Let energy providers know you want home-grown, clean energy

January 3, 2007
by Dale Dixon

Imagine your car running on high-tech Idaho agriculture.

Have you ever heard someone say, "Idaho's economy is moving from potato chips to microchips?" As a farm kid from rural Idaho, I'd be willing to argue the suggestion since some of Idaho's highest tech industries are in food, fiber and timber production. However, if you believed the chip-to-chip economic transition, believe this: the pendulum is swinging back. Farmers and other entrepreneurs in rural Idaho have an opportunity to lead a technological revolution – dramatically impacting Idaho's economy. The demand for clean energy makes high-tech, