the abundant biomass supply in their county for economic growth and jobs.

I had a chance to speak with Flinchbaugh for a few minutes after the session to have him expand on climate change and renewable fuels.

“Front and center is renewable fuels and climate change and you can’t separate the two. And the question is global warming a hoax is a stupid question because the political system worldwide has decided that its for real and things are going to happen,” said Flinchbaugh. “The Supreme Court gave the EPA the authority to regulate greenhouse gas emissions. So to pretend we can whip this, we being agriculture is ridiculous. We can’t whip this and we need to get inside the tent and help make the decisions.”

Although his comments on how current climate change policy will affect both America and the international communities are insightful, I wanted to know how the cap and trade bill would affect the profitability of farmers in America. To put his answer in perspective, Big Oil receives 2 percent in credits and agriculture receives 7 percent.

“I think we can come out a net winner but we need to refine the current law to do this,” answered Flinchbaugh. But what happens when you add the policy surrounding indirect land use (which has been deferred for five years)?

“No. Absolutely not. And this whole indirect land use issue is an emotional bogus issue. One of the things that Colin really got done was put this off for five years. One of the things we can do in the next five years is prove this is bogus issue.”

Listen here to the joint interview with myself and Kansas Ag Network reporter Greg Akagi.

Chad Holliday with the GWCarver award and Mark Wright of Iowa State, the recipient of the Carver scholarship.

George Washington Carver is considered one of the founding fathers of modern industrial biotechnology and the award is given to companies who focus on continuing to develop products through sustainable agriculture. Carver’s work inspired leaders of the chemurgy movement, whose proponents looked for ways to replace petrochemicals with farm-derived products. Leaders of the chemurgy movement such as Charles Kettering and William Jay Hale proposed that anything made from a hydrocarbon could be made from a carbohydrate. Today, companies are using industrial biotechnology to manufacture plastics, chemicals, pharmaceuticals, and even food ingredients from renewable agricultural resources.

Brent Erickson, executive vice president of BIO’s Industrial & Environmental Section, said of Holliday’s accomplishments, “During Holliday’s tenure as CEO, DuPont invested in biology-based businesses and infused them with its chemistry know-how. For instance, DuPont partnered with sugar processor Tate & Lyle to manufacture 1,3 propanediol, a polyester ingredient made by fermenting sugar. That venture led the company to think about applying its fermentation expertise to making renewable fuels and chemicals in a biorefinery. Under the aegis of the Department of Energy, the firm has worked with several research partners to further the concept and make it commercially viable.”

“Market-driven science discovery and new product innovation are at the very core of DuPont’s business, and industrial biotechnology is a key component of that, ” said Holliday. “Innovation is essential to business growth that provides safer and more secure lives for people everywhere while addressing global energy and environmental challenges. On behalf of all DuPont employees around the world, I am deeply honored to receive an award that recognizes and promotes work toward this goal, especially as it is given by a group of peers who share this vision.”

Accompanying the award is a George Washington Carver scholarship given in the name of Charles O. Holliday, Jr., to Iowa State University graduate student Mark Wright, currently pursuing a Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering and Biorenewable Resources and Technology. The award is sponsored by DSM, the Iowa Biotechnology Association and the Iowa Department of Economic Development.