Sustainable Energy Down on the Farm

Sustainable EnergyDown on the Farm

March 2011COABC Annual Conference

Guy Dauncey

www.certifiedorganic.bc.ca

We’ve come a long way from this….

To this …

but…

Smithore Dreamstime.com

We’ve also come to this…

Is our whole world being contaminated?

The Great Transition Humanity's Journey to Harmony with the Earth

We need…

A Green Economy

Harmony with Nature

True Sustainability

We need…

A 100% Shift to Renewable

Energy

Martinedegraaf Dreamstime.com

Farm Energy

AuditVehicles Buildings Equipment

Solar Wind MicrohydroSolar

Hot Water

BiofuelsBiogas/Methane

BiocharSoil

CarbonStorage

Sustainable EnergyDown on the Farm

Farm Energy

AuditVehicles Buildings Equipment

Solar Wind MicrohydroSolar

Hot Water

BiofuelsBiogas/Methane

BiocharSoil

CarbonStorage

Sustainable EnergyDown on the Farm

27 farms assessed in 2010. Final report due soon.Emily MacNair, BC Agriculture and Food Climate Action Initiative

250-356-1666 Emily@bcagclimateaction.ca. www.bcagclimateaction.ca.

www.bcagclimateaction.ca

www.ruralenergy.wisc.eduZip Code 98236

Farm Energy

AuditVehicles Buildings Equipment

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Sustainable EnergyDown on the Farm

The Sun is rapidly settingon the Age of Fossil Fuels.

is the Age of Fossil Fuels

This10,000 years past

10,000 years future

Is this the future?

“In recognition of the coming oil prices, I name this ship……

Cultivating one hectare of corn in the US requires 40 litres of gasoline and 75 litres of diesel

US yield = 9 tonnes/hectare1 tonne requires 12 litres of fuel

Chilliwack corn harvest

John Deere 8430 PST

Electric Tractor

Glynwood Farm, Cold Spring, New York

GE Elec Trak, small electric tractor originally sold in the 1970s.

Recharges from normal outlet or solar panels.

Front-mounted mower deck, three-foot roto-tiller

Annual cost savings $300-$400

20-horse power Tuff Bilt tractor convertedto all-electric cultivating tractor

35 cents/hour vs $2/hour

Electric Tractor AA Technologies, Georgia

www.aatev.com

Canadian Electric VehiclesErrington, BC www.canev.com

1500 lb capacity15-25 mph90 km range

Case IH Biodiesel Tractor

New Holland Fuel Cell Tractor106 HP

DIY Biodiesel

Biodiesel FuelPod 3100 litres a day - 70 cents a gallon

$6,49520 cents a litre

Essex Farm, New York State

www.kristinkimball.com/essex-farm

“We currently farm 600 acres and feed 222 members. We are powered by fifteen solar panels, nine draft horses, ten full-time farmers, and three tractors. We do not use synthetic fertilizer, herbicide, or pesticide. Our animals eat feed we’ve grown ourselves or local hay and local, certified organic grain.”

The old becomes the new….

Baling HayTo grow biofuel for all the tractors in America would use 26% of America’s cropland. Using horses would require 11%. An economic comparison of traditional and conventional agricultural systems at a county level, M.H. Bender, American Journal of Alternative Agriculture, Dec. 15, 2000, Vol 16 www.landinstitute.org/pages/Bender%20AJAA%202000.pdf

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Sustainable EnergyDown on the Farm

• Insulation• Farm building walls +R20 ceilings +R30• Caulking & weatherstripping• Tight fitting windows in farm buildings• Air-source or ground-source heat• Heat-recovery ventilators• Thermostats & timers• Lighting• LiveSmart incentives at www.livesmartbc.ca

In the winter of 2008, we replaced the more traditional forced-hot-air heating unit in our main greenhouse with an innovative radiant heating system that uses a propane hot water heater and a circulating pump that sends the hot water through flexible tubing on the greenhouse benches.

80% savings on the cost of heating our greenhouse - repays in less than two years

Because the plants are heated at the root zone immediately on top of the tubing, the result is much stronger seedling production, and higher yields.

