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Gov’s Ag Forum Focuses on Bridging Divisions The Colorado Agricultural Leadership Program is proud to host the 27th annual Governor’s Forum on Colorado Agriculture on Wednesday, February 21 at the Renaissance Hotel on Quebec in Denver. Titled “Colorado’s Agricultural Impact: Economic, Environmental, Social,” the program will bring together producers, consumers, experts and other ag stakeholders. Presenting innovative and informative speakers, the program is aimed at getting beyond the polarizing rhetoric often found in today’s society. Since there can be divisive boundaries in agriculture between organic and conventional, urban and rural, large-scale and small-scale, the forum will focus on Colorado’s powerful history of collaboration and cooperation. This is what made agriculture in the Centennial State the second largest driver of the economy. The daylong event will challenge and equip attendees to seek novel alliances and ideas to benefit their own operations, the statewide industry and beyond. Register at governorsagforum.com.
Biomass, Waste Fuels Add to Resource Mix Biomass and waste fuels generated 71.4 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity in 2016. That sounds like a lot, but it was only 2 percent of total generation in the United States, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration’s recently released annual electric power data. However, every resource is valuable and using biomass and waste fuels means less of other fuels is required. (Biomass fuels are defined as all non-fossil, carbon- or plant-based [biogenic] energy sources. Waste fuels are defined as all other non-biogenic wastes.) Wood solids accounted for nearly onethird of the electricity generated from biomass and waste. Most wood solids come from logging and mill residues; wood, paper and furniture manufacturing; and discarded large timber products, such as railway ties, utility poles and marine pilings.
CREA Board Member Joins National Group A Colorado woman will represent the West and Colorado’s electric cooperatives on the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association’s Director Advisory Group. Debbie Rose, president of the San Isabel Electric Association Board of Directors and San Isabel Electric’s representative to the Colorado Rural Electric Association Board of Directors, started her term on the national committee January 1. Rose, who lives in Beulah, will use this appointment to extend her commitment to working on issues that impact Colorado’s economy and the state’s rural communities. NRECA is the national service organization that represents the nation’s more than 900 not-for-profit, consumer-owned electric cooperatives. 12
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Municipal solid waste (MSW), which comes from landfills, provided 20 percent of biomass- and waste-generated electricity in 2016. EIA estimates that 51 percent of MSW-based electricity came from biogenic sources — wood, paper, food, rubber and yard trimmings were the most common sources. The remaining MSW came from such sources as plastics. Landfill gas is created by decomposing organic material in landfills. Its composition is about half methane (the primary component of natural gas) and half carbon dioxide. Landfill gas provided nearly 16 percent of 2016 biomass-generated electricity. The remaining biogenic fuels account for just 5 percent of biomass-generated electricity. Most other biomass gas generation comes from wastewater treatment plants. Colorado’s electric co-ops are involved with biomass and waste fuels in a variety of ways. One electric co-op works directly with a landfill gas facility, which captures the methane from 15 million tons of decomposing waste to generate 3 megawatts of capacity. Another electric co-op purchased part of its power supply from a biomass plant in Gypsum, the first biomass plant built in Colorado. And the co-op power supplier, Tri-State Generation and Transmission Association, worked with a variety of ag-based ventures using anaerobic digesters to generate electricity from animal waste. Electric co-ops continue to add additional renewable and sustainable fuels to their resource mix.
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