Even With Lower Gas Prices, Alternative Energy Still a Hot Topic

Chris Torres
Staff Writer

LANCASTER, Pa. — Even with falling gas prices nearing $1.50 per gallon in the Lancaster area, it shouldn’t put alternative energy on the back burner, according to Gary Willier.

“Sometimes you’ve just got to do it because it’s the right thing to do,” Willier told the more than 100 people who attended the first-ever Energy on the Farm Forum at the Lancaster Farm and Home Center on Monday. The event was presented by the Lancaster County Center of Excellence in Production Agriculture, for which Willier is project manager.

The forum focused on ideas and trends related to energy on the farm and how farmers can possibly save money by becoming more energy efficient in their practices.

The unfortunate reality for many people is that even though everyone is getting a reprieve from high gas prices, which most experts believe is only temporary, the reality of surging energy prices will truly hit home to most Pennsylvanians when electric prices go up starting in 2010, when rate caps on generation come off.

In the PPL territory, electricity bills are expected to go up 30 percent or more once the calendar reads January 1, 2010.

Rate caps, which the Pennsylvania Legislature put in place as part of its plan to deregulate electric companies back in the 1990s, will be coming off across the state, with most utilities’ caps coming off in 2011.

John Levitski, regional director of community relations for PPL, said the company has no choice but to raise prices simply because of increased input costs.

He said the cost to purchase things such as cables and wires to connect people to the grid has doubled and even tripled since rate caps were first put in place.

Power plants, many of which are powered by coal and natural gas, have become more expensive to run because of higher fuel costs.

The cost of doing business has also increased dramatically, he said, because of tougher environmental regulations.

“It’s really tough to live that way and do business when these other costs have gone up like they have,” Levitski said.

He claims the utility has tried to protect its customers from even higher increases due to the way they have purchased electric for the coming years, purchasing it at auction twice a year for future years.

He said the company’s power plants have also become much more efficient than in the past, largely due to better technology.

One issue close to some farmers is the company’s net metering policy. While Levitski said he was not completely familiar with the issue, he said the company takes each situation on a case-by-case situation and said customers need to meet some company requirements before they can benefit from net metering.

But lowering energy prices on or off the farm, he said, needs to start with better education of consumers and using less of what is already available.

“You need to get smart about these things. Take the time to learn what’s happening out there,” he said.

In general, ag operations use up a small portion of the energy consumed in the U.S.

At least that’s according to Andy Pressman of the National Center for Appropriate Technology, who estimates farmers use only about 1.1 percent of the country’s energy supply.

Most of the energy farmers use, not surprisingly, is in diesel fuel and fertilizer production, with electric usage taking up about 18 percent of the energy used on a farm. As with anything, it really depends on the type of farming being done.

Pressman said farmers can take several steps to save money on energy bills.
It all starts with an energy audit, which costs around $1,000.

The audit is helpful, he said, for farmers to get tips on doing regular maintenance of machinery and learning ways to make their operations more energy efficient.

On dairy farms, he said farmers can save money by installing pre-cooling systems and using variable frequency drives.

Reducing the use of fertilizer and tillage as well as improving irrigation efficiency are other things farmers can look at, along with using alternative sources of energy.

“Whether there is a farm energy crisis or not, I think we should champion farm energy practices that can be sustained indefinitely,” Pressman said.

Alternative Energy Performance Mixed
So how do alternative systems perform? Results vary, depending on the source.

Glen Cauffman, manager of farms and facilities at Penn State’s College of Agricultural Sciences, said biodiesel research has proven to be very promising, with the college now using several tractors that can run on 100 percent biodiesel (B100).

Last year, New Holland announced all tractors the company manufactured would be able to run on B100.

But progress on running tractors with strictly vegetable oil has been much slower.

Cauffman said vegetable oil has a high viscosity, which leads to fuel injector problems and eventual engine failure.

Any tractor running on vegetable oil must utilize a separate tank as well as other engine modifications.

Biodiesel research in Europe, he said, has been very promising, particularly in the use of canola. Cauffman said canola produces twice as much oil per acre as soybeans and is being widely used in some European countries.

In any case, Cauffman said farmers hoping to buy a biodiesel tractor should pay attention to the quality of the fuel and check all engine parts frequently.

“You got to buy quality fuel and keep it high quality,” Cauffman said.

On wind and solar, results vary, according to Blair County Extension Educator Gary Sheppard.

Research on a 10-kilowatt wind turbine and 2,200 volt solar voltaic system installed at the county’s extension office has been surprising.

The solar panels have performed much better than the turbine after evaluating each for one year.

The turbine, which was rated to produce 57.5 kwh (kilowatt hours) per day has produced only 13.5 kwh a day. The panels, on-the-other-hand, have outperformed their rating, producing 6.7 kwh a day instead of the expected 6.4 kwh.

Weather conditions played a big part in the results, Sheppard said, with wind being far less predictable than solar. The turbine itself experienced problems. During a recent storm, two blades were blown off, causing extensive damage.

Sheppard said farmers hoping to install a wind turbine should do their homework. Many companies, he said, have over-rated their turbines based on the unpredictability of wind.

Methane digesters have been installed at four farms in Lancaster County. Gerald Hiestand of the Lancaster County Conservation District said any farmer hoping to install one of their own should take the time to visit farms where they already exist instead of jumping right in.

At the Brubaker farm in Mount Joy, Pa., Hiestand said the methane digester at the farm has produced $234,000 in annual revenues, when you take into account the amount of energy sold to the grid as well as the solids the system produces and grants the family has gotten to operate the system.

Installing the digester — for over $1 million — cost 38 percent more than what was first estimated.

PPL buys electric from the farm at 13 cents per kwh, which Hiestand said is rare.

Cost, along with poor energy conversion and getting an electric company to buy the power are roadblocks farmers will have to deal with if they want a manure digester, Hiestand pointed out.

But he added that the time needed to pay off a system may be much less than previously thought. With grants, loans and other incentives, a farmer can pay off a digester in roughly four years.

“I think we have something going here and I would like to see it continue,” Hiestand said.