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| Energy from farms, ranches is the focus of 25x’25 initiative |
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By TIM THORNBERRY
Kentucky Correspondent FRANKFORT, Ky. — Energy consumption and costs have risen dramatically during the past several years in the United States and the world. World energy consumption is expected to increase 57 percent between 2004 and 2030 according to a case projection from the International Energy Outlook 2007.
Experts estimate that to meet the world liquid demands by 2030, 118 million barrels of oil per day would be needed; that’s 35 million more than the 83 million barrel level of 2004.
As a result the price of crude oil, on average, has tripled since 2003. In addition, much of the oil consumed throughout the world comes from politically unstable regions. But initiatives to combat these issues are becoming more popular, many by way of renewable and alternative fuels.
One such initiative known as 25x’25 is an alliance set on using America’s farms, ranches and forests to provide 25 percent of the total energy consumed in the United States by the year 2025, while continuing to produce safe, abundant and affordable food, feed and fiber.
This renewable energy initiative was born in the ag and forestry sectors through a group of agriculture leaders brought together in 2004 by the Energy Future Coalition to explore agriculture and forestry’s role in helping the nation meet its energy needs with renewable land-based resources such as biofuels, solar power, wind energy, geothermal power and hydropower.
The organization has gained the support of more than 500 farm, business, energy and environmental organizations, 21 governors and six former governors and 11 state legislatures.
A set of recommendations known as the 25x’25 Action Plan: Charting America’s Energy Future was gathered by a 28-member steering committee and presented to Congressional leaders earlier this year calling for $12.5 billion in new spending for federal renewable energy programs, including the Production Tax Credit for renewable electricity, the existing ethanol credit, farm bill conservation programs and energy research and development.
“The 25x’25 Action Plan is an extraordinary statement by an array of voices,” said Read Smith, co-chair of the 25x’25 Steering Committee. “This broad spectrum of individuals and organizations has worked together to put ‘meat on the bones’ of the 25x’25 vision. As our elected officials make the shift to renewable energy, this action plan is the course they should follow.”
“American agriculture is at the dawn of a new era in which we will strive to supply 25 percent of America’s energy by 2025,” said Bob Stallman, president of the American Farm Bureau Federation.
“Technological advancements in cellulosic ethanol and wind and biomass energy make a new generation of energy available for all Americans. Just as computers have revolutionized the way we live and work, new clean energy technologies are going to revolutionize the way we use and produce energy. The American Farm Bureau Federation and U.S. agriculture are committed to that change to put us on course to producing 25 percent of America’s energy from renewables by 2025. This will create new economic opportunities all across America, improve our national security, and curb greenhouse gas emissions.”
“I commend the 25x’25 National Steering Committee on putting forth a wide range of policy suggestions to address our nation’s critical energy needs,” said Sen. Dick Lugar, (R-Ind.). “For our nation to move in a new direction in providing and utilizing energy we must identify the problems associated with our current energy situation and offer real solutions. The 25x’25 Action Plan provides constructive ideas that Congress should consider, and I am proud to support its objectives.”
Last year, the Alliance commissioned an analysis conducted by researchers from the Department of Agricultural Economics at the University of Tennessee’s (UT) Institute of Agriculture in which they were asked to determine the ability of U.S. farms, forest and ranches to meet the initiative’s goals and to assess the economic impacts of the goal on the agricultural sector and the overall economy.
According to the group’s findings the goals set forth by the Alliance are achievable. “America’s farms, forests and ranches can play a significant role in meeting the country’s renewable energy needs they can do it without compromising the ability of the agricultural sector to reliably produce food, feed and fiber at reasonable prices. The analysis showed that reaching the goal would have extremely favorable impacts on rural America and the nation as a whole,” the report stated.
In addition to supplying energy needs, the alliance contends there will be stimulation in economic growth to the tune of $700 billion in new economic activity annually along with an increase in farm income of $180 billion, including $37 billion in 2025 alone.
Another key finding from the UT study is “that continued improvements in traditional crop yields enable the production of enough biomass to meet the 25x’25 goal using cropland that is in production - without including Conservation Reserve Program lands – at prices that would imply a cost of ethanol of $1.60 per gallon and of $2.74 per gallon of biodiesel.”
The Alliance foresees the creation of four to five million new jobs not to mention reducing oil consumption by 2.5 million barrels per day while reduce carbon dioxide emissions by one billion tons.
For information, visit www.25x25.org
This farm news was published in the Aug. 22, 2007 issue of Farm World, serving Indiana, Ohio, Illinois, Kentucky, Michigan and Tennessee. |
| 8/22/2007 |
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