Glynwood Farm, Cold Spring, New York

Solar Greenhouses

Vermont Herb and Salad Company

Two 30 x 90 heated greenhouses for starting seedlings and winter greens productionFour 30 x 100 unheated greenhouses for in-season production of leafy greens

Vermont Herb and Salad Company

Two 30 x 90 heated greenhousesSequoyah Model E3400 Gasification Outdoor Wood Furnace

Cost $11,500 + renovations $4,000 Total cost $30,000Pressurized hot water distributed by pex tubing + heat exchangerNormally: 1200 gallons of oil a month through 4 months of winter. $3/gallon = $3600 a month Wood furnace: half a cord/day = $750/month. Total fuel saving = $14,000 a year

Bubble Insulated Greenhouse

30 inches soap bubbles = R-30Pioneered by Ross and Kat Elliot in Perth, Ontario10-12 month growing season in Yukon

Eliot Coleman

Four-season harvest

Maine

CoolBot replaces the brute force of fans and surface area with a micro-controller brain that interfaces with your air conditioner.

It controls and co-ordinates its output so that you can access nearly all your cooling power, with temperatures in the 30's without re-wiring or freeze-ups.

www.storeitcold.com

Farm Energy

AuditVehicles Buildings Equipment

Solar Wind MicrohydroSolar

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Sustainable EnergyDown on the Farm

Dairy farm electrical energy savings potential

Lighting

Sealed compact fluorescent lighting in the barn provides a superior lighting environment compared to incandescent

Savings = $1,500 a year

Add photoperiodic control system with sensor and timer to dim or shut off lights when not needed

Poultry Barn Lighting

66% electrical saving= $3,800 saved

per barn per year

(A) infrared tube heaters(B) sealed fluorescent lighting(C) photocell lighting control(D) chimney fan

Heat Pads

www.omafra.gov.on.ca

Variable speed drive pump - operates at 30%of load for 90% of the time

The milk is so cool entering the bulk tank that the refrigeration compressors cycle off during milking time

Mayval Farm, Westhampton, Massachusetts

www.energy.blog.state.ma.us/blog/farm-based-energy

(A) variable frequency drive(B) power filter on the variable frequency drive

(C) variable frequency drive vacuum pump

Ceiling of the milking parlour:5 lamp 4 foot T-8 fluorescent lighting fixtures

+ high volume, low velocity circulation fan

100% more airflow (cubic feet per minute) 50% energy savings = $400 savings pa.

Add dimmers and motion sensors

Sustainable EnergyDown on the Farm

Motors - use 18% of all energy use on the farm

Refrigeration - can be fitted with heat recovery units - milk pre-coolers - scroll compressors - water cooled plate coolers - variable speed milk pumps

Dairy - refrigeration heat recovery, precoolers, high efficiency heaters, scroll refrigeration compressors.

Greenhouse - heaters, boilers, thermal curtains, glazing

Potato storage - variable speed drives on storage ventilation - energy savings up to 65%, decreased shrinkage of potatoes

www.omafra.gov.on.ca

www.geopathfinder.com/9473.html

NRG Solar DryerExperimental.Mumbai, India

Solar dryer for mushroom drying, Itola, India

Laughing Stock Farm, Montana Biodiesel heated greenhouse

Farm Energy

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Sustainable EnergyDown on the Farm

Sustainable EnergyDown on the Farm

No incentives in BCCost = $8,000 per kW

1 kW = 1,100 kWh a year@ 8 cents = $88 pa saving

The Price of Solar PV

Solar electric fencing

Solar water pump

Solar irrigation, California

Solar wall

Steve Veldman, 75 cow dairy farm, OntarioCost in 1990: $1200. Never has to heat the building

Farm Energy

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Solar Wind MicrohydroSolar

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Sustainable EnergyDown on the Farm

Wind energy and its applications for BC’s agriculture sector

Agri-Energy Forum Pacific Agriculture ShowTRADEX Abbotsford AirportAbbotsford, B.C.

January 27, 2011Nicholas Heap, BC Policy Manager

#200 - 420 W. Hastings St.Vancouver, BC V6B 1L1

(800) 922-6932 x244(604) 351-7067

nicholasheap@canwea.ca

82

What’s so good about wind power for the agriculture sector?

