NARFI blogs

Brainstorm...

Timlynn Babitsky — Sat, 28 Aug 2004 00:02:00 -0400

Want to entice travelers off the Interstate to come spend money in your town? Here are three different projects that are doing just that in rural America. Click here for Make it clever and they WILL come.

Make it clever and they WILL come....

Timlynn Babitsky — Fri, 27 Aug 2004 23:25:00 -0400

Many people who live in rural places struggle to stay there as their economic opportunities continue to disappear. Some hang on because of the heritage of family held lands. Some stay because there are few opportunities for them elsewhere. But most of these hardy rural-raised folks stay in backcountry North America because of a deep appreciation for and a love of the place.

As population continues to move toward the coasts, some key strategies today that will help provide a rural future for tomorrow include: 1) creatively brainstorm for economic survival, 2) follow the progress of innovative projects, and 3) learn from each other those "best practices" that work in other rural places.

The projects described below, are ones to watch. Each uses a different approach, but the goal is exactly the same:

How can we attract travelers to our place to enjoy what we offer and to help bolster our rural economy?

The Kentucky-Tennesee-Alabama Whale of a Sale project. Started in 1987 by one fellow with an innovative idea -- today, people from all over the country come by car, truck and motorhome to take part in this week long "world's longest yard sale." Every year in August, thousands of visitors come to buy from as many as 5,000 vendors set up in front yards, fields and driveways along a 450 mile stretch of back-roads USA. Click here to read more.

The Craft HeritageTrails of North Central Montana Hands of Harvest project. Based on Handmade in America, a successful model originated in the mountains of Western North Carolina, Hands of Harvest takes toursits on their own Trip of Discovery across the Big Sky country of north central Montana. The mapped locations identify studios, local museums and shops that showcase craft and cultural offerings unique to rural Montana. Click here for more information.

Regent, North Dakota's Enchanted Highway project. Gary Greff a metallurgist from Regent, is the driving force behind the creation of a series of "the world's tallest metal sculptures" which he hopes will bring people and their money to the town of Regent and its surrounding communities. The Enchanted Highway extends 32 miles from Exit 72 on Interstate 94 south to the town of Regent, North Dakota.Click here to read more.

Cattle rustlers beware....

Timlynn Babitsky — Fri, 06 Aug 2004 14:06:00 -0400

Cattle brands are a big deal. They have been historically and they are today. A brand on an animal identifies who owns it, and in many cases, the history of the animal as it is sold from one ranch to another. Keeping track of brands and the owners of those brands is a huge challenge in major ranching states like Texas, Montana, Colorado, Wyoming, Nebraska, and New Mexico.

For example, in New Mexico alone, there are nearly 29,000 brands representing thousands of working ranches, each of which may use several different brands. Brands are currently kept in huge books that are referenced to locate the exact drawing of a brand and the ranch that owns it. This is terribly time consuming and vulnerable to misinterpretation and error.

The challenge is already huge, but will grow even larger as federal livestock identification regulations take effect in the next couple of years. There is also a great deal of pressure to develop a system that can track the origin of ill animals within 48 hours.

A New Mexico software developer, Nickel Brand Software, may have a good part of the answer to the cattle identification and tracking problem.

Nickel Brand Software allows a user to find the ownership of a branded animal within minutes, not days. The digital livestock identification software allows the user to either sketch the brand on a hand held computer palm pad or to scan the brand with a hand scanner. The brand database is then accessed and the brand owner is quickly identified. Click here for more general information. Click here for more details about the software.

Seeking Common Ground...

Timlynn Babitsky — Sun, 18 Jul 2004 16:11:00 -0400

There is a widely held perception that Rural Electric Cooperatives (REC) are generally not interested in pursuing renewable energy. On closer look, this does not appear to be true. Click here for the rest of the story.

Rural Electric Cooperatives and Wind Power

Timlynn Babitsky — Sun, 18 Jul 2004 16:01:00 -0400

To have an accurate picture of the variables involved in developing alternative energy in Montana, NARFI is taking a closer look at the Montana rural electric cooperatives and their positions regarding green power through a research aagenda "Interconnection of Small Customer Generation Facilities: A Study of Montana Rural Electric Cooperatives."

The three main goals of this research are:

To accurately determine what the issues are that co-operatives face regarding wind power projects seeking to hook into their systems
To assess the similarities and differences between Montana's RECs in renewable energy project policies and application/approval processes
To compare Montana co-ops with RECs in other states on the same issues

The research is a four phase plan aimed at opening a constructive, non-adversarial dialog between the electric co-ops and wind activists/developers in Montana.

Phase One - acquiring demographic data for all Montana cooperatives and the distributed generation interconnection policies they have adopted, determining if and how these policies differ from each other.

Phase Two - reviewing the application and approval processes for alternative energy projects co-op by co-op, to find similarities and to determine differences among all 26 electric co-ops and then between co-ops and investor owned utilities.

Phase Three - gathering existing research that examines cooperatives in the United States particularly studying the impacts, benefits and lessons learned for those utilizing wind energy.

Phase Four - analyzing the information obtained in phases 1-3, to determine how wind energy may or may not fit into Montana's rural electric cooperative market.

NARFI is maintaining a neutral position in this research, seeking to get issues on the table on both sides, so common ground can be uncovered.

