Biomass company's plan could bring jobs to area

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June 27, 2012

Biomass company's plan could bring jobs to area

By Denise Richardson Staff Writer The Daily Star Wed Jun 27, 2012, 03:30 AM EDT

WANTED: Local farmers with extra acres to grow tall grass for the biomass industry.

Aloterra Energy of Texas has plans to expand into New York and grow miscanthus giganteus, which can be converted into heating pellets or manufactured into products such as food containers and flooring materials.

The firm has four such projects, covering 18,000 acres, in Ohio, Arkansas and Missouri, Matthew Griswold, senior vice president and chief business officer, said Tuesday, and goals are to work with farmers in Delaware, Schoharie and Greene counties to plant about 4,000 acres of the grass next year. The project also will create manufacturing jobs, officials said.

At the State University College of Agriculture and Technology at Cobleskill on Tuesday, Griswold reviewed the firm's plans during a media conference. Assemblyman Pete Lopez, R-Schoharie, and state Sen. James Seward, R-Milford, spoke in favor of the venture as beneficial to farmers, the environment and the economy and in furthering recovery efforts from destruction wrought by Hurricane Irene and Tropical Storm Lee last year.

"It's an industry that has great promise for this region," Lopez said. "We're very thrilled about this project -- we're ready to rock."

Aloterra Energy officials will meet with farmers to discuss the project at the Agroforestry Center in Acra at 7 tonight.

The grass grows up to 15 feet high, Griswold said, and Aloterra provides all equipment, plant materials and guidance to farmers. One acre of land can grow from 10 to 15 tons of miscanthus for as many as 20 years, which is a greater yield than other biomass energy crops, a media release said.

In each project area, Aloterra will develop biorefineries to produce grass pellets for domestic and international markets, biobased products and chemicals, and eventually liquid fuels, the release said. In first phase of the local project, 30 to 45 full-time direct and indirect jobs would be created, officials said.

"In addition to putting money into farmers' pockets, planting this grass will fuel the local economy by creating jobs and help improve our country's energy security by reducing its dependence on foreign oil," Griswold said.

The local region of New York came into focus as a prospective area as lawmakers worked on recovery efforts for communities ravaged in last year's flooding, officials said Tuesday.

Griswold said a minimum commitment would be 30 to 50 acres per farm. The cost for planting primarily would be paid by the firm or other resources, he said, and an estimated return for a farmer would be between $300 and $400 an acre.

Lopez said Aloterra officials reviewed the project earlier this year with him, Seward and Gov. Andrew Cuomo.

"It was very clear that Aloterra could become an important part of strengthening our regional economy and offering our family farms additional opportunities," Lopez said. "A critical step in moving forward will be to coordinate with our family farms and engage them to partner with the company."

Combining agriculture and manufacturing to produce environmentally sustainable products is an equation for success, Seward said, and Aloterra Energy has a proven track record.

"The proposal will create jobs and offer our farmers an opportunity to grow a new cash crop," Seward said. "I stand ready to provide any assistance possible moving forward."