AgWired

One of the people I spent some time talking with here at Propane Days is Mark Leitman, Director of Agriculture Programs for the Propane Education & Research Council. Mark is the go to guy when it come to ag and propane.

Because of the way the law was written that created PERC, 5% of the organization’s funds have to go to projects to benefit agriculture. He really wants to make sure the word gets out about all the exciting things they’re doing in this area. Some of those including poultry house sanitizing, and using steam to kill weeds. I found a project they’re working on to fumigate buildings and structures with propane created heat to be fascinating. PERC is also working to develop a cotton defoliating process which would reduce the amount of chemicals being used.

Basically he says PERC’s mission is to make farmers more productive. He also wants people to know that they’re looking for projects to fund in this area since PERC is a grant making institution. He would be the guy to contact if you’re interested.

You can listen to my interview with Mark here: propane-days-07-leitman.mp3

It appears that we’re going to see more interest and maybe more products in the area of vehicles that use propane due to the engine fuels program work of the Propane Education & Research Council. The man in charge of this area is Brian Feehan. He’s pictured here to the right of a group that I was working with this morning (Mark Leitman, Stuart Flatow, Roy Willis and Brian).

Brian says that there’s discussion going on now in the area of using propane with tractors and combines. PERC hopes to be involved as part of their federal mandate to invest at least 5% of their funds to develop products that would benefit agriculture. Brian says PERC is about a $50 million dollar/year program btw.

With all the efforts to reduce our dependence on foreign oil he says that propane holds great promise as one of the alternative fuels that will help us meet our goals over the next 10 years. For example, he says that they’ve done research which conservatively shows that propane can displace about 1 billion gallons of gas by the year 2017.

Brian says that there’s a federal tax credit of 50 cents/gallon for on and off road use of the fuel in vehicles which is money back in the pocket of those who use a fuel that right now is very competitive with highly priced gas. Brian also says that every R&D project PERC funds has to have a commercialization component so that there’s a plan for how to bring products to market after they are developed.

You can listen to my interview with Brian here: propane-days-07-feehan.mp3

The folks on Capitol Hill have definitely received an education when it comes to propane this week at Propane Days. One of the very important things they learned about is propane safety.

The propane safety man is Stuart Flatow, VP, Safety and Training for the http://www.propanecouncil.org/trade/agriculture/index.cfm“>Propane Education & Research Council. Stuart points out in an interview I did with him that in the event that a spill occurs with propane (unlikely if handled properly) it won’t harm the environment or animals that may be around because it won’t contaminate the ground or water. He thinks this is very important for people, especially farmers, to know.

Stuart says he works closely with the PERC agricultural advisory committee and has helped develop a program customized for ag called “Dispensing Propane Safely.” For people needing to find propane safety information he suggests visiting here for consumer safety, here for other types of propane safety programs and here to order materials.

You can listen to my interview with Stuart here: propane-days-07-flatow.mp3

One of the companies that the Propane Education & Research Council is working with on some projects is Rinnai. This is a company that makes gas fired appliances and one thing they’re doing that is real interesting is tankless water heaters.

As you’ll hear in my interview with Mike Peacock (left) and Kirk Morrow, they’re working with PERC on a project with some dairies to showcase how their technology can benefit the farm. Essentially they say it allows the dairy to replace boiler systems that can break down causing the dairy to be without hot water until it gets fixed. Their systems don’t have many moving parts and so they last a long time. Additionally they’re working with the dairies on some other applications like floor heating which would help northern dairies in the winter to keep floors from becoming slick and animals from slipping.

In my interview with Mike and Kirk they also provide some explanation of just how this tankless system works. You can listen to my interview with them here: propane-days-07-morrow-peacock.mp3

I met Chris Row with Manchester Tank here at Propane Days and we talked about mowers. Chris says that his company is working with several OEM’s to bring propane powered mowers to market. I think they’re focusing on mower fleets primarily at this point. He says they want to help build mowers that will run smoothly over rough terrain.

One of the benefits to using propane he says is in theft prevention. That’s not something I think most of us would think of but it’s a lot harder to steal propane than gas. He says that propane is also good from an environmental standpoint since if someone accidentally spills it you don’t have groundwater contamination. Chris also points out that with high gas prices right now propane is an economical alternative.

Chris says that his company is working with the Propane Education & Research Council to promote this idea and they’re hoping to start a project with a national park or university to help showcase what can be done with propane in this application.

You can listen to my interview with Chris here: propane-days-07-row.mp3

The President/CEO of the Propane Education & Research Council is Roy Willis. He was on hand at the sessions taking place this morning for the 3rd Annual Propane Days here in Washington, DC. Roy says PERC’s goal here is to help educate policy makers so that they make good decisions based on sound science and research.

I asked him to highlight some of their projects that he is especially proud of in the area of agriculture. They include what he calls thermal cultivation which is using heat/steam/flame to control pests in a variety of farm applications. He says this has a special interest to anyone growing organically since it reduces or eliminates the need for chemicals. Irrigation done with propane powered engines is another area that he mentioned as well as safety programs geared to agricultural audiences. He also mentioned that discussions are underway to see how propane can be used in tractors and combines.

One of the things I aske him about was where this fuel comes from. I think a lot of people wonder that. You see that’s it’s widely available but where do we get propane? To start with it’s a naturally occurring hydrocarbon that we mainly get as a by-product of the natural gas or oil refining processes. He says that over 90 percent of our propane comes from these sources which are domestic. Another area that holds promise includes bio-propane which would be made from a biomass production process. PERC is actively involved in this work with a project in Japan. One thing he wants people to know is that propane represents a very sustainable supply of fuel now and in the future.

You can listen to my interview with Roy here: propane-days-07-willis.mp3

Roy ended our discussion by saying that the slogan, “Exceptional Energy,” is taken by PERC as a promise to their customers and a challenge to the staff to deliver a superior, safe product.

One of the leaders in the propane industry is Michelle Swertzic. She is the executive director of the Nebraska Propane Gas Association and sits on the agricultural advisory committee of the Propane Education & Research Council.

A PERC project that she’s really excited about involves irrigation and a study that’s taking place in the field this year with the University of Nebraska. After doing lab testing with motors running on propane they’ve taken to the field and hope to have end of season results to show the benefits of using propane to power irrigation systems. At that point she says PERC assistance with the project will move from research to promotion to make sure the study results make it to farmers who need to know.

I interviewed Michelle about this project and others that she has a special interest in. You can listen to my interview with Michelle here: propane-days-07-swertzic.mp3