Renewable Energy

VFBF Policy

We support state and national research and tax incentives for the production and use of alternative fuels. We support the creation of an alternative fuel refinery in the mid-Atlantic area. We further recommend any Virginia Energy Policy adopted contain the importance of renewable energy from agricultural products.

We support the use of ethanol and the elimination of MTBEs in fuels to help reduce toxic emissions and ground water pollution.

We recommend that the Commonwealth of Virginia use alternative fuels in its state vehicle fleet.

Background

With energy supplies uncertain and prices escalating, Virginia can become a true player in utilizing, and producing renewable energy resources in the Commonwealth. Bio-fuels, wind energy, and biomass conversion are no longer experimental, but technology that can be effectively utilized today to help relieve strains on our energy supplies, while at the same time offering our farmers and rural communities economic benefits.

On Aug. 8, 2005, President Bush signed the Energy Policy Act of 2005 into law. The comprehensive energy legislation includes a nationwide renewable fuels standard (RFS) that will double the use of ethanol and bio-diesel by 2012 to a minimum of 7.5 billion gallons. Although this is only a small percentage of our nations fuel supply, it provides a positive roadmap for reduced consumer fuel prices, a reduction of our dependency on imported oil, and provides growth to America's rural communities. The bill also extended incentives for the use of wind energy, and use of biomass as an energy source.

Bio-fuels may only have a small impact on our oil imports, but inclusion in our fuels as a blend will have huge environmental impacts. For example, E10 (a 10 percent ethanol blend in regular gasoline) will not only oxygenate the fuel and make it burn cleaner with less emissions, but also eliminate the need to include MTBE in the blend. MTBE, used by the petroleum industry as an oxygenate, has been proven to contaminate water supplies and has already been banned in several states. B2, a blend of 2 percent bio-diesel with regular diesel, would eliminate the need to add sulphur to the fuel as a lubricant. Both E10 and B2 can be used in any vehicle on the road today without any conversion costs or detrimental impacts on performance.

The federal government has laid the foundation for bio-fuel production in America. If the Commonwealth of Virginia wishes to be a player, there are several actions the General Assembly can take to make Virginia a competitive venue for bio-fuels manufacturing facility. Whatever actions the Assembly takes, they have to make Virginia more attractive to investors than any other state, particularly those contiguous to the Commonwealth.

To encourage use of bio-fuels within the Commonwealth, the General Assembly could mandate that all state vehicles use a blend of renewable fuels. Many localities have already adopted a policy and Over use bio-blends in their bus fleet. VDOT has already completed a study on the feasibility of using B20 fuel in their vehicles and found no problems in normal operation. Various initiatives promote and encourage the use to the general public, major vehicle manufacturers will soon be rolling out a line of models that can be operated off either regular gasoline, or ethanol. However, currently there is no true ethanol production, or retail outlets in Virginia. We need to encourage the development of the infrastructure to handle the demand that is certain to come.

An idea to increase production in Virginia are producer credits that would have an immediate effect on the bottom line of a bio-fuels manufacturing facility making Return on Investment more attractive and thus encouraging investors to invest. Producer credits are the most positive impact the state can have on attracting realistic commercial scale production of bio-fuels in Virginia. A 20/20 Vision for moving Virginia forward would offer 20 cents per gallon producer credit on the first 20 million gallons of production. To encourage large scale production, these credits could be limited to 50 percent of production up to the maximum. In effect, this would mean that for a bio-fuels producer to take full advantage of the credits, the producer would actually have to manufacture a minimum of 40 million gallons.

Virginia, though limited, does indeed have viable sites for the harnessing of wind energy for the production of electricity, these are primarily on the western border, and off-shore. Virginia needs to take advantage of these opportunities to harness the power of wind, which could also offer financial benefits to landowners by their leasing sites to turbine operators. Depending on the turbines used, a single system can produce enough electricity to make an impact on our needs. For example: a 10-kW wind turbine can generate about 10,000 kWh annually at a site with wind speeds averaging 12 miles per hour, or about enough to power a typical household. A 5-MW turbine can produce more than 15 million kWh in a year—enough to power more than 1,400 households. The average U.S. household consumes about 10,000 kWh of electricity each year.

Virginia can promote the use of biomass conversion on our major agricultural operations to turn animal waste into an energy producing workhorse. There is great potential in anaerobic digesters to utilize methane to generate electricity and at the same time reduce total waste output to a percentage of normal operations, and that being a marketable product to horticultural operations. A single on-farm plant could generate enough electricity for the farm and as many as 70 other households. However, these facilities are expensive and the state could work with producers to seek grants to build these conversion units on the farm.

Reasons for Position

Energy supplies are uncertain and prices continue to escalate, Virginia can become a true player in utilizing, and producing renewable energy sources in the Commonwealth.

Virginia is in a prime location to develop bio-fuel plants on a large scale due to its proximity to needed infrastructure, by product utilization, and consumer demand.

Use of wind turbines in Virginia in areas they are suited could offer opportunities to produce electricity from renewable resources and also offer landowners a new revenue source.

Continuing to fund research in renewable energy sources can generate new viable ways to offer solutions to problems faced by the Commonwealth beyond our energy needs.

Bio-diesel and ethanol are cleaner burning replacement fuels made from natural, renewable sources.

Renewable resources can greatly benefit our society, environment, and of course the rural and agricultural economy by expanding our markets for commodities such as soybeans, corn, and agreements with wind turbine operators.