Transcript Slide 1

Emerging Ag & Natural
Resources Issues from the
College of Agriculture:
Departments’ Perspective
S.A. Shearer
Biosystems and Agricultural Engineering

Strategy 1
Improve the energy efficiency of
Kentucky’s homes, buildings, industries,
and transportation fleet
Goal: Energy efficiency will offset at least
18 percent of Kentucky’s projected 2025
energy demand.

Strategy 2
Increase Kentucky’s use of renewable
energy
Goal: By 2025, Kentucky’s renewable
energy generation will triple to provide
the equivalent of 1,000 megawatts of
clean energy while continuing to produce
safe, abundant and affordable food, feed
and fiber.

Strategy 3
Sustainably grow Kentucky’s production of
biofuels
Goal: By 2025, Kentucky will derive from
biofuels 12 percent of its motor fuels
demand, while continuing to produce
safe, abundant and affordable food, feed
and fiber.
Strategies and Goals
KDA Energy Efficiency Program
 2008 Farm Bill Opportunities
 Governor’s Task Force on
Biomass/Biofuels in KY

Agenda
GOAP has applied for funding from the ARRA of
2009
 Applicants may be eligible for an additional 25%
of project cost not to exceed $5,000
 Only projects initiated after February 17, 2009 will
be eligible
 Projects to be considered…

◦ Upgrades to all Applicable Farms
◦ Energy Efficient Building Components & Renewable Energy
Projects
◦ Professional Fees and Training (i.e., Section 9007 Audits)
◦ Biomass Energy Crop Production
◦ Equipment and Infrastructure for On-Farm Energy
Production
KDA On-Farm Energy Efficiency
and Production Program
KDA Energy Efficiency Program
 2008 Farm Bill Opportunities
 Governor’s Task Force on
Biomass/Biofuels in KY

Agenda


Continues and expands funding for Federal
agency procurement of biobased products,
construction and development of advanced
biofuel refineries, biomass research and
development, and biodiesel education.
New programs encourage renewable energy
use by biorefineries, renewable energy
systems and energy efficiency improvements,
rural energy self sufficiency, development of
next generation feedstocks, and use of forest
and woody biomass for energy production.
2008 Farm Bill – Title IX Energy
Section 9007
BCAP Program

ADB funded KPF to study poultry house
energy use and efficiency
◦
◦
◦
◦
Increase production efficiency
Reduce energy cost
Evaluate cost-effectives of upgrades
Develop educational workshops
Broiler House Evaluation Program
Assume 50% of producers upgrade houses
and see same benefits of example Farm B.
 KY producers may be eligible for up to
$3.4M in USDA Section 9007 funding!
 With upgrades KY producers may net
up to $3.5M annually!
 Goal: Help KY producers upgrade houses
over five years w/ 85 successful
applications per year.

USDA 9007 Potential Impact
on Broiler Production
KY farmers produced 152 M
bu. of corn in 2008.
 Assuming 75% was stored
on farm, with 80% of that
being dried (5 points), KY
farmers dried 91 M bu.
 Assuming there are 880
grain dryers in KY, 50%
upgraded to reduce energy
use by 40% (fuel use
reduced from 0.20 to 0.12
gal LPG/bu). KY farmers
may be able to save 3.6M
gal LPG, or $7.2M per
year by upgrading!

Grain Dryer Upgrade Program
Assume 50% of KY grain producers
upgrade dryers (440 total)
 KY producers may be eligible for up
to $3.4M in USDA Section 9007
funding!
 KY producers may net up to $7.2M
annually (3.6M gal LPG)!
 Goal: Help KY producers upgrade dryers
over five years w/ 85 successful
applications per year.

Impact to Grain Drying
KDA Energy Efficiency Program
 2008 Farm Bill Opportunities
 Governor’s Task Force on
Biomass/Biofuels in KY

Agenda






White paper authored by Frank Moore (DEDI)
Beshear’s Energy Plan – 7 Strategies
2006 FRS – KY uses 10% ethnol in 70% of
gasoline
Blend could go as high as 20% in next 13
years
Without biofuel expansion, KY will import up
to 90% of renewable fuel in 2022
A 20% federal mandated RPS will require KY
to develop 2400 MW of renewable generating
capacity
Governor’s Task Force
Governor’s plan call for 12% of
transportation fuels to be renewable by
2025 – 90 MGY current leaving 700 MGY
gap
 For biomass-based (non-food) fuel
production we will need 10 MTY
 2400 MW of renewable generating may
require up to 16 MTY of biomass
 Can KY develop/support a 25 MTY
biomass industry?

