LONDON, Ont. – Agricultural energy crops appear poised to change Ontario’s landscape.
The supply of farm-grown biomass is small, but interest and production are growing.
Ontario Federation of Agriculture policy analyst Ted Cowan told a recent Growing the Margins conference in London that energy crops can compete as a source of heat with propane and natural gas.
“Propane is expensive, so if you can afford to be a little less expensive, you’re in the game,” Cowan said.
Biofuel, such as cellulosic ethanol, is another possibility.
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However, those niche markets are dwarfed by the expected demand from the province’s electricity provider.
Ontario Power Generation plans to burn as much as two million tonnes of biomass pellets to produce 1,000 megawatts of electricity by 2014 at its coal-fired generating stations. To meet the demand, crops grown specifically for energy production will be required.
Five former tobacco growers on the Norfolk Sand Plain are not sure where their energy crop will fit in, but they’re moving forward.
The members of the South Coast Grow Me Green Energy Association are establishing a mix of native switchgrass, big bluestem and Indian grass species that can be sold for energy production.
“We now have 100 acres between us and we’re trying to establish a pilot project that would see another 500 acres go in this spring,” said project spokesperson Deb Gilvesy.
“An acre equals enough heat for one home. When you see one acre of tallgrass prairie, close your eyes and imagine 25 barrels of oil.”
Plans are also moving forward in Springford, Ont., to build a pellet plant with an annual production capacity of about 100,000 tonnes.
Ian Moncrieff, founder of Canadian Biofuels, plans to use waste wood and other discarded materials to start and eventually switch to 100 percent, purpose-grown energy crops. The plans would require 6,000 to 20,000 acres, depending on the species.
Moncrieff said 60,000 to 70,000 acres of land within the Norfolk sand plain are suitable for energy crops.
“We hope to be in production by the middle of this summer,” he said.
“We’d like to start the plant construction within weeks…. It’s amazing the number of people who have stopped by and asked, ‘can I buy pellets? Can I buy a stove?’ So there is a market.”
Dean Tiessen plans to burn about 900 tonnes of miscanthus from his 2009 harvest at his family’s greenhouse operation at Leamington during the next year. He’s also marketing plant material and expertise through his new business, New Energy Farms Network.
Kurt Vanclief and Don Nott are among the handful of Ontario producers growing switchgrass as a monoculture.
Nott, who farms in Huron County, has marketed pellets for years, while Vanclief is setting up an on-farm pellet production facility at his Prince Edward County property.
Andy Gordon, a researcher at the University of Guelph, said hybrid willow can be successfully grown on marginal agricultural soil in southern Ontario. The crop can be harvested seven times over a 22-year cycle before having to be replanted. Annual yields can average 10 tonnes per acre.
Energy crop research continues in Ontario, including a seven-location trial by the University of Guelph.
Many involved feel the technologies are already in place to successfully grow, harvest, process and market the crops, but they’re less clear on the economic feasibility.
Moncrieff, an environmental planner from Chatham, Ont., said his company will be able to pay about $74 per oven-dried tonne, with less than 15 percent moisture, for biomass. At that price, miscanthus growers may receive a gross per acre return of $850.
Well-established switchgrass may yield 4.5 tonnes per acre, while members of the Norfolk sand plan group are expecting similar yields with the polyculture of tallgrass species. It represents a return of $335 per acre.
However, Gilvesy said her group has been offered a higher price, and Vanclief plans to sell his on-farm produced pellets for more.
In Prince Edward County, an hour and a half east of Toronto, many schools, municipal buildings and residences are heated with propane.
“We don’t think we’ll have a problem with the market. We’re just holding out until we can process it ourselves,” Vanclief said.
“We figure in eastern Ontario it will be as profitable as row crops, taken as a five-year average.”
There are other pricing considerations. Few inputs are needed to grow these crops. The biggest costs are tied up in their establishment and harvest.
Growers must wait for at least three years before their first full harvest, but they can remain productive for years or even decades once in the ground.
Transportation considerations mean the crops need to be close to where they’re used or processed.
If a carbon credit trading system becomes available, all the energy crops would likely be eligible for payments.
The former tobacco growers said their polyculture plan is also attractive because it represents the return of a dominant landscape that existed in the region before Europeans arrived.
Agriculture, other than tobacco and fruit and vegetable production, has had limited success in the area because of its light sand soil and shallow aquifers.
Price will be key and may ultimately be influenced by a combination of government policy and how much Ontario Power Generation plans to pay.
“We’re planning to pay a little more for the fuel that meets specifications because we’ve already invested in the infrastructure,” said company spokesperson Nicholle Butcher.
The Ontario government has shown a willingness to pay subsidies for green energy, though not for biomass.
Vanclief, son of former federal agriculture minister Lyle Vanclief, said he can be profitable without subsidies and feels they shouldn’t be introduced.
Moncrieff, however, said subsidies could expand the industry, although the success of the Springford venture doesn’t depend on them.
He envisions a string of 100,000 tonne pellet plants across Ontario, but said that won’t happen unless the government gets involved.
