Domestic Fuel

The use of anaerobic digesters for livestock operations in the Southwest is the focus of the Renewable Energy Education Field Day webinar planned for later this month.

The webinar will be presented on Wednesday October 26 and will examine technical, environmental and financial factors to consider when installing an anaerobic digester on a livestock operation and specifically the use of digesters with dry manure and the unique environmental issues and climatic conditions of the Southwest.

The virtual Field Day is free of charge and targeted to dairy and beef producers in New Mexico, Arizona, California, Colorado, Kansas, Oklahoma and Texas. Representatives of environmental and agricultural organizations working with livestock producers, as well as staff from state and federal agencies, are also encouraged to participate.

The webinar’s origination site will be the New Mexico Farm and Ranch Heritage Museum, Las Cruces, N.M., where anyone interested in the area is invited to attend live. Five viewing sites have been set up across the Southwest at Lamar Community College, Lamar, Colo.; Otero County Extension Office, Rocky Ford, Colo.; Arizona State University, Polytechnic Campus, Mesa, Ariz.; the U.S. EPA Region 9 Office, San Francisco, Calif.; and the Texas A&M’s AgriLife Research and Extension Center, Amarillo, Texas. Additional sites may be added.

Farm Foundation, NFP is organizing this webinar in collaboration with USDA Rural Development, USDA’s Office of Energy Policy and New Uses, and USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service. There is no charge to participate in this webinar, but registration is required by going to the FarmFoundation.org website. This is the second Renewable Energy Education Field Day presented by Farm Foundation, NFP and USDA agencies. Biomass was the subject of the first Field Day in November 2010.

Mark your calendar for Nov. 10th, as the Farm Foundation sponsors the latest in its free forums that discuss the food, agricultural and rural policy issues facing this country.

This upcoming discussion, held from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. at the National Press Club, 529 14th Street NW, Washington D.C., focuses on energy issues, in particular biofuels:

Burton English of the University of Tennessee will discuss projected impacts of proposed federal renewable portfolio standards on the economy of four states-Kansas, Colorado, North Carolina and Florida. This study was done by the Biobased Energy Analysis Group of the Department of Agricultural Economics at the University of Tennessee, and was funded in part by a grant from the Bipartisan Policy Center. English will also discuss methodologies and scenarios used by University of Tennessee researchers in preparing a second study that was funded by 25x’25. Results of that study are scheduled to be released on Wednesday, Nov. 11.

How greenhouse gas (GHG) policies might affect U.S. agriculture is the subject of a third study, to be discussed by Bruce McCarl of Texas A&M University, one of the report’s nine authors. This study indicates “that policies encouraging agricultural and forestry bioenergy and GHG mitigation efforts could stimulate agricultural income significantly, despite higher associated input costs.”

The program will also look at energy inputs on croplands, which include, of course, feedstocks for biofuels.

Make your reservation for the free forum by the close of business, next Friday, Nov. 6th to to Mary Thompson, Farm Foundation Director of Communication by e-mailing her at mary@farmfoundation.org.

The ag policy think tank known as Farm Foundation has announced the winners of its competition to look for long-term solutions to the major questions of how to provide food, feed, fiber and fuel to a growing world, and biofuels are the subjects of at least two of the winners.

Last December, Farm Foundation announced its 30-Year Challenge report that identifies six major areas of challenges agriculture will face as it works to provide food, feed, fiber and fuel to a growing world. The six areas are: global financial markets and recession; global food security; global energy security; climate change; competition for natural resources; and global economic development. This past spring, Farm Foundation announced a competition for essays to come up with some solutions for those challenges (see my post from April 30, 2009). Two different sets of researchers, Chad Hellwinckel and Daniel De La Torre Ugarte, both of the University of Tennessee, and Loni Kemp of Kemp Consulting, were named winners.

The entry from Hellwinckel and De La Torre Ugarte focused on the role of biofuels in agriculture policy:

Viewing agriculture simply as a potential source for meeting the greater economy’s fuel demand will not guarantee the necessary transition, and could even exacerbate soil destruction, increase agriculture’s input consumption and lead to food shortages. If appropriate, biofuels could be a vital part of long-term agricultural policy, but agriculture should not simply become a part of energy policy.

Biofuels demand could be a catalyst creating the right conditions for a transition to a truly regenerative agriculture, particularly if that demand moderately increases all commodity net returns. If crafted within a larger agricultural policy matrix, biofuels policy can be part of the solution.

Kemp’s entry looked at overhauling the current biofuels tax credit system:

What is missing from current tax policy is a requirement for actual performance in delivering expected environment and climate benefits. To remedy this, the mix of existing federal biofuel tax credits—including the ethanol blender’s tax credit—must be reformed into a unified performance-based tax credit. The actual level of payment per gallon would vary, according to the sustainability performance of the biorefinery.

