Alternative Energy

Renewable energy efforts will change agriculture and the society in which we live. CCE Onondaga County in conjunction with the Town of Fabius Energy Steering Committee and Central New York Regional Planning Federation has conducted a series of meetings on renewable energy opportunities within the town. This has lead to securing grant funding to assess wind energy within the town. Local dairy farmers are also interested in methane digesters.

Northeast SunGrant Initiative
The Northeast Sun Grant is located at Cornell University with research focus to support development of renewable energy technologies. To learn more about Sun Grant click here.

Grass Biomass Production
In Onondaga County and throughout NYS there are thousands of unused or under-utilized acres of farmland. Grass biofuel production does not have to compete with farm and food production, rather in the future it will serve as an additional revenue stream for local farm operators and property owners. To learn more about grass biofuel production click here.

NRCS Plant Materials at Big Flats
The Natural Resource Conservation Service Plant Materials Center located near Corning, NY has provided research on plants used for conservation plantings since 1940. More recently the Center’s focus has included varietal research on warm season grasses that could be successfully grown and harvested for biomass in NYS. To learn more about the Plant Materials Center click here.

CALS Bioenergy Feedstock Project
The research project is in response to the need for information on managing warm season grasses for biomass production in NYS. The project is housed in the Department of Plant Breeding and Genetics. To learn more about the Bioenergy Feedstock Project click here.

Presentations on Renewable Energy
Agriculture and Carbon Trading: Greenhouse Gases and Offsets
Bioenergy & The Interests Of Tomorrow!
Evaluation of Perennial Warm Season Grasses for Biofuel Feedstock
Wind Power: New York Wind Power Education Project
Breeding Bioenergy Grasses for the Northeast
Pelleted Biomass: Challenges & Opportunities
Wind Farm Construction Impacts to Farmland
Wind Power Development

College of Agriculture and Life Sciences Faculty Papers on Renewable Energy
CALS faculty has published several papers related to renewable energy opportunities for local residents. They include:

Dairy Farm Management Adjustments to Bio-fuels-Induced Changes in Agricultural Markets. To see this paper related to distillers dry grains click here.

Creating Renewable Energy From Livestock Waste: Overcoming Barriers to Adoption. To review this paper click here.

Economic Analysis of Anaerobic Digestion Systems and the Financial Incentives Provided by the New York State Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS) Customer-Sited Tier (CST) Anaerobic Digester Gas (ADG)-to-Electricity Program. To read this paper click here.

Implications of Growing Biofuels Demands on Northeast Livestock Feed Costs: Understanding the Technical Relationships between Ingredient Prices and Feed Costs. To access this paper click here.

Municipal Approaches to Energy Conservation and Renewable Energy Production: A Resource for Community Energy Initiatives. To review this paper click here.

Wind Energy Development in New York State: Issues for Landowners. To view this paper click here.