The data contained in Phase One of this study was collected through direct contact with each of the twenty-six Montana co-ops through in-depth telephone interviews and extensive email communication. Information was also obtained directly and via email from the Montana Electric Cooperative Association, the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association and their research branch, the Cooperative Research Network, NorthWestern Energy, Montana Dakota Utilities, Bonneville Power Authority, and the Western Area Power Administration.

Phase One is complete. Click here to access a pdf file of the Phase One findings. As each phase is complete, results will be posted here.

For more information contact Leah Noel by e-mail or telephone at 406-265-6354.

22.8 Million in Grants for Renewable Energy

Timlynn Babitsky — Sat, 08 May 2004 16:36:00 -0400

$22.8 Million in Grants for Renewable Energy - Farm Bill 2004 Funding Announced. Applications must be postmarked no later than July 19, 2004. click here and also here for more information.

Farm Bill 2004 Grants Info

Timlynn Babitsky — Sat, 08 May 2004 16:21:00 -0400

Energy/Energy Efficiency Grants

On Wednesday, May 5th, the availability of approximately $23 million in competitive Renewable Energy/Energy Efficiency grant funds for FY2004 was announced. This program will assist agricultural producers and rural small businesses create their own energy or improve the energy efficiency of existing facilities.

Grants in the amount of $2,500 - $500,000 can be made for Renewable energy projects and grants in the amount of $2,500 - $250,000 can be made for Energy Efficiency projects. The maximum grant of 25% of the eligible project costs will be reimbursed to the grantees project.

All Montana applications should be submitted to the USDA-Rural Development State Office in Bozeman, MT to determine applicant eligibility, product eligibility, activity eligibility and other eligibility requirements.

All applications must be postmarked no later than July 19, 2004. Potential applicants should contact the State Office so that they may be provided with National Environmental Protection Act (NEPA) requirements, forms, resources and guidance.

All projects will have a technical review completed by the National Energy Resource Laboratory (NREL). Once they applications pass the eligibility review and technical review they will be sent to the National Office by August 16, 2004 with anticipated funding date set for September 3, 2004.

The Notice of Funds Availability (NOFA) inviting applications is available on line. The application deadline is July 19, 2004. Click here for the guidelines.

Some of the changes from last year include:

Lower minimum grant levels. The $2,500 minimum grant level means that projects that cost only $10,000 are eligible for grants (based on a 25% maximum grant level). This improvement will open the door to many more energy efficiency projects.
3rd party in-kind contributions can be counted toward the 75% match requirement.
New technical requirements based on specific renewable energy technologies.
Feasibility studies are only required for renewable energy grant requests exceeding $50,000.
Professional energy audits are only required for energy efficiency projects larger than $50,000
Special consideration will be given for smaller agricultural producers.(under $1 million in gross receipts)

All interested applicants should read the NOFA carefully. Then, please direct your questions to your state Program Director

For Montana contact John D. Guthmiller, Program Director, Business Cooperative Programs, USDA-Rural Development, 900 Technology Blvd, Suite B, P.O. Box 850, Bozeman, MT 59771, (406) 585-2540.

Please visit the USDA-Rural Development web site -- click here -- for further program information.

Cheap meds...

Timlynn Babitsky — Mon, 29 Mar 2004 17:20:00 -0500

Eastern Ohio's Bruce Buren makes a decent living off of what most farmers dismiss as weeds and wasted land. Read this wild story!

No market? Develop your own...

Timlynn Babitsky — Mon, 29 Mar 2004 17:12:00 -0500

Four years ago, a group of farmers in northern Minnesota were having trouble accessing markets for their organic grain crops. So they bought a processing and storage facility in their own backyard. Read their story!

Stinky power ...

Timlynn Babitsky — Sat, 20 Mar 2004 14:19:00 -0500

Industrial and municipal wastewater treatment facilities with anaerobic gas digesters are an untapped power source for hospitals, schools, universities, hotels and other commercial and industrial facilities. The methane generated from the anaerobic gas digestion process is used as fuel for Direct FuelCells (DFC).

"Direct FuelCells are like large, continuously operating batteries that generate electricity as long as fuel, such as natural gas, is supplied. Since the fuel is not burned, there is no pollution commonly associated with the combustion of fossil fuels...This high-efficiency technology generates more electric power from less fuel and with less carbon dioxide emissions than traditional methods using combustion."

A 500 kW fuel cell project will be installed at Santa Barbara's El Estero Wastewater Treatment Plant. It will harness methane gas from the anaerobic digesters as the fuel source. FuelCell Energy, Inc., and Alliance Power have formed a joint venture to sell electric power and heat to the facility under a long-term power purchase agreement - the first of its kind for FuelCell Energy.

Alliance Power is the turnkey provider to the project and FuelCell Energy will provide the DFC power plants and operations and maintenance services. The 650-degree Fahrenheit exhaust from the power plants will be used to supplement heating of the anaerobic digesters that create the methane gas for use by the fuel cells. The power plants are expected to be delivered and operational in the fourth quarter of 2004.

In a market study conducted in 1998, over 550 municipal wastewater treatment facilities in the U.S. were identified to be capable of producing enough methane from anaerobic gas digestion to fuel a 250-kilowatt or larger Direct FuelCells power plant.