Read the rest of this post…

Cigar-chomping, irreverent, and always entertaining professor of agricultural economics at Kansas State University, Barry Flinchbaugh, is now the Chair of the Board of Trustees of Farm Foundation. It seems only fitting that Flinchbaugh, known for his direct style and usually correct stances (even when conventional wisdom might say something else) is leading an organization that is known for thinking outside the box to come up with public policy solutions for the ag sector, including the biofuels industries.

Farm Foundation included some biographical information about Flinchbaugh in its announcement… and that information certainly explains why he has been picked for the position:

Flinchbaugh has taught at Kansas State since 1971, focusing on national agricultural and economic policy. He is much sought after as a speaker, and has authored more than 100 publications, including an agricultural policy textbook. On three occasions students of the KSU College of Agriculture have given him the Outstanding Teacher Award. He earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees at Pennsylvania State University, and a Ph.D. at Purdue University.

Flinchbaugh chaired the Commission on 21st Century Production Agriculture authorized in the 1996 Farm Bill. He has led Kansas Agricultural People-to-People tours to the Soviet Union, China, the South Pacific and Africa. Flinchbaugh is a member of Rotary International, serves on the Board of the Kansas City Board of Trade and KARL Inc. He is a recipient of the prestigious Hildreth Award for career achievement in public policy education, as well as distinguished service awards from the American Farm Bureau Federation and the American Agricultural Editors Association.

As you might remember from our coverage of the International Federation of Agricultural Journalists Congress/Ag Media Summit on Domestic Fuel and AgWired.com, Flinchbaugh was involved in the “Great Debate” with former Texas congressman Charlie Stenholm. You can also check out some pics from that summit on Flickr.

A report on food prices and the role biofuels have played (and have not played) in the spike of those prices has been recognized for a very prestigious award.

The Farm Foundation report entitled “What’s Driving Food Prices?” released last year has won the 2009 Quality of Communication Award presented by the Agricultural and Applied Economics Association (AAEA) for the report’s objective, comprehensive look at how last year’s spike in oil prices was largely responsible for the spike in food prices, while increased ethanol demand played a smaller role (although it got more of the blame):

The report was written by Wallace Tyner, Philip Abbott and Chris Hurt, all agricultural economists at Purdue University. They identified three main drivers of food prices–depreciation of the U.S. dollar, changes in production and consumption, and growth in biofuels production. When it was released in July 2008, the report received wide distribution both nationally and internationally through the Farm Foundation Forum at which it was released, subsequent press coverage, and a webinar.

Within six months, food supplies had stabilized and economic conditions had changed dramatically. In light of these changes, Farm Foundation asked the three authors to update the report. Released in March 2009, the updated report showed that the three primary drivers of food prices remained unchanged, despite the significant reversal of conditions.

Three other Farm Foundation projects were also recognized by the AAEA Awards Committee. The Quality of Research Discovery Award went to Alan L. Olmstead of the University of California, Davis, and Paul W. Rhode, of the University of Arizona, for their book, Creating Abundance: Biological Innovation and American Agricultural Development; the Outstanding Article Award for AAEA’s Choices magazine went to Bruce A. McCarl of Texas A&M University and Steve K. Rose of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for the article, “Greenhouse Gas Emissions, Stabilization and the Inevitability of Adaption: Challenges for U.S. Agriculture;” and three students were honored in the AAEA Graduate Student Extension Competition. First place went to Anna Flaig of Purdue University; second to Sonja Peraski of Michigan State University; and third to Daniel Sanders of Ohio State University. Farm Foundation funds the awards for this competition.

The final in a series of Farm Foundation conferences looking at agricultural issues in the modern economy will be held next week in Little Rock, Arkansas and will focus on extension services and renewable energy.

The Transition to a Bioeconomy: The Role of Extension in Energy conference will be June 30-July 1 at Little Rock’s Doubletree Hotel:

The program features experts working in renewable energy, biofuels, energy efficiency and new energy technologies. Presenters include industry leaders, staff from USDA and the U.S. Department of Energy, and researchers working in energy efficiency, renewable energy and new energy technologies.

* Risk Management for Energy Investments
* Making Energy Efficiency Choices
* Energy Crop Agronomics
* Forestry
* Harvest, Storage and Logistics
* Extension and Other Delivery Methods

There still seems to be time to register for the event, but I’m not sure about availability at the Doubletree Hotel.

More information is available at this Farm Foundation Web site.

Our friends at Farm Foundation are always looking for answers to the challenges facing farmers around the world. And part of that search includes bringing in diverse points of view to make sure that real solutions are found. That’s why the Foundation has issued its 30-Year Challenge Competition.

