Kentucky Correspondent

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — In an effort to help solve the nation’s energy needs, the Southeastern Sun Grant Center (SSGC) announced funding last week for 13 bio-based research proposals from land-grant universities in the southeast United States totaling $1.82 million.

The Sun Grant Initiative is funded through the U.S. Department of Transportation and along with energy issues, the program looks to revitalize rural communities with land-grant university research, education and extension programs on renewable energy and bio-based industries.

Kentucky has seen an emergence of biodiesel and ethanol industries in the last few years to counter rising fuel costs and help farmers find new avenues for certain crops, especially corn and soybeans.

Many local and state government agencies along with a growing list of school systems are currently using biodiesel blends for their transportation needs while ethanol has become more available through fuel retailers across the state. According to the Kentucky Corn Growers Assoc., ethanol is the largest industrial use for corn, utilizing more than 1.5 billion bushels last year.

In March of this year, the SSGC announced the availability of the regional competitive grants program with a Request for Applications (RFA) which outlined two grant categories: integrated projects with a maximum funding request of $300,000 for a period of up to three years and seed grants of up to $50,000 for a one-year period.

The request was send to key contacts at all land-grant universities including Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. SSGC is headquartered in Knoxville at the University of Tennessee Agricultural Experiment Station and is directed by Dr. Timothy G. Rials and coordinates activities throughout the region.

The RFA generated more than 130 letters of intent, resulting in 93 full proposals by the submission deadline.

Full proposals were received from 11 different land-grant universities in the southeast region.

A panel from academic, business and government sectors with expertise in all the DOT research priority areas, review the proposals and selected 13 of those for funding.

The SSGC lists many reasons why the southeast region excels in Sun Grant research and outreach programs including “the strong history of multi-state research and education in the Southeast and the region’s outstanding resources in land-grant institutions; each of the region’s land-grant universities already holds a commitment to bio-products research. Together, the existing programs amount to an extensive research base and an ability to rapidly launch initiative-funded programs. Another asset for the Southeast lies in the inherent productivity of agricultural lands, aided by a generally temperate climate and long growing season. The region holds rich potential to produce crops for bio-based markets and products.”

The Universities of Kentucky and Tennessee were two of the grant recipients and according to Sun Grant research both states rely heavily on coal and petroleum as a main sources for energy; Kentucky with 50 percent of its energy coming from coal and 35 percent from petroleum.

Tennessee uses petroleum as its chief source of energy at 36 percent with coal coming in second with 30 percent. The research also identified the agriculture potential for energy uses in each state.

“Tennessee has approximately 7 million acres of cropland. It has been estimated that the state could produce 1.5 million dry tons of agricultural residue biomass annually. It has also been estimated that an additional 6.6 million dry tons of dedicated energy crops could be produced at $40 per dry ton,” the report noted.

“One study estimated that on Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) land alone, 1.4 million dry tons of switchgrass and 1.1 million dry tons of willow and hybrid poplar could be produced each year. Management of farm animal manure could provide an additional 20,000 tons of methane annually.

“Kentucky has 8.4 million acres of crop land. It is estimated that the state’s agricultural community could produce over 2.3 million dry tons of agricultural residue biomass annually. Another 3.6 million dry tons of dedicated energy crops could be produced at $40 per ton. One study estimated that on CRP land, 1.8 million dry tons of switchgrass and 1.4 million dry tons of willow and hybrid poplar could be produced each year. Management of farm animal manure could provide an additional 34,000 tons of methane annually.”

For more information visit sungrant. tennessee.edu

This farm news was published in the Sept. 26, 2007 issue of Farm World, serving Indiana, Ohio, Illinois, Kentucky, Michigan and Tennessee.