It should come as no surprise that struggling rural farmers can earn thousands in extra income and create jobs for their communities with biofuels and bio-power.
But exactly how much isn’t always easy to calculate. A study released Wednesday takes a stab at this question: $14,500 a year for corn wastes alone.
Corn fields can become a source of $14,500 in biofuel farm revenue annually
The work, commissioned by the Natural Resources Defense Council, took a close look at farms in Indiana, where good soils and plenty of water create a rich agricultural environment, but where coal plants still rule the utility roost.
Its conclusion is that many Indiana farms could participate in the production of ethanol. Indiana crop and woodland residues could produce 770 million gallons of transportation fuels each year, the study found, and substitute for 28 percent of the gasoline Indiana drivers use annually.
In doing so, an average corn farm could earn $14,500 from corn stover. And ten 50-million-gallon ethanol plants could create 1,940 jobs and $12.4 million in local property taxes.
Animal manure also could become a source of revenue. As it decomposes, manure gives off methane, a greenhouse gas 21 times as problematic as carbon dioxide. Burning methane curbs its harmful effect and creates energy.
“Biogas production is currently feasible at 234 Indiana large-scale swine operations in 34 counties, and potentially at livestock operations in 67 counties as technology improves,” the study says.
