While at the 2008 Midwest Value Added Agriculture Conference and Wisconsin Local Food Summit, it came to my attention how woefully behind the times most of Minnesota is in the re-development of a strong locally produced food system. I say re-development because none of this is new or cutting edge. We are simply returning to food production patterns similar to those that would be familiar to my grandparents. As transportation fuels continue to factor more and more into the price of food, the produce shipped from opposite sides of the world will become less and less competitive with locally produced foods. It is this gap in the food supply we intend to fill.
Organizations such as Growing Power, and Grow Urban have brought the profitability and educational experience of urban agriculture to several cities throughout the Midwest. Their efforts have re-connected urban residents with their food supply, teaching an appreciation for the work involved in producing fresh and nutrient dense foods.
Greenleaf Market is connecting Farmers with institutional purchasers such as grocery stores and Restaurants in their area, and REAP Food Group is educating, conducting research on local food production as well as doing public policy advocacy on sustainable food systems. These are just a few of the organizations I became acquainted with last week, which brings me to my point- What is Minnesota doing in this area? While there are many quality organizations in Minnesota doing this work, the over all public awareness seems to be tragically lacking especially in the out state regions outside of the Twin Cities Metro area. We hope to remedy this situation soon, if you are interested in helping, please Contact us.
Monday, January 28, 2008
Thursday, January 17, 2008
Rep. Peterson questions viability of cellulosic ethanol
A January 15 article from Reuters reports comments of our Minnesota democratic representative Collin Peterson regarding his opinions on the viability of cellulosic ethanol. Peterson is quoted in the piece as saying"I really think the more I look at this whole cellulosic issue, there is a lot bigger problem to overcome here than people realize in terms of the feedstocks. We have a lot of work to do in that regard," he said. "I'm not sure cellulosic ethanol will ever get off the ground."
What a nice vote of confidence from our elected representative who happens to be the head of the house ag committee.
Thankfully the bio-energy industry hasn't bet all of it's chips on cellulosic ethanol. There are currently several biomass to energy technologies being scaled up to meet the increasing demand for renewable domestic energy (see previous posts). While not all of them involve production of transportation fuel, they all have the potential to replace limited reserves of fossil fuels. On the issue of cellulosic ethanol viability, let's just say opinions of those involved directly with cellulosic ethanol contrast starkly with those of representative Peterson...
The cellulosic ethanol industry is making steady progress toward commercialization despite the comments of some detractors. In separate piece, Reuters writer Karl Plume reported on Monday that, “The first commercial-scale cellulosic ethanol plants should come on line by late 2009 or early 2010, and the industry remains poised to meet a U.S. government goal to increase biofuels use five-fold by 2022, the head of a leading energy crop company said on Monday.
"‘We should see the first commercial-scale plants coming on line in late-2009, early-2010,’ said Richard Hamilton, President and CEO of California-based Ceres, speaking at the Reuters Global Agriculture and Biofuels Summit."Farm Policy
What a nice vote of confidence from our elected representative who happens to be the head of the house ag committee.
Thankfully the bio-energy industry hasn't bet all of it's chips on cellulosic ethanol. There are currently several biomass to energy technologies being scaled up to meet the increasing demand for renewable domestic energy (see previous posts). While not all of them involve production of transportation fuel, they all have the potential to replace limited reserves of fossil fuels. On the issue of cellulosic ethanol viability, let's just say opinions of those involved directly with cellulosic ethanol contrast starkly with those of representative Peterson...
The cellulosic ethanol industry is making steady progress toward commercialization despite the comments of some detractors. In separate piece, Reuters writer Karl Plume reported on Monday that, “The first commercial-scale cellulosic ethanol plants should come on line by late 2009 or early 2010, and the industry remains poised to meet a U.S. government goal to increase biofuels use five-fold by 2022, the head of a leading energy crop company said on Monday.
"‘We should see the first commercial-scale plants coming on line in late-2009, early-2010,’ said Richard Hamilton, President and CEO of California-based Ceres, speaking at the Reuters Global Agriculture and Biofuels Summit."Farm Policy
Tuesday, January 8, 2008
Cellulosic Ethanol Biofuel Rockstar?
According to a new study by the U.S. Department of Agriculture–Agricultural Research Service, University of Nebraska,
“The results of this study
demonstrate that switchgrass grown and managed as a biomass
energy crop produces _500% more renewable energy than
energy consumed in its production”
JUST AS I SUSPECTED.
As the bioenergy industry evolves it seems research is being released almost weekly demonstrating how properly managed bioenergy production can have substantial benefits to the economy and environment. As an example the fast pyrolysis process I discussed previously yields a bio oil and a high carbon soil amendment that could benefit farmed-out low carbon soils substantially. The plasma gassification process can utilize nearly any carbon source to produce a synthetic gas which can be burned to produce electricity or heat. It seems cellulosic ethanol is the silicone enhanced bleach blond of the Bio energy sector, grabbing all of the publicity(and research $$$), while her less glamorous sisters (gasification, fast pyrolysis ect.) languish out of the limelight.
At least we seem to be seeing long overdue progress toward a sustainable energy future.
“The results of this study
demonstrate that switchgrass grown and managed as a biomass
energy crop produces _500% more renewable energy than
energy consumed in its production”
JUST AS I SUSPECTED.
