‘Low-hanging fruit’ in bioeconomy
Oct 15, 2009 10:27 AM, By Elton Robinson, Farm Press Editorial Staff
“Low-hanging fruit” for Mid-South farmers wanting to invest in the budding bioeconomy include ethanol from sweet sorghum; ligno-cellulosic-based ethanol; oilseed crops and crushing facilities; and the production of co-firing biomass used in coal-fired power plants, a new study shows.
RANDY POWELL, left, with BioDimensions, and Tunica, Miss., farmer Jon Bibb, visit during the unveiling of a study on the potential for biobased products in the Mississippi Delta.
The study was coordinated by the Memphis Bioworks Foundation and carried out by Battelle, a non-profit research company, headquartered in Columbus, Ohio, with input from BioDimensions, based in Memphis, Tenn.
The study, which was presented to the Delta Council in Stoneville, Miss., and at a farmer meeting in Tunica, Miss., in September, focused on bio-based business opportunities in five states — southwest Kentucky, west Tennessee, Arkansas, Mississippi and southeast Missouri. It was funded by a diverse group of 23 companies and organizations, including the Mississippi Technology Alliance and Mississippi Development Authority.
The study estimates that the Mid-South can grow enough crops to support an $8 billion green industry. “In 10 years, we estimate that we’ll generate 25,000 new jobs in rural areas of the Delta. In two decades, we will double that number,” said Randy Powell, a consultant for BioDimensions.
Building the bioeconomy will be challenging, according to Powell. “It’s a complicated picture, but the good news is that we’re beginning to see the paths we need to take and the technologies we need to develop. The Mid-South is perfectly situated and has growing conditions well-suited to biomass production, while other regions of the United States are more suited to developing solar or wind power.”
The study indicated four near-term opportunities, which Powell described as low-hanging fruit for Mid-South farmers and investors to consider.
Solid fuels for burning for energy. Biomass produced in the Mid-South can be pelletized into a form that can be co-fired with coal in existing electrical generating plants. “This is going to be driven by policy at the state and federal level,” Powell said. “There are several states with renewable power standards and the federal government is looking into it as well. When it happens, facilities will be required to generate electricity from renewable sources. Some will do it with solar, others will burn biomass.”
The study estimated that if 15 percent of the coal burned in power plants was replaced with biomass, it would require 20, 150,000-ton-per-year pellet plants that would use crop residue, woody biomass and possibly dedicated energy crops.
