Like clockwork, the water is pumped, the propagation houses are heated, and the lights and various electronics run throughout the day. Meanwhile, the electricity meter keeps spinning and the propane tanks keep firing. Conventional power sources are reliable and easy to use. But renewable energy can save you a few bucks and reduce your reliance on fossil fuels.
Some of the more common alternative fuels come in the form of biomass (wood or other plant waste), solar, wind and geothermal. Deciding which source is right for you depend on your power needs, your region and your finances.
“The first question a grower should ask before deciding on an alternative energy source is, ‘How much am I paying for fuel right now?’” said Roger Taylor, the state/local/tribal group manager at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) in Golden, Colo.
Some viable heating fuel alternatives for growers are wood, geothermal and solar thermal, Taylor said. Electricity alternatives for growers include small- to medium-scale wind turbines and solar.
“Wind is the lowest cost alternative for electricity right now,” he said.
Growers also should consider state and federal incentives to offset costs and understanding the permitting process in your area.
Solar
Solar energy systems can be a practical solution for nurseries, said Nathan Booth, commercial sales manager at Stellar Energy Solutions in Healdsburg, Calif. Solar can offset or completely replace electricity use, Booth said.
Some solar setups can be expensive, but there are some generous state incentives, Booth said.
“The California Solar Initiative rebates businesses for installing this technology,” Booth said. “A business receives 26 cents per kilowatt (kW) hour of energy produced for the first five years.
While Stellar Energy Solutions sells solar systems directly to companies, it also sells a solar services agreement. Stellar builds, owns and operates the system, and companies purchase power from Stellar for 20-25 years.
Verl Holden, owner of Holden Wholesale Growers in Silverton, Ore., began using solar in February 2007. The 29.9 kW solar photovoltaic system powers the lights, heaters, water pumps, a potting machine and computers at the nursery. Holden grows Colorado blue spruce, arborvitae, Japanese maples, hardy bamboo and hazelnut.
“Power comes off the solar panels as direct current, and a series of inverters converts it to alternating current -- both single-phase and three-phase,” Holden said. “As long as there’s a small amount of light, it’s generating power.”
Holden hired an electrical engineer and a contractor to design the system, which has no batteries or moving parts.
The system cost almost $250,000, but Holden received approximately $100,000 in federal and state incentives.
“Taking the incentives into account, my CPA said the system would pay for itself in five years,” Holden said. “But at the end of five years, it looks like we’ll be $13,000 ahead because of tax breaks.”
His electric bill is sometimes negative $30 or $40 from mid-April through summer.
The system is located between two greenhouse ranges and stands about 14 feet wide and 250 feet long.
Biomass
Walters Gardens in Zeeland, Mich., purchased a biomass boiler right after hurricane Katrina hit, when natural gas prices were extremely high, said Jim Bakker, project coordinator at Walters Gardens. The grower burns wood pellets, which are delivered in semi-truck loads. The 3.5 million Btu boiler serves as the primary source of heat during the “really cold part of the winter,” Bakker said. During that time, it may take a week and a half to go through a truckload of pellets.
“As the temperature gets more transitional when the days warm up and the nights cool off, we’ll switch back to natural gas instead of warming up the whole biomass burner system.”
It’s easy to operate, and the wood pellets “are a reliable, consistent fuel source,” Bakker said. Before purchasing a biomass boiler, growers should calculate the cost of the infrastructure and the boiler, he said.
“And try other things to conserve energy first, like lowering the temperature in some houses or using energy curtains, then look at alternative fuels,” Bakker said.
Wind
Wind turbines can be used as stand-alone applications, or they can be connected to a utility power grid or even combined with a photovoltaic (solar cell) system, according to the NREL. Stand-alone wind turbines are typically used for water pumping or communications. However, growers in windy areas can use wind turbines as a way to cut electric bills.
Half the land mass in the United States has sufficient wind to make a small turbine viable, according to the American Wind Energy Association (AWEA). It’s crucial the wind on your property is sustained for long periods at a time. The Department of Energy measures wind power on a scale of 1 (weakest) to 7. If winds on your site are at least class 2 (annual wind speeds averaging 9.8-11.5 mph), it may be suitable for wind generation. Look for wind strength in your area at the Wind Energy Resource Atlas of the
Turbines must be mounted at least 30 feet above any physical wind barriers within 300 feet to avoid air turbulence. Most small wind turbine manufacturers recommend mounting turbines at least 65 feet high.
Geothermal
He switched from galvanized steel pipes to stainless steel, which was a significant investment initially.
“Galvanized steel corrodes too quickly, so use stainless steel or copper. You’ll get a return on your investment pretty quickly,” Hansen said.
For more: National Renewable Energy Laboratory, (303) 384-7389; www.nrel.gov. Stellar Energy Solutions, (888) 242-8701; www.stellarenergy.com. Holden Wholesale Growers, (503) 873-5940; holdenwholesale@meritel.net.
- Kelli Rodda
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Financial incentives are available for renewable energy systems
Take advantage of state and federal financial incentives if you plan to switch to renewable energy systems. The IRS offers tax breaks and USDA provides grants and special loans to offset costs.
The Database of State Incentives for Renewables & Efficiency (DSIRE) is a comprehensive source for local, state and federal incentives. DSIRE is managed by the North Carolina Solar Center and the Interstate Renewable Energy Council.
Search for your state’s incentives at the DSIRE Web site.
