Serving on the Agriculture Finance and Agriculture Policy Committees provides me with an opportunity to shape energy production in Minnesota, specifically with policies and funds that influence the way in which we support and incentivize biofuels. We have the possibility of creating a catalyst for the development of the next generation of cellulosic biofuels from perennial and cover crops. Those crops can provide profitable markets for farmers to grow crops that can be used as energy, with the added bonus of improving water quality and soil health.
Recently, the Agriculture Policy Committee heard HF 536, a production based grant program authored by Rep. Hamilton. This bill would provide short term grants to incentivize three different types of cellulosic bioenergy production: advanced biofuels, renewable chemicals and heat production through biomass. Advanced biofuels are fuels made from biomass – woody crops, agricultural residues left after harvest and other crops – rather than from sugars and oils used in the traditional ethanol and biodiesel production process, which is based on using the corn and soybean harvest.
The original ethanol program using corn and soybeans was aimed at helping farmers with surplus crops and became advantageous for a number of reasons, but was also water and energy intensive. Among the benefits it offered a supplemental or substitute fuel, which burns more cleanly than petroleum and is renewable; it provided farmers using feedstock a high quality feed, DDG (Dried Distillers Grain); and offered a new market for surpluses in production. However, concerns have grown about water use and impact on water quality, as well as, the impact of the lack of crop diversity on the land. For sometime cellulosic ethanol (ethanol from bio materials like switch grass and other perennials) has been talked about as an option that would add crop diversity, water storage, soil restoration and carbon sequestration.
Government has incentivized programs and technologies that benefit the public, from providing loans to electrify the country to funding the research that made modern communications such as cell phones and the internet possible. These incentives are designed to benefit the public, local businesses, our economy, and ultimately the environment and may be quite significant if we research, develop and implement advanced biofuel production right here in Minnesota.
The bill we heard has evolved and improved from its introduction. Now prospective grantees must outline plans for meeting goals to reduce soil erosion, nutrient pollution, greenhouse gas emissions, and impacts on wildlife habitat. However, as the bill is currently written, the vast majority of advanced biofuel production will continue to be based on the use of corn stover. Corn stover is the organic material left in the field after harvesting – stalks, leaves and husks. This organic material if left on the field builds the soil and makes it more likely moisture will be held in the soil. When not using cover crops, leaving corn stover in the field provides the only protection from soil erosion and nutrient run off, which pollute our waters and add to problems such as blue baby syndrome and the dead zone in the Gulf of Mexico.
When we’re creating grant programs that will shape energy production in Minnesota for decades to come, we must seize that opportunity and incentivize the practices of the future. Those practices must include a significant incentive for the creation of biofuels from cover crops and perennials, such as alfalfa, that don’t have the problems associated with corn stover. There are existing markets for many perennials and cover crops in Minnesota, but by creating a greater incentive for their use we will make it even more attractive for farmers to grow them and shift away from corn stover.
This bill passed out of the Agriculture Policy Committee and now awaits action in the Agriculture Finance Committee. I sit on that committee and hope to continue the discussion as I work with Chair Hamilton and my colleagues in the legislature to improve this bill.