Farm Foundation officials are handing out $20,000 in cash prizes for the best ideas to address the challenges agriculture may face in providing food, feed, fiber and fuel over the next 30 years. But you need to get your ideas in by close of business Monday, June 1:

The competition is open to anyone with an interest in the public policy issues outlined in the Foundation’s report, The 30-Year Challenge: Agriculture’s Strategic Role in Feeding and Fueling a Growing World. That report discusses challenges in six areas: global financial markets and recession; global food security; global energy security; climate change; competition for natural resources; and global economic development.

Entries can be submitted that address issues in one of the six challenge areas, or multiple areas. For each of the six challenge areas, judging will be done by an independent three-member panel selected by Farm Foundation. Prize winners will be announced in September 2009.

More details about the 30-Year Challenge is available on the Farm Foundation Web site.

The 30-Year Challenge project is directed and led by Farm Foundation. Contributing financial assistance to the project are: the Alliance for Abundant Food and Energy, the American Farm Bureau Federation, the National Corn Growers Association, the National Pork Producers Council, and the United Egg Producers.

Get your reservation in for the next free Farm Foundation Forum, as the topic of discussion will turn to the subject of greenhouse gases and the options for agriculture.

Entitled “Carbon Policy Options and Implications for Agriculture,” the forum will be held on Tuesday, June 2:

Presenters confirmed for this Forum are Iowa farmer Varel Bailey, and Jon Scholl of American Farmland Trust. Invitations have been extended to the energy industry, the livestock industry and greenhouse gas researchers.

As usual, the National Press Club at 529 14th Street NW, Washington D.C. will be the venue for the two-hour event starting at 9 a.m. (get your coffee at 8:30 a.m.).

Make sure you RSVP to our friend Mary Thompson, Farm Foundation Director of Communication at mary@farmfoundation.org, by Friday May 29th. There is no charge to participate.

Meeting the challenge of providing the world’s food, feed, fiber and, especially, fuel is what’s facing the American farmer today, and it’s part of a competition the Farm Foundation is sponsoring.

Last December, the Farm Foundation put out a report entitled The 30-Year Challenge: Agriculture’s Strategic Role in Feeding and Fueling a Growing World, where the group outlined six challenge areas facing American farmers: global financial markets and recession; global food security; global energy security; climate change; competition for natural resources; and global economic development (see my posts on Domestic Fuel and AgWired.com). To help come up with solutions, earlier this spring the Farm Foundation came up with a competition, which will hand out cash prizes totaling $20,000 and has a looming deadline of June 1, 2009:

“Agriculture globally faces the challenge of how to provide food to a world that is expected to have 9 billion people by 2040,” says Farm Foundation President Neil Conklin. “This challenge exists at the same time that we are already seeing pressures on global resources, as well as increased demand for agriculture to provide not only food, but feed, fiber and fuel.

“It is not clear that today’s public policies-designed to deal with issues of the last century-provide appropriate tools and incentives to address the challenges of the next 30 years,” Conklin continues. “Farm Foundation is offering this competition as a catalyst for innovative ideas and approaches.”

For more information, check the Farm Foundation’s 30-Year Challenge Web site.

The latest edition of Domestic Fuel Cast listens in on some of the conversation at this week’s Farm Foundation “Transition to a Bioeconomy: Global Trade and Policy Issues” conference.

This is the fourth in a series of conferences looking at the transition to a bioeconomy the Farm Foundation has sponsored. This week’s event brought people from around the world to Washington, DC, where they were able to combine their divergent viewpoints to come up with workable solutions that everyone can live with. Unlike some other conferences where everyone already agrees before they meet, these Farm Foundation meetings put together people with vastly different perspectives. The conversations are lively, they’re maybe a bit pointed, but they work… and they are something we need to have more of in this country: frank, honest discussions where everyone doesn’t have to agree.

Folks like Purdue’s Wally Tyner or the European Commission’s Laurent Javaudin come with ideas that each might believe is best but walk away with more ideas than what they would have had with just yes-men around them. We picked up on part of the conversation regarding how the U.S. and Europe have different approaches to renewable energy mandates: the U.S. choosing to set a number of gallons of biodiesel and ethanol produced, while Europe wants to base its renewable energy goals on a percentage of all energy produced… regardless of the source. And while the Americans and Europeans had plenty to talk about with the recent tariffs being slapped on U.S. biodiesel coming to Europe, our friends like Joel Velasco with the Brazilian Sugarcane Industry Association reminds us that there are some pretty steep protectionist tariffs America has put on the import of his country’s ethanol. Finally, David Zilberman with the University of California-Berkeley reminds us to keep our eyes on the prize: becoming free from the yoke of OPEC oil.

