EVART, Mich. — Osceola Township Supervisor Paul Brown is interested in trying to reduce his personal energy costs – and he wants to share ideas with the people in his community that will help them be more “green,” too.

Brown was one of more than 50 people in attendance at the recent Green Technology Expo at Evart High School, which focused on sustainable farming, alternative energy, soil health, organic production and other green practices.

“We have a lot of unused farmland in our township,” said Brown, whose township is located in West Michigan’s Osceola County. “We’re looking at ways to help farmers produce crops more effectively and to bring added value to our area.”

He said he is interested in learning more about wind turbines and the possibility of constructing a wind farm in the township. “There is some resistance in our area due to the look or changes it would cause in the landscape,” Brown said. “The aesthetics are primarily negative.”

Another drawback is that about half of Osceola County is covered by the Manistee National Forest, so wind survey results aren’t the most favorable in the area. While wind turbines are quiet when operating, Brown said another concern from residents is flicker – the effect caused when sun shines through the turbine’s blade and into peoples’ homes.

“There’s no doubt that they would change the appearance of the neighborhoods,” Brown said.

During the expo, Brown also attended a talk titled “How Can Biofuels Fit My Farm and Home?” by Michigan State University extension Bioeconomy Innovation Counselor Mark Seamon, and learned there are several other sources of alternative energy inputs being researched.

 Seamon explored the application of home-based energy biofuel and presented research findings on a variety of alternative energy crops that could potentially be grown in Michigan.

 

Miscanthus, a perennial grass crop, has the potential to produce much biomass. Hearty plant rhizomes are relatively simple to split and replant, and they reach an average mature height of 10-15 feet. “In a mature stand, we have the potential for a lot of tonnage,” he said.

While researchers believe miscanthus has “a lot of opportunity” in Michigan, it is not native to the state, and Seamon said more research is under way to determine how the plant will react to the state’s climate, diseases and insects.

Switchgrass, which is used to make cellulosic ethanol, is another grass species Seamon said has potential. A native of Michigan, more is known about how switchgrass performs in the state’s climate, but it is difficult to get a good stand established.

Forage sorghum is a known producer in the state, which can produce a lot of tonnage per acre. Tropical maize is similar to a field corn crop that doesn’t produce an ear of corn.

While all of these alternative energy inputs have shown potential in university trials, Seamon said a common challenge is that they don’t dry down well and they must be processed into another form – such as pellets – for energy production.

The cost of production, he said, still exceeds the cost of its cheaper energy counterpart, coal.

Plus, when looking at heat combustion, coal far surpasses other sources, producing 13,639 BTUs per pound as compared to corn grain, which produces 7,398 BTUs per pound, or wood pellets, which produce 8,246 BTUs per pound.

“We know it can work, but we’re not quite there yet,” Seamon said.

Another challenge, he said, is it’s likely farmers will not take crop acres out of production from known profit-makers such as corn and soybeans “to take a chance on growing the unknown bio-type crops.”

An example, Seamon said, is to look at what it would take for the Michigan Department of Transportation (M-DOT) to operate its fleet using biofuel. In 2010, M-DOT used 1,028,809 gallons of diesel and 1,871 gallons of E85. Assuming a canola crop yield of 40 bushels per acre on prime cropland and 25 bushels per acre on marginal land, one acre of prime farmland and marginal land will yield approximately 107 and 67 gallons of biodiesel per acre, respectively.

To replace this volume of petroleum diesel with biodiesel would require 9,615 acres of prime farmland or 15,355 acres of marginal land.

Considering all the options, Seamon said there still are opportunities in Michigan associated with growing such crops.

“Growing bioenergy crops has the potential to generate economic activity and jobs on land that currently does not generate income or jobs,” he said. “There are well-established markets for some bioenergy crops.”