| | Lower costs and a healthier environment – that’s what the new On-Farm Energy Efficiency pilot program will be offering to Alberta producers.
The program will provide a much-needed leg-up to producers who want to improve their farm’s energy efficiency. “Apart from Alberta Agriculture’s energy audit manual [called First Steps to Energy Management], there is currently very little information targeted to energy efficiency on farms. Our two-year pilot program will provide information on the potential, the implementation, and the savings, costs and financing associated with on-farm energy efficiency activities,” explains Paul Hunt of Climate Change Central.
Climate Change Central is a public-private partnership that promotes the development of innovative responses to climate change and its impacts. This agency created the original idea for the energy efficiency initiative, and it is partnering with Alberta Agriculture, Food and Rural Development to develop the pilot AAFRDIn November 2005, the Innovation Program of Alberta Innovation and Science awarded almost $500,000 toward the pilot.
The pilot will operate in a selected region of Alberta, as a first step to building a province-wide initiative. Hunt notes, “By focusing on a specific region, we hope to facilitate creation of the required knowledge infrastructure – such as financing, installation and maintenance – so we could form a cluster of knowledge and service providers that would support the on-farm energy efficiency technologies and practices.” When the pilot begins in early 2006, one of the initial tasks will be to choose the region where the program will first take place.
The deliverables for the pilot include:
- a reference guide of the energy demand for various farm types;
- a checklist of energy efficient technologies and practices for various types of farms and activities;
- some on-farm demonstration projects to show new technologies and practices in action, so producers can see whether these options might be worthwhile for their own farms; and
- other tools and guides, such as a “calculator” for self-assessment of energy use.
The pilot will also assess methods to help producers afford the initial costs of converting to energy-saving technologies. “Clearly, new or improved technologies, like more efficient lights, insulation, windows or electric motors, are going to cost more. So we are looking at ways to incent or facilitate the uptake of the new technologies,” says Hunt. He adds, “After a while, if many individuals are buying the new technologies, the price will come down as the economies of scale are achieved.”
Hunt is excited about the program’s potential. He says, “The benefits I see coming out of the initiative are to reduce producers’ energy costs by helping them to use energy more efficiently. In addition, if you use less fossil fuels and less energy derived from fossil fuels, which is almost all our energy in this province, then there will be a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions, as well as in many other emissions, which can’t help but improve and maintain good air quality.”
For information on this pilot program, contact Climate Change Central (1-866-609-2700). For information on ways to improve farm energy efficiency, see Alberta Agriculture’s First Steps to Energy Management: Save Energy & Money (Agdex 818-2) available from the Publications Office (1-800-292-5697) or the Internet (http://www1.agric.gov.ab.ca/$department/deptdocs.nsf/all/eng8268). |
|