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Tuesday, May 04, 2010

USDA steps up push for rural alternative energy

Last month we reported the Department of Agriculture was planning to conduct the first survey of farm-produced energy. That survey is just part of the Obama administration's larger plan to promote rural alternative energy, Allison Winter of Environment & Energy Daily reports. USDA and Environmental Protection Agency officials "signed an interagency agreement yesterday to expand their efforts to help farmers start energy projects by capturing methane from their livestock operations," Winter writes.

Tomorrow Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack and Council on Environmental Quality Chairwoman Nancy Sutley will host a "clean energy economy forum" for rural stakeholders, "intended to highlight opportunities for biofuels and other renewable energy projects in rural areas," Winter writes. The USDA and EPA agreement extends the AgSTAR program, founded in 1993 to support and encourage the development of methane recovery technologies, and will provide nearly $4 million over the next five years for the project.

"EPA estimates there are 8,000 farms across the United States that are good candidates for capturing and using biogas," Winter writes. If each of those farms were to implement a biogas system, EPA estimates methane emissions would be reduced by more than 34 million metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent a year, which is roughly equivalent to yearly emissions from 6.5 million passenger vehicles. EPA says the systems could could generate more than 1,500 megawatts of renewable energy. (Read more)

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