For more: IREC, (518) 458-6059; www.dsireusa.org.
Some federal incentives include:
Corporate depreciation
Under the Modified Accelerated Cost-Recovery System (MACRS), businesses can recover investments in certain property through depreciation deductions. The MACRS establishes a set of class lives for various types of property, ranging from three to 50 years, over which the property may be depreciated. For solar, wind and geothermal property placed in service after 1986, the current MACRS property class is five years. With the passage of the Energy Policy Act of 2005, fuel cells, microturbines and solar hybrid lighting technologies are now classified as 5-year property as well.
For more: www.irs.gov.
Business Energy Tax Credit
For eligible equipment installed from Jan. 1, 2006, through Dec. 31, 2008, the credit is set at 30 percent of expenditures for solar technologies, fuel cells and solar hybrid lighting; microturbines are eligible for a 10 percent credit during this two-year period. For equipment installed on or after Jan. 1, 2009, the tax credit for solar energy property and solar hybrid lighting reverts to 10 percent and expires for fuel cells and microturbines. The geothermal credit remains unchanged at 10 percent.
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The credit for fuel cells is capped at $500 per 0.5 kilowatt (kW) of capacity. The maximum microturbine credit is $200 per kW of capacity.
For more: www.irs.gov.
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Alternative energy makes economic sense
From the lights that illuminate our offices and facilities to the power that drives our tools and transportation, we are dependent on energy. We rely primarily on fossil fuel energy in the form of oil, coal and natural gas. These finite sources of hydrocarbons are gifted to us from the ages.
The three E’s of sustainability (economic, environment and equity) direct us to find the optimum balance of cost, social fairness and impact on the environment.
With oil prices bouncing between $88 and $100 a barrel, it’s easier now to see the business case for being energy efficient and looking for effective alternative sources. As climate change becomes more widely recognized, there is a growing worldwide desire to make sure we try and avoid the catastrophic consequences of unbridled burning of hydrocarbons for fuel.
The good news is we have energy options. Nature is our model and mentor. She offers us three fundamental design principles which we can emulate in our terrestrial designs.
Waste = food
We can turn bio-based materials into biofuels. Examples include bio-diesel rapeseed and bioethanol from corn (maize). Fuel prices are providing economic incentive for farmers to grow crops for biofuel production instead of food production. The fear is this could lead to reduced food production, particularly among poorer people, which is not an equitable outcome. There is also debate as to whether these biofuels can contribute as much or more to global warming than fossil fuel savings due to global cooling. Next generation processes use non food crops such as agricultural secondaries such as straw and rice husks.
We also have waste-to-energy options such as anaerobic digestion. Anaerobic digestion converts biodegradable waste into several products, including biogas and soil amendment -- vital to restoring the health and vitality of our precious soil.
Use current solar income
Thankfully, we benefit from solar income. Our preferred nuclear reactor is about 93 million miles away. It’s wireless and takes just over 8 minutes to reach us every day without fail. Solar hot-water heating is now cost-effective and in some places direct solar-power generation can be economic. With LED lights, direct current (DC) solar power can be used without conversion to alternating current (AC) especially for interior lighting.
Celebrate diversity
There isn’t just one energy solution. Wind is also a renewable energy source that is cost-effective in some locations. The big bets in capital investment are being taken now by venture companies anticipating that alternative energy will provide the next big ‘clean tech’ winner. Time will tell what the right mix will be and which technologies will win through to the mass market.
Meanwhile, at least make the move to compact fluorescent light bulbs. You can save more than $30 in electricity costs over the lamp’s lifetime compared to an incandescent lamp, and they last up to 10 times longer. As the Energy Star program says, “If every American home replaced just one light bulb with an Energy Star qualified bulb, we would save enough energy to light more than 3 million homes for a year, more than $600 million in annual energy costs, and prevent greenhouse gases equivalent to the emissions of more than 800,000 cars.”
For more: www.energystar.gov/index.cfm?c=cfls.pr_cfls.
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- Ken Alston
Ken Alston is CEO of the environmental consulting firm MBDC, http://mbdc.com, and is the owner of Commonwealth Plants LLC., http://japanese-maple.com.
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States endorse 25x’25 Plan
The 25x’25 Plan is a national effort that calls for
A group of volunteer farm leaders first envisioned the goal of 25x’25, and it has gained the support of a broad cross-section of the agriculture and forestry communities. 25x'25 is supported financially by the Energy Future Coalition, a nonpartisan public policy initiative funded by foundations.
Several state legislatures have passed 25x’25 resolutions, including Colorado, Mississippi, Montana, Nebraska, Kansas, Vermont, Florida, North Dakota, Georgia, Alabama, Louisiana and California.
The 25x’25 action plan calls for supportive policies in five areas.
1. Increasing production of renewable energy.
2. Delivering renewable energy to markets.
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3. Expanding renewable energy markets.
4. Improving energy efficiency and productivity.
5. Strengthening conservation of natural resources and the environment.
For more: 25x’25 Alliance, (410) 252-7079; www.25x25.org.
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Biomass: Plant material, vegetation or agricultural waste used as an energy source.
Concentrator: A tool that uses lenses and/or mirrors to focus and enhance the sun’s rays onto the photovoltaic surface.
Renewable energy: Energy from sources that cannot be used up: sunshine, water flow, wind and vegetation.
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Geothermal energy: Hot water or steam extracted from geothermal reservoirs in the Earth’s crust.
Source: NC GreenPower.
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