North Prairie Productions, LLC: Harvesting Renewable Energy for a Sustainable Future

Governor's Energy Goals Friendly to Ag
By Jane Fyksen, Crops Editor
Reprinted by NPP with permission of Agri-View, copywrite 2006

Wisconsin Governor Jim Doyle announced last week new farm-friendly energy goals for the state, calling for 25 percent of Wisconsin's electricity and 25 percent of its transportation fuel to come from renewable sources by 2025.

Wisconsin's BioIndustry Consortium also released its report outlining a broad vision for Wisconsin's energy independence that includes capturing at least 10 percent of the nation's emerging bio-based economy.

Doyle's plan includes boosting production of ethanol and other biofuels, making several University of Wisconsin System campuses self-sufficient within the next five years and handing out grants to businesses working on biofuel technology as well as incentives for research.

Both the BioIndustry Consortium report and the Governor's backing of homegrown renewable energy were welcomed by Wisconsin's biofuels industry, including executives at a company planning to build a major biodiesel manufacturing facility in Wisconsin.

According to Jeff Pieterick, vice president of North Prairie Productions LLC, "the work of the BioIndustry Consortium shows that our tradition of mixing sound environmental stewardship with good business development is alive and well in Wisconsin."

North Prairie Productions, which currently has an office in Waterloo, is planning a major diobdiesel manufacturing facility for southern Wisconsin that will be capable of making up to 45 million gallons of biodiesel a year. (Biodeisel is a non-toxic renewable fuel made primarily from soybeans.)

Pieterick says Wisconsin's commitment to renewable energy is one of the primary reasons North Prairie Productions chose to remain in this state rather than looking elsewhere to locate its proposed biodiesel plant.

"A few states, such as Iowa, Illinois and Minnesota, offer greater incentives in support of biodiesel production," Pieterick admits, noting, however, that North Prairie Production "recognizes that Wisconsin has the resources available to establish biodiesel production as a major market contributor, both to this nation's energy independence and to the Wisconsin economy."

"The Governor's announcement...indicates that we also have the political leadership as well, to firmly establish the biofuels industry in Wisconsin to power the next generation and many more to come."

Doyle last week signed a "Declaration of Energy Independence" for Wisconsin.

"America's energy crisis presents Wisconsin with not only challenge, but opportunity," Doyle says. "With our great research institutions, strong agriculture and manufacturing base and tremendous renewable resources, we are well positioned to become America's leader in the drive toward energy independence."

"For the sake or our environment and our economy, we must seize this opportunity," the Governor stresses.

Doyle's "declaration" calls for a joint public-private effort in the state in order to achieve the following goals:
• To generate 25 percent of its electricity and 25 percent of the state's transportation fuel from renewables by 2025.
• To capture 10 percent of the national market share for the production of renewable energy sources by 2030 - a goal that's expected to bring $13.5 billion annually to Wisconsin's economy by 2030.
• To become a national leader in groundbreaking research on alternative energy, and in turn, transfer those discoveries to private industry, thereby creating new high-paying jobs in the state.

Specifically, Doyle is directing state agencies to work toward achieving the ambitious goals showcased within his declaration. Within the next few months, Wisconsin government will:
• Identify at least three UW campuses that'll be moved "off the grid" within five years - producing enough energy on their own to be completely energy independent (with a strong focus on renewable fuel).
• Provide $1 million in grant funding to Wisconsin businesses and entrepreneurs (including farmers), who are developing and commercializing new technologies in the field of bioenergy, bioproducts and biofuels.
• Promote new incentives - including as part of the state budget process - to encourage production and use of renewable fuels (Specifically, state government will seek federal and state grants for the installation of E-85 pumps throughout Wisconsin, lead an effort to create a biodiesel association in the state to foster growth of that sector, and collaborate with other Midwestern states seeking changes in the upcoming Farm Bill to encourage growth of alternative fuels and feedstocks used for biomass production).
• Encourage additional UW research in an attempt to make Wisconsin the nation's leader in renewable energy development.
• Implement the recommendations of the Governor's Biobased Industry Consortium. (Doyle will call for creation of a Wisconsin Biobased Industry partnership building research and development capacity within the UW System and at technical colleges, developing specialized business support programs and building markets and demand for bio-products).
• Form a Wisconsin Energy Independence Project - an interagency effort to coordinate and focus activist of state government on the goals of the Governor's "Declaration of Energy Independence." (Rod Nilsestuen, secretary of the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection, and Scott Hassett, secretary of the Department of Natural Resources, have been tagged to lead that effort).
• Launch an initiative to make Wisconsin the first state to have a cellulosic ethanol plant - producing ethanol from wood products.