• Large wind:– A reliable, long term source of income. – A high value “cash crop” in terms of income per hectare.

• Community wind:– Provides energy independence– Can increase reliability (hybrid wind/diesel or

wind/battery systems)

• Small wind:– Can be lowest-cost option for off-grid applications

Photo: Tim Weis, Pembina Institute

x

Source: BC Hydro

Where BC’s wind is: mesoscale model

Note: these low resolution models miss some good

wind sites

North Coast

Southern Interior

Northern Interior

Northeast

Where BC’s wind is: investigative permits

Note: You know more about thewind on your

land than anyone

Source: BC Hydro

• Market and prospects– On-grid residential, net metered systems can provide

10% to 150% of house electricity– 300 - 400 systems in Canada to date– Buyer motivation: environmental interests,

longer-term paybacks

• Typical application– Roughly $7,000 - $8,000 per kW– Capacity factor : 15% - 20% for a well-sited system– 10 kW installation: $70,000 = 15 MWh per year– A 1 kW installation: $7,000 = ~ 1 MWh per year

Small-size residential systems 1 kW to 10 kW

Photos: Cascadia Pacific Realty / Pembina Institute

• Market and prospects– On-grid farm systems can provide >50%

of electricity– Under 100 systems in Canada to date– Buyer motivation: stable long-term cost of

electricity, interest in energy independence

• Typical application– Roughly $5,500 - $6,500 per kW– Capacity factor : 15% - 20% for a well-sited system– A 50 kW installation: $250,000 providing 87 MWh per year

(enough for 8 average homes)

Mid-sized farm systems (10 kW to 100 kW)

Photos: Cascadia Pacific Realty / Pembina Institute

About CanWEA

• For more information and resources on wind www.canwea.ca

Farm Energy

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Sustainable EnergyDown on the Farm

Microhydro energy

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Sustainable EnergyDown on the Farm

energy.blog.state.ma.us/blog/farm-based-energy

Appleton Farms (CSA) Hamilton/Ipswich. 1000 acre dairy, livestock, vegetables, grain, cheese-making.

Evacuated tube, solar thermal hot water system provides high temperature hot water for dairy and cheese-making, combined with hot water refrigerant heat recovery tank

Annie’s Acres, CSA Farm, Wisconsin

400 ft 1/2 inch poly pipe in box with 2”construction foam backing

6 mil plastic

Enough for family of four on sunny days150F hot waterCost $100, 12 hours labourNot for winter use (water, not glycol)

Farm Energy

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Sustainable EnergyDown on the Farm

Sandia National Laboratories, 2009

Miscanthus Sweet Sorghum

Short rotation coppice Camelina sativa

Copyright 2008, Midwest Research Institute.

Aerial view of a pilot plant (Seambiotic Ltd., Tel Aviv) growing Nannochloropsis algae using

flue gas CO2 from a coal-fired Power Plant near Ashkelon, Israel.

Photo: Professor Ami Ben-Amotz

Farm Energy

AuditVehicles Buildings Equipment

Solar Wind MicrohydroSolar

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BiocharSoil

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Sustainable EnergyDown on the Farm

Anaerobic digestion is a way of producing biogas from biomass sources such as energy crops, farmyard residues or food waste.

As well as biogas, the process leaves a solid residue, or bio-fertiliser. It can also be used for combined heat and power or fed into the natural gas grid as biomethane.

Anaerobic digestion

Anaerobic digestion turns manure into fertilizer. Biogas co-generation creates electricity and heat.

Biogas (methane)

Biogas in India 25 kg dung = 3 hours gas

www.bcfarmbiogas.ca

www.ecodairy.ca

Anaerobic Digestion Funding

Enviro-loan - Farm Credit CanadaAAFC AgriFlexibility Fund

BC Environmental Farm Plan

Energy sales: SOP 9.5 - 10.4 cents kWh Feed-In Tariff: 14 - 18 cents kWh??

FortisBC Biogas sales: $15/GJ

www. bcfarmbiogas.ca

www.fortisbc.com/Biogas

Manure1 tonne of manure = 0.0055kW  = 48 kWh year

200 cows manure + 25% dough, fats, oil and grease1 tonne of high-energy feedstock = 0.055kW = 482kWh year

Heat: 1,149,570kWh  x  1.4 = 1,609,398kWh heat/year.

