Location: Minnesota Department of Agriculture (St. Paul, MN)
Members present: Commissioner Dave Fredrickson, Deputy Commissioner Paul Moe, Commissioner Mark Phillips, Deputy Commissioner Dave Schad and Mark Lindquist (for Commisioner Landwehr), Amanda Bilek, Neal Feeken, Kate Paris (for Teresa Spaeth), Thom Peterson, Tony Thompson, Chris Radatz (for Paul Stark), David Thorton (for Commissioner Paul Aasen), Jon Frey, Wayne Brandt
Others present: Greta Gauthier, Christina Connelly, Tim Rudnicki, Al Doering, Dave Schmidt, Kari Howe, Beau Griffey, Brad Sagel
Approval of Minutes: Minutes from August 11, 2011 meeting of the NextGen Energy Board were distributed and approved.
Commissioner Dave Frederickson – Minnesota Department of Agriculture (MDA)
- Commissioner Frederickson convened the meeting at 1:15pm.
2011 Bioenergy Grants Update
Greta Gauthier – MDA, Director of Government Relations
-
RFP out 1st week of September (similar to last year)
-
Proposals due November 4, 2011
-
So far, great interest and many questions. Christina Connelly will compile questions and post answers.
-
Worked with Office of Grant Management to create Conflict of Interest (handouts)
-
In case of COI, one must notify Commissioner, chair and board in writing. As a result they must refrain from the discussion. Commissioner Dave Fredrickson clarified that the individual only has to refrain from the project with the COI.
Christina Connelly – MDA
- Went over RFP (handout)
- After the deadline the technical team will review applications and then present results to Board during December 8, 2011 meeting
- Board members may see applications but they are not public data
- Q: Scoring process of applicants based solely on merits or merits and grant award? A: Both are taken into consideration, see page 6 of RFP.
Biogas Presentations
Al Doering - AURI
- 1:40pm-2:04pm, Presentation: Value Added Co-Product Opportunities from Biogas Production (handout)
- Q: What does Riverview Dairy sell solids for? A: Give most away and others use the solids as fertilizer.
- Q: Why isn’t ash allowed in organic production? A: Concentrated ash has concentrated levels of heavy metals that may leach.
- Q: Pathogen concerns when solids are used for bedding? A: No, actually somatic cell count lower.
Dennis Haubenschild - Haubenschild Farm
- 2:16pm-2:55pm, Presentation: Haubenschild Farm (handout)
- Q: Is human waste used in Germany? A: No, because it needs thermophilic digestion which does not produce a consistent supply of biogas.
- Q: How were you successful with your co-op 40 years ago? A: I kept pushing and convinced every board member individually.
- Other notes: A generator needs to be developed to meet 2020 emission standards. In Germany they use a point system to rate different digester fuels.
Beau Griffey – U.S. Energy Services
- 2:55pm-3:22pm, Presentation: Implementation Hurdles for Biogas Projects
- Q: Use of paper mill waste for biogas? A: Paper industry uses >70% of wood waste and is energy self sufficient.
- Q: Why is the wind industry so large? A: It exists because of tax credits but this is not economically sustainable. Energy needs to be subsidized, have power costs go up or technology needs to improve.
Wrap-Up
- Commissioner Dave Frederickson reminded everyone that the next meeting is on December 8, 2011 and they will be going over the Bioenergy Grants.
- Meeting adjourned at 3:24pm.
|