In his declaration, Doyle notes that the energy crunch "presents Wisconsin not only with a challenge but an opportunity - and we must seize it."

The Wisconsin Ethanol Coalition endorses Doyle's plan to make this state the nation's leader in energy independence.

"Wisconsin's commitment to renewable energy and biofuels is good news for everyone," says Sue Beitlich, president of Wisconsin Farmers Union, a partner in the Coalition - a diverse, biopartisan group of over 100, including small businesses, labor groups, farmers, manufacturers, local governments, farm groups and the state's leading environmental organizations.

Other Coalition members include: Farm Bureau, Wisconsin Corn Growers Association, NFO, many of the state's ethanol plants, various Farm Credit Services, Dairy Business Association, Wisconsin Agribusiness Council, Wisconsin Soybean Association, seed companies and many other agricultural entities.

Beitlich was on hand for the signing of the declaration, as was Paul Zimmerman with the Wisconsin Farm Bureau, John Malchine, Badger State Ethanol, Alex Samardzich, Wisconsin Ethanol Producers Association, Bob Oleson, Wisconsin Corn Growers Association, and more.

Wisconsin's ethanol industry is growing like corn on a hot humid day. At a meeting last month of the Wisconsin Corn Growers, it was highlighted that Wisconsin should have seven ethanol plants operating by this fall. Presently, there are four, reports Tim Bender, Jefferson County crop and soils agent, who reports that in addition to the seven by year's end, another four are proposed near Sparta, Cambria, Belmont and Necedah.

"Technology today allows generating some 2.8 gallons of ethanol from a bushel of corn. The four current plants that are using some 0 million bushels of corn per year are producing approximately 200 million gallons of ethanol per year," Bender reports.

To put Wisconsin's corn and ethanol production capabilities into perspective, in 2004, this state's growers produced 2350 million bushels of corn. In 2005 - a record-setting corn-growing season - Wisconsin produced 425 million bushels of corn. "Another way to look at the current corn market in Wisconsin is that over one-fifth of the current crop is being converted into ethanol," says Bender. "If and when all 11 plants are in operation, the ethanol-producing capacity could reach 670 million gallons. If the math is correct, that would consume more than 50 percent of all Wisconsin corn production based on an average of the 2004 and 2005 total production."

State Ag Secretary Rod Nilsestuen held a teleconference earlier this week to highlight the Governor's declaration last week and formal receipt of the Consortium's report.

Nilsestuen concedes that they are "ambitious goals," but he thinks they're "doable," given the "tremendous momentum" around the country for renewable energy.

He says that while it's easy to focus on ethanol and biodiesel with prices at the pumps well over $3 a gallon, bioproduct development from biomass will have an equally large impact on this state.

Nilsestuen says no other state is "positioned" as well as Wisconsin with "its research muscle" already being flexed in the bio arena, notably biomed and stem cell research.

The Ag Secretary says there's "opportunity here unlike any seen in decades" for new Wisconsin start-up companies inside and outside agriculture to establish in the bioenergy arena. He highlights Wisconsin's fast-growing ethanol energy and indicates that Wisconsin's paper industry could also launch into ethanol production in the near future.

When asked about local complaints about siting of ethanol plants, Nilsestuen feels public sentiment is "beginning to turn the corner." Once people take a "closer look at the facts," and get their initial questions answered, negative responses to plant sitings give way to acceptance. New technology has pretty much taken care of air-quality issues at ethanol plants, he notes, adding that the public is recognizing that "if we're not going to be importing energy, we're going to have to produce it."

That's the production side. On the demand side, Nilsestuen says there's a list of 200 some stations in Wisconsin interested in offering E-85, and about one E-85 pump a week is being installed in the state of late. The Governor, notes Nilsestuen, will ask the Legislature to "reconsider" instituting a mandate that a certain percentage of Wisconsin's fuel be renewable fuel.

Nilsestuen plans to have a set of specific recommendations ready for the Governor's desk and the next state budget go-round in order to flesh out the energy independence goals announced last week.

He says it's "critically important" to the "future of rural Wisconsin" that the state do everything it can to become a leader in renewable energy. He says this is the "best opportunity in my life-time" for Wisconsin farmers to get "value-added returns" from their production and not just produce commodities. Not only can renewable fuels raise the price of corn and beans, but growers can be "investors" in new startups. That's where "the real returns" are, he remarks.