The Agriculture Energy Program assists the agriculture industry in reducing energy costs and increasing production by providing education and financial assistance for the implementation of energy efficiency technologies and renewable energy solutions for agriculture.
In 2003 the Alabama Department of Economic and Community Affairs (ADECA) recognized the need to assist the agriculture industry in Alabama in coping with rising energy costs. The ADECA Energy Division initiated the Alabama Agriculture Energy Program by establishing an Agriculture Energy Steering Committee, composed of representatives from major agricultural interests in the state. This group came together and worked with Energy Division staff to develop a program that is making a positive impact on agriculture in Alabama.
Initially, a Request for Proposals (RFP) was issued every other year to solicit proposals for energy efficiency technology and technique demonstration and renewable energy projects that have the potential to significantly improve the energy efficiency of agricultural operations in the state. Eligible applicants included state and local government entities, non-profit corporations, and public colleges and universities. Individual grant awards were capped at $50,000 each.
Projects sponsored by the program demonstrate not only how agricultural operations can become more energy efficient but also how they can increase profit margins for farmers. A prime example of this is an Alabama Agriculture Energy Program project which demonstrated the energy efficiency of closed cell foam insulation for poultry houses. Propane, which is used to heat most poultry houses, is the largest operational cost for the poultry producer. Deploying this technology resulted in 20% - 35% reductions in propane usage for the test houses during and after the demonstration period. Ken Taylor, one of the cooperating farmers involved with the project, was totally convinced of the benefit and immediately retrofitted the remainder of the poultry houses on his farm. “There is no doubt that these improvements increased my profit margin.” Mr. Taylor stated. “These savings go straight to the bottom line. It is not often you can get this kind of payback.”
The savings stretch much farther than the project’s cooperating farms. The Project Director, poultry scientist Dr. Eugene Simpson, conducted a great deal of outreach by sharing data from the project with other producers and grower groups resulting in many other growers in the state deploying similar technology. According to the Alabama Farmers’ Federation, the economic impact of poultry in Alabama is $8.5 billion, which is 10 percent of the state's economy. With the high cost of energy being a serious threat to the poultry industry in the state, it is easy to see how projects such as this can make a significant impact on the economics of agriculture in Alabama.
Other Agriculture Energy Program Projects have included:
§ Biodiesel Production and its Added-Value Products for Small Farms
§ Low Pressure Nozzles – Improving Irrigation Energy Efficiency
§ Demonstrating Combined Heat and Power Generation from Biomass Residues Indigenous to Alabama
§ A Farmer Education and Demonstration Program for Biofuel Feedstock Production in Alabama
§ Low-Cost Energy Retrofits for Alabama Broiler Houses Using Emerging Sealing, Insulation and Lighting Technologies
§ Demonstration of Solar-Powered Diffused-Air Aerators at Alabama Saltwater Shrimp and Catfish Farms
§ Farm Energy Audit Training and Energy Awareness Workshops for Farmers
§ Energy-efficient Integrated Aquaculture Vegetable Production System Utilizing Renewable Energy
§ Energy Cropping Practices Demonstration and Analysis
§ A Demonstration of Energy-efficient Grain Drying Technology
§ Precision Agriculture Applications such as Global Positioning Systems (GPS) for Farm Machinery.
The program also sponsors an annual Alabama Agriculture Energy Conference to disseminate information about current projects and address relevant energy issues within the agriculture community. The annual conference attracts agricultural producers, university researchers, government leaders and representatives from agricultural organizations throughout the state. The conference grows in participation each year and hosted 240 attendees and participants in 2009.
One of the latest initiatives to spring from the Alabama Agriculture Energy Program is an Agriculture Energy Working Group that has formed to help facilitate new agriculture business development in the state, especially with regard to the renewable energy industry. The informal group includes representatives from the state’s USDA office, ADECA, the Alabama Department of Agriculture & Industries, the Alabama Farmers Federation, the Alabama Development Office, the Alabama Clean Fuels Coalition, regional business incubators and others. The group meets quarterly to discuss potential opportunities for collaboration and opportunities to provide assistance to budding agriculture-related renewable energy industry in the state.
According to Auburn University professor and bioenergy expert, Dr. David Bransby, the ADECA Agriculture Energy Program is doing an outstanding job with a number of diverse, but highly relevant and practical on-farm demonstrations of renewable energy and energy efficiency technologies. “These projects are making extremely efficient and effective use of available funds, and are supported by a strong educational annual conference that has developed an excellent reputation in the agricultural community of Alabama”, Bransby said. “Without question, the program is effectively promoting renewable energy and energy efficiency on farms in the state.”