Cashing in on bioeconomy
Oct 28, 2009 11:06 AM, By Elton Robinson, Farm Press Editorial Staff
Nelson says it’s imperative that farmers get involved in the process. “With biodiesel and corn ethanol, the farmers have been left out there on their own. We have to bring in people who know how to add new product development and interface with customers, so there is a partnership between the farm and the factory.”
In Mississippi, Sumesh Arora with Mississippi Technology Alliance, a non-profit organization based in Ridgeland, Miss., works with various economic development groups around the state and operates a seed fund to help early-stage companies and entrepreneurs.
Over the last two and a half years, 30 entrepreneurs have received some level of funding from the seed fund and other sources, according to Arora. The common thread among them is they have developed their own unique technology or innovative business model. MTA is working closely with two biorefinery companies that plan to locate in the state.
To learn more about the MTA, go to www.mta.ms/biomass.
Another important key is the ability to staff biorefineries with local talent, which will require specialized, highly-trained people.
“Ten years from now, the biorefinery industry will have created 25,000 new jobs, according to Powell. “Some will be on-farm jobs, some will be logistical, moving biomass around, but the bulk of the jobs will be in the new biorefineries.
“There will be some professional jobs, but most of the jobs will be technical. The training will come from community colleges, with wages comparable to what we see in the Delta.”
The educational process has already begun. Arkansas has a nationally recognized curriculum in biomass processing, and training has begun at a network of community colleges in Arkansas. The University of Memphis has developed training programs as well.
“All of these programs are completely open to sharing and collaboration,” Nelson said. “We don’t have to go outside the region to develop a workforce training program for the future. We’ve got all the expertise right here in the region.”
According to Nelson, a mature bioeconomy will require 25 percent of idle land, 25 percent of CRP land, 15 percent of pastureland and 10 percent of row crop land, “applied to something like sweet sorghum, where you really don’t lose the land, like you do with switchgrass. You can put it into a rotation.”
Frank Howell, with the Delta Council, in Stoneville, Miss., which helped sponsor research on developing the bioeconomy, noted that the MTA and the Mississippi Development Authority “have really done some groundbreaking work here in Mississippi. They’re doing things the right way.”
Arora says the bioeconomy in the Mid-South “has the potential to become a reality. But a lot of groundwork has to be done first. A lot of times, how technology is accepted has to do with how the message is conveyed. It’s like the Betamax versus VHS (video formats). One won out over the other even though technically it was not the superior format. The bioindustry is going to have to go through the same education curve.”
e-mail: erobinson@farmpress.com