Total revenueIf electricity sold for $0.10/kWh, revenue from electricity will be: 1,495,170kWh  x  $0.10 = $149,517/year.

If electricity sold for $0.14/kWh, revenue from electricity will be: 1,495,170kWh  x  $0.14 = $209,324/year.

Biogas

What’s needed for biogas to work?1. Manure 2. Top level political will 3. Technical support …4. Net metering 5. Grid access 6. A long-term guaranteed price ? ?7. Federal support (tax credits) …8. Provincial support (eg 30% subsidy) …9. BC Utilities Commission support …10.BC Hydro support 11. Investors 12.Farmers working together …

www.biomasstrader.org/bc

Farm Energy

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Sustainable EnergyDown on the Farm

Biochar is charcoal created by pyrolysis of biomass, and differs from charcoal in that its primary use is not for

fuel, but for biosequestration or atmospheric carbon capture and storage.

Charcoal is a stable solid rich in carbon content, and can be used to lock carbon in the soil for hundreds to thousands of years.

Making biochar at Shelburne Farms, Lake Champlain, Vermont

www.biocharworks.com

Without biochar

With biochar

www.biochar.info Zero Carbon Project, Switzerland

Farm Energy

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Sustainable EnergyDown on the Farm

Grassland Ranching Large cause of soil carbon loss

Native grasslands store a huge amount of carbon

Predators protect the grasslands… and their soil

Herd animals always cluster together, for safety against predators

Throughout history, around the world, farmers have rarely understood how the predators

protect the grasslands.

Without the wolves, the herds “scatter-graze”. Gophers and rabbits take over,

and the grasslands are destroyed.

The Solution:

Rotational grazing

Mob-stocking

Management-intensive grazing

Holistic management

“Our beeves are kept together and rotated often to simulate the grazing patterns of ancient herds

maintaining natural balance in grasslands.”- James Ranch, Colorado

Holistic managementAllan Savory

Cimarron Farm, Vermont130 acres

Regular grazing Rotational grazing

Land in 1986

Same land in 1989after being grazed by 600 cow-calf pairs

Western wheatgrass recovering

Twin Creek Ranch, Wyomingunder Holistic Management

1 year grazed 3 years not grazed 30 feet apart

Don Schaules, Montana

Carbon Ranching

Yields increase, erosion ceases, and the land stores up to five times more carbon.

Regular grazing

Rotational grazing

In a Maryland test, soil carbon increasedfrom 4.1 - 8.3% over 5 years

storing an additional 1.8 tonnes hectare/year

If all the world’s grasslands ranchers practiced carbon farming,

they could sequester 3.4 Gt of carbon a year

World total carbon emissions = 10 Gt a year

Methane reduction in grazing animals

Cystein food supplement + nitrates 100%

Feed additive based on fumaric acid 70%

Garlic Garlic 50%

Early season grazing 29–45%

Grinding/pelleting low quality forages 20–40%

4% canola oil mix 33%

Enzyme inhibitors 30%

Alfalfa grass, instead of grass only 25%

Rotational grazing, high quality forages 22%

Organic sugars and special bacteria 20%

Vaccination 20%

Legume lotus/tannins 16%

Methane Reduction in Grazing Animals

CaerFai Farm, Pembrokeshire, Wales

170 acres organic - dairy - beef - cereals - potatoes - cheese - pigs camping - holiday cottages - farm shop

• Anaerobic digester• Wind turbine• Solar hot water• Groundsource heat• Electric irrigation instead of tractor driven• Slurry pumped from the digester to nearby fields, instead of tractor spread

• Saves £4,000 a year electricity, + $4,500 diesel

BUT.. still only reduced use of diesel by 25%

Farm gas from anaerobic digestion produces biogasfor the Aga cooker, and 50% energy for sterilizing the

milking machine. Cheese whey included.

2O kW wind turbine. Performing at 17.5 kW

Solar hot water for use in the dairy

Guy Dauncey

www.earthfuture.com