It’s a unique conversation, and you can hear some of it on this week’s Domestic Fuel Cast here: DFCast-4-03-09.mp3

You can also subscribe to the DomesticFuel Cast here.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (2.7MB)

Commercializing Gasification/Fermentation Technology was the topic of comments made by Mark Dietzen, INEOS Bio, at the Farm Foundation Transition To A Bio Economy Conference.

He says that they have a practical technology that they’re in the process of implementing to be online by 2011 to produce cellulosic ethanol. He thinks that it will help bridge the gap between what’s possible with crop based ethanol and allow the substitution of a larger percentage of gasoline with a bio based fuel.

You can listen to my interview with Mark here: ff-global-09-dietzen.mp3

You can download the interview with this link (mp3).

You can find photos from the conference here:
Transition To A Bio Economy Conference: Global & Trade Issues Photo Album

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (2.8MB)

I spoke with Paul Willems, BP Energy Biosciences Institute, one of our speakers at the Farm Foundation Transition To A Bio Economy Conference. I had met him previously at an earlier conference in the series.

Paul says the BP Energy Biosciences Institute was created as a place to apply modern biology to energy problems. He told us that from their perspective, the turbulant times we’re in right now are temporary and that the fundamental trends for the future are unchanged. Those being the supply of oil and gas and the growth and demand for energy products. He says that their CEO likes to say that, “the future has been delayed, it hasn’t been canceled.”

I think he made a good point in my interview with him that we shouldn’t panic. He says there are numerous technology efforts going on in the alternative fuels industry and that it would be a mistake to see that work evaporate because we live in a world of crisis. He urges a steady course toward the future. He also talks about the benefits of biotechnology in developing more efficient alternative fuel production but points out that the industry is still just in its infancy.

You can listen to my interview with Paul here: ff-global-09-willems.mp3

You can download the interview with this link (mp3).

You can find photos from the conference here:
Transition To A Bio Economy Conference: Global & Trade Issues Photo Album

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (3.6MB)

Biofuels like ethanol and biodiesel weren’t the only energy alternatives on the program at the Farm Foundation Transition To A Bio Economy Conference. We also had a presentation on wind energy from Mark Willers, Minwind Energy.

Mark says Minwind Energy was formed by a group of local farmers and businessmen in southwest Minnesota. He’d like people to understand that the electrical grid in the United States needs to be upgraded due to continuing increases in the use of electricity and how that is accomplished and funded is going to be an important issue. He thinks Americans want and need an energy policy that’s focused on efficiency. He says that Congress has extended production tax credits for wind turbines and that’s been helpful.

I thought he made some interesting points about how much news and discussion focuses on liquid fuel like gasoline when the largest energy use in America is from electricity. This is the sector of energy use that wind makes its contribution into.

You can listen to my interview with Mark here: ff-global-09-willers.mp3

You can download the interview with this link (mp3).

You can find photos from the conference here:
Transition To A Bio Economy Conference: Global & Trade Issues Photo Album

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (4.7MB)

The legislative guru for the National Biodiesel Board is Manning Feraci. He was on the Farm Foundation Transition To A Bio Economy Conference program.

He gave us an update on the current state of the biodiesel industry and the need for stable policies coming out of DC. He says that he sees some real opportunities now as some of the energy bill mandates are being implemented. He says it’s also a good time to get some structural reforms to the biodiesel tax incentive that will make it work better. I asked him about the carbon issue and he says that biodiesel is such an efficient fuel that it makes the product a good fit in helping obtain green house gas emissions reductions.

You can listen to my interview with Manning here: ff-global-09-feraci.mp3

You can download the interview with this link (mp3).

You can find photos from the conference here:
Transition To A Bio Economy Conference: Global & Trade Issues Photo Album

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (2.9MB)

I think Joel Velasco, Brazilian Sugarcane Industry Association, had the quote of the day here at the Farm Foundation Transition To A Bio Economy Conference.

He said that carbon is the new agricultural commodity and that our incentive is to produce less of it and get paid for it. So, grow a crop, sell it and maybe earn some carbon credits? Who knows where all that will wind up.

Joel wanted people to know that biofuels can not only help mitigate climate change but build energy security. In Brazil they’ve managed to increase the use of ethanol from sugarcane to where they’ve displaced fifty percent of their liquid gasoline. They don’t have gas stations anymore he says, they have “fuel” stations. He says price is the key to the development and use of ethanol and today ethanol is half the price of gas in Brazil.

You can listen to my interview with Joel here: ff-global-09-velasco.mp3

You can download the interview with this link (mp3).

You can find photos from the conference here:
Transition To A Bio Economy Conference: Global & Trade Issues Photo Album

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (4.4MB)