Whether a renewable energy project serves the needs of a farm or ranch, or if it is also being used to sell electricity to the grid, several mechanisms exist for farmers or ranchers who want to take advantage of renewable energy opportunities in California.
To help farmers, ranchers and business owners understand the opportunities and challenges from development of renewable energy generation, the California Farm Bureau Federation offered a session on the topic at the 2013 Leaders Conference in Sacramento.
Moderated by Associate Counsel Karen Norene Mills, CFBF director of public utilities, the session featured panelists who addressed the state's renewable energy goals, described ways for those in agriculture to create their own renewable energy, such as solar or wind on-site, and mentioned government incentive programs available to bring both small and large projects online.
"Programs in California range from net metering, which is very small, to power purchase agreements that can be up to several hundred megawatts," Mills said. "Through the session, folks were able to get an understanding of opportunities, impediments and processes that they might encounter when working through the projects."
Carlos Abreu, who works in energy procurement for Pacific Gas and Electric Co., explained that driving the demand for renewable energy in California is the state's Renewables Portfolio Standard, which requires California to achieve 33 percent renewable energy by 2020.
"With a very aggressive (Renewables Portfolio Standard) policy, the market responded with proposed projects to PG&E to meet those requirements," Abreu said. "We are seeing more wind, solar and geothermal."
The legislation requires that from 2011 to 2013, California achieve an average of 20 percent renewable energy, and the state expects to exceed 20 percent in 2013, Abreu said. In the compliance period from 2014 to 2016, the renewable energy goal is 23.3 percent, with the final target of 33 percent in 2020.
PG&E panelists also provided an overview of the how the programs work from planning to installation, with comments from Bob Masuoka of the utility's Environmental Management division and William Chung of its Electric Generation Interconnection division.
Solar energy leads the pack in renewable energy generation, which Carmine Iadarola, principal/owner of Colorado-based SolarGen USA, explained can be created in a way that complements and enhances agriculture. Iadarola said he has developed more than 3,000 megawatts of power generation of various types, which includes 700 megawatts of solar.
"Solar development on agricultural land is often seen as a zero-sum game: You either live or let die. I just don't buy into that concept," Iadarola said. "I think there are opportunities to enhance agriculture and build solar projects. I don't want to choose between food and energy. Both are necessary to sustain our complex society and our economy. My job has not been to find problems; my job is to find solutions."
One of Iadarola's solutions incorporates solar panels on agricultural land at a Los Banos farm that grows pomegranates and is near a substation.
"The afternoon sun causes sunburn on the pomegranates, significantly lowering the value of the fruit," Iadarola said.
By adding shade to the pomegranate orchard in the form of high solar panels built over the trees, Iadarola said he was able to help the farmer reduce the sunburn and earn more of a premium for the fruit.
"The value of the orchard went from $621 per acre to $1,700 per acre," Iadarola said. "In addition, they get $1,000 per acre for the solar panels, plus they are using water more efficiently. They took the water and moved it to another 120 acres and were able to produce $500 per acre. They were $1,600 per acre ahead" with the addition of the solar panels.
Iadarola cited the example as a model for the ability to construct large solar projects while minimizing the impacts on agricultural resources.
Steve Sherr, vice president of business affairs at Foundation Windpower—a San Francisco company that builds wind turbine generators for California businesses with large energy demand and high energy costs—described businesses that have taken advantage of wind energy.
"For anybody that has a sizable load on-site, you should consider working to bring energy on-site, because it really does help clear that initial cost hurdle so that the long-term savings can hit the bottom line," Sherr said. "It is not windy everywhere in California, but where it is windy and where we can capture and harness the renewable energy, projected savings are monumental."
Sherr said one of the company's customers is Safeway, which operates a distribution center in Tracy that has two, 1 megawatt turbines on-site, partly funded by the California Self Generation Incentive Program. To meet the center's 24-hour cold storage requirement and have a consistent source of power, Sherr said, his company was able to structure a power purchase agreement whereby Safeway allowed installation of two wind turbines owned by Foundation Windpower on Safeway land. Sherr's company sells electricity to Safeway for a levelized price over 20 years.
Superior Farms in Dixon, the nation's largest lamb producer, also boasts a Foundation Windpower turbine, which has been able to offset about 50 percent of total energy use at the location.
(Christine Souza is an assistant editor of Ag Alert. She may be contacted at csouza@cfbf.com.)