Opportunity




All biomass will be
reported on a dry
weight basis – corn at
47.3 lb/bu (not 56
lb/bu) dry matter.
Some ag residue must
be left on field to
protect soil.
Dry weight of plant is
about equal to weight
of grain.
Biomass energy content
- 7,500 Btu/lb; Coal 12,000 Btu/lb.
Ground Rules

Electricity generated using biomass is by
direct combustion using conventional boilers:
◦ Boilers burn waste wood products
◦ Coal-fired power plants also add biomass to their
coal-burning process (i.e., co-firing) to reduce the
emissions

Biomass can also be gasified prior to
combustion:
◦ Gases generally burn cleaner and more efficiently
◦ Biomass can be used combined-cycle gas turbines
(used in the latest natural gas power plants)
◦ Modular biomass gasification systems provide
electricity for isolated communities
Biopower vs. Biofuel

Cellulosic ethanol is a biofuel produced from
lignocellulose (structural material comprising
much of the plant)
◦ Ethanol from lignocellulose has the advantage of
abundant and diverse raw material
◦ Greater processing to make the sugar available to
microorganisms for fermentation

Pyrolysis is the basis of several methods that
are being developed for producing fuel from
biomass
◦ Bio-oil, resembling light crude oil,can be produced
by hydrous pyrolysis from many kinds of feedstock
Biopower vs. Biofuel
Kentucky consumes 44 MTY of coal.
 Kentucky has a land area of 25.4 M acres.
 If we were to replace coal (12,000 Btu/lb)
with biomass (7,500 Btu/lb), we would
need to harvest 2.8 T/ac of biomass
every year from every acre in
Kentucky.

Perspective
Table 1. Available land resources (ac)
on Kentucky farms1.
1
http://www.nass.usda.gov/Census/Create_Census_US.jsp
Cropland
Harvested
Pastured
Other
Woodland Rangeland
CRP
Total
West
2,899,629
734,671
493,870
1,101,705
471,144
348,264
6,049,284
Central
1,848,973
1,600,940
281,417
1,357,147
967,817
49,987
6,106,281
East
230,380
241,339
76,741
652,758
174,718
5,471
1,381,410
Total
4,978,983
2,576,950
852,031
3,111,610
1,613,678
403,724
13,536,975
Table 2. Potential forest resources (ac)
in Kentucky1.
1
http://fiatools.fs.fed.us/fido/index.html- US Forest Service.
2Forest land not included in woodland category for farms.
Federal
State
Local
Private2
Sum
West
186,112
71,999
13,116
1,426,166
1,697,392
Central
127,511
28,041
16,764
2,093,424
2,265,742
East
550,161
89,187
26,979
4,069,145
4,735,474
Sum
863,783
189,228
56,861
7,588,737
8,698,609
Scenario 1: Existing ag
production harvested for
energy biomass.
Year
Acres
Corn
2009
1,130,000
146
-
3.90
Beans
2009
1,430,000
44
-
1.63
Small Grain
2008
460,000
71
-
0.85
Hay
2009
2,640,000
-
1.95
5.16
Total
Yield (bu/ac) Yield (T/ac)
MTY
11.54
Scenario 2: One-half of ag
residues harvested for energy
biomass.
Corn
Beans
Small
Grain
Hay
Year
2009
2009
2008
2009
Yield
Acres
(bu/ac)
1,130,000
146
1,430,000
44
Yield
(T/ac)
1.73
-
460,000
2,640,000
Total
0.92
-
71
-
MTY
1.95
0.42
2.37
Scenario 3: One-half of wood
waste processed for energy
biomass.
Wood Waste
Year
Acres
Yield (T/ac)
MTY
2005
11,810,000
0.18
2.09
Scenario 4: 10% of hay,
pasture and range land sown
to switchgrass.
Switchgrass
Year
Acres
Yield (T/ac)
MTY
2005
683,000
6.0
4.10
Scenario 5: 10% of hay,
pasture and range land
planted to miscanthus.
Miscanthus
Year
Acres
Yield (T/ac)
MTY
2005
683,000
10.0
6.83
Scenario 6: 5% of forests and
woodlands (farm) planted to
dedicated woody biomass crops.
Dedicated
Woody
Biomass Crops
Year
Acres
Yield (T/ac/yr)
MTY
2005
590,000
4.46
2.63
Scenario 6: 50% of reclaimed
mine lands planted to dedicated
woody biomass crops.
Dedicated
Woody
Biomass Crops
Year
Acres
Yield (T/ac/yr)
MTY
2005
315,000
2.23
0.702
Scenario 1 (convert food to fuel) is not
plausible.
 Scenarios 2, 3, 4 or 5, 6 and 7 are
possible and will result in 11.9 MTY to
14.6 MTY of production per year.
 Can we reach 25 MTY? Will depend on
the value of biomass and competing land
use. KY does have the natural resources
base!

Production Potential

Kentucky has:
◦
◦
◦
◦

Excellent barge transportation – Ohio River
Excellent rail – Coal Industry
Well developed highway system
New law - 10% weight variance
Problem:
◦ Moving a low bulk and low energy density
material
Logistics

Solution
◦ Must densify biomass to a minimum of 14 lb/ft3
to overload a tractor-trailer.
◦ Round bales are not dense enough to transport
cost-effectively (7-8 lb/ft3) plus void space.
◦ Large rectangular bales are better (10-12
lb/ft3).
◦ Need a better solution….
Logistics

For co-firing, utilities want biomass that:
◦
◦
◦
◦
handles like coal…
stores like coal…
burns like coal, and…
costs about the same as coal.
Logistics
Questions?