July 23, 2014 at 2:10 p.m.
Who will step up and lead? (09/06/2008)
Editorial
Sometimes you can know where you want to go and still not be pointed in the right direction.
About 14 months ago, there was a flurry of interest in carving out a niche for Jay County involving alternative energy.
Wind power studies were to be launched, and an ethanol plant was nearing completion. With the county's abundance of confined animal feeding operations, local visionaries were kicking around ideas involving manure digesters that could generate electricity. Waste Management and Wabash Valley Power Association had already shown leadership by partnering to generate electricity from methane at the Jay County Landfill.
An editorial on this page in May of 2007 urged building on this convergence of new technologies and pushing the county to the forefront in alternative energy in the 21st century. It generated some good buzz of conversation; there's both interest and enthusiasm for the idea in the agricultural community.
But interest and enthusiasm will only take you so far. Someone's going to have to step up and lead.
So far, for the past 14 months, there's been mostly talk.
A Purdue ag economist speaking at the Jay County Soil and Water Conservation District's annual meeting made it clear that while manure-to-electricity is a workable concept, it's going to be complicated to develop on a practical basis.
His essential message was that this isn't something that can be addressed by a single farmer or even a handful of farmers working together. It's going to require some sort of consortium or organization if it's going to work.
It's also going to require partnerships with local utilities that will commit to buying the power that's generated.
Fair enough. Nobody said this was going to be easy.
But it's possible to envision a public-private partnership involving county government, Waste Management, Jay County REMC and Wabash Valley, I&M, and an organization of farmers/investors that would make it happen.
Complicated? You bet.
But the potential payoffs are enormous:
•A reduction in the amount of field-applied manure, which would result in an immediate improvement in the quality of rural life and an easing of concerns about local groundwater.
•A reduction in local electrical utility rates, making Jay County vastly more attractive to new industry when competing with other communities.
That's a destination worth working toward, but we'll never get there unless we're pointed in the right direction and can move beyond talk to meaningful action.
Who is ready to lead? - J.R.[[In-content Ad]]
About 14 months ago, there was a flurry of interest in carving out a niche for Jay County involving alternative energy.
Wind power studies were to be launched, and an ethanol plant was nearing completion. With the county's abundance of confined animal feeding operations, local visionaries were kicking around ideas involving manure digesters that could generate electricity. Waste Management and Wabash Valley Power Association had already shown leadership by partnering to generate electricity from methane at the Jay County Landfill.
An editorial on this page in May of 2007 urged building on this convergence of new technologies and pushing the county to the forefront in alternative energy in the 21st century. It generated some good buzz of conversation; there's both interest and enthusiasm for the idea in the agricultural community.
But interest and enthusiasm will only take you so far. Someone's going to have to step up and lead.
So far, for the past 14 months, there's been mostly talk.
A Purdue ag economist speaking at the Jay County Soil and Water Conservation District's annual meeting made it clear that while manure-to-electricity is a workable concept, it's going to be complicated to develop on a practical basis.
His essential message was that this isn't something that can be addressed by a single farmer or even a handful of farmers working together. It's going to require some sort of consortium or organization if it's going to work.
It's also going to require partnerships with local utilities that will commit to buying the power that's generated.
Fair enough. Nobody said this was going to be easy.
But it's possible to envision a public-private partnership involving county government, Waste Management, Jay County REMC and Wabash Valley, I&M, and an organization of farmers/investors that would make it happen.
Complicated? You bet.
But the potential payoffs are enormous:
•A reduction in the amount of field-applied manure, which would result in an immediate improvement in the quality of rural life and an easing of concerns about local groundwater.
•A reduction in local electrical utility rates, making Jay County vastly more attractive to new industry when competing with other communities.
That's a destination worth working toward, but we'll never get there unless we're pointed in the right direction and can move beyond talk to meaningful action.
Who is ready to lead? - J.R.[[In-content Ad]]
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