AgWired

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