As the bioenergy industry evolves it seems research is being released almost weekly demonstrating how properly managed bioenergy production can have substantial benefits to the economy and environment. As an example the fast pyrolysis process I discussed previously yields a bio oil and a high carbon soil amendment that could benefit farmed-out low carbon soils substantially. The plasma gassification process can utilize nearly any carbon source to produce a synthetic gas which can be burned to produce electricity or heat. It seems cellulosic ethanol is the silicone enhanced bleach blond of the Bio energy sector, grabbing all of the publicity(and research $$$), while her less glamorous sisters (gasification, fast pyrolysis ect.) languish out of the limelight.
At least we seem to be seeing long overdue progress toward a sustainable energy future.
Friday, January 4, 2008
Looking past Cellulosic Ethanol
In addition to the mountains of money being poured into the commercalization of cellulosic ethanol, there has been a parallel line of research examining the process of converting biomass into synthetic gas, and then into liquid fuel than could potentially be used for transportation fuel.
Biomass magazine has an article here on recent technology advances in this area. there is also an article here about the biomass gasification facility at the University of Minnesota, Morris.
This just happens to be the facility where some of the PCWL field demonstration work will be conducted. PCWL cooperators with the U of M will be studying the energy production potential of CRP native grass mixes and several other native biomass sources. By using gasification technology it is hoped we can develop a local and sustainable source of transportation fuel. From my understanding of the technology it appears to have the potential to utilize more of the carbon content of the biomass, thus yielding more energy per ton of biomass harvested.
In April Minneapolis will be hosting the Biomass 08' conference and trade show. This conference will discuss a wide range of issues involving the emerging biomass energy industry.
Cellulosic ethanol has even more competition as the premier biomass to energy conversion technology. In a October 2007 article Biomass magazine examines the fast pyrolysis process, where biomass is heated to drive out volatile oils and compounds to produce bio-oil which can be used as a heating oil. The by product from this process is essentially a form of charcoal, which has a variety of uses. The byproduct, referred to as char can be used for many things including a soil amendment to sequester carbon while improving the nutrient holding capacity of soil, as well as industrial uses for activated charcoal such as waste water treatment plants.
I guess the lesson for today's post is that the future of biomass energy does not rest solely on corn and cellulose derived ethanol as some would have you believe. There are millions of dollars being invested in new truly energy clean energy technologies, and from the way it looks our country's energy portfolio will look drastically different in 20 years regardless of whether or not a renewable energy portfolio mandate was included in the 2007 energy bill. It seems highly likely biomass energy is here to stay for the foreseeable future, but the question is which technologies will make up the mix that will end our dependence on fossil fuels.
Biomass magazine has an article here on recent technology advances in this area. there is also an article here about the biomass gasification facility at the University of Minnesota, Morris.
This just happens to be the facility where some of the PCWL field demonstration work will be conducted. PCWL cooperators with the U of M will be studying the energy production potential of CRP native grass mixes and several other native biomass sources. By using gasification technology it is hoped we can develop a local and sustainable source of transportation fuel. From my understanding of the technology it appears to have the potential to utilize more of the carbon content of the biomass, thus yielding more energy per ton of biomass harvested.
In April Minneapolis will be hosting the Biomass 08' conference and trade show. This conference will discuss a wide range of issues involving the emerging biomass energy industry.
Cellulosic ethanol has even more competition as the premier biomass to energy conversion technology. In a October 2007 article Biomass magazine examines the fast pyrolysis process, where biomass is heated to drive out volatile oils and compounds to produce bio-oil which can be used as a heating oil. The by product from this process is essentially a form of charcoal, which has a variety of uses. The byproduct, referred to as char can be used for many things including a soil amendment to sequester carbon while improving the nutrient holding capacity of soil, as well as industrial uses for activated charcoal such as waste water treatment plants.
I guess the lesson for today's post is that the future of biomass energy does not rest solely on corn and cellulose derived ethanol as some would have you believe. There are millions of dollars being invested in new truly energy clean energy technologies, and from the way it looks our country's energy portfolio will look drastically different in 20 years regardless of whether or not a renewable energy portfolio mandate was included in the 2007 energy bill. It seems highly likely biomass energy is here to stay for the foreseeable future, but the question is which technologies will make up the mix that will end our dependence on fossil fuels.
Wednesday, January 2, 2008
New Cellulosic Ethanol Plants in the Works
Development of industrial-scale cellulosic ethanol production continues to make progress. In a 12/31/07 article USA Today told of several cellulosic ethanol plants in the planning phase across the nation. These facilities will utilize a wide variety of feed stock sources including corn cobs, wood chips, sugar cane stalks, and wheat straw.
We have recently received an increase in inquiries about the Productive Conservation on Working Lands program. This in part due to an article about PCWL on page 2 of the December 20, 2007 issue of Agri-News. This article highlighted activities of PCWL and was very helpful in getting the word out about PCWL to landowners and farmers in Southern Minnesota. We will be reviewing proposals and crop establishment applications at the PCWL Technical committee meeting on 1/23/08. If you would like to discuss a project idea please contact me at our office 507-345-7418.
We have recently received an increase in inquiries about the Productive Conservation on Working Lands program. This in part due to an article about PCWL on page 2 of the December 20, 2007 issue of Agri-News. This article highlighted activities of PCWL and was very helpful in getting the word out about PCWL to landowners and farmers in Southern Minnesota. We will be reviewing proposals and crop establishment applications at the PCWL Technical committee meeting on 1/23/08. If you would like to discuss a project idea please contact me at our office 507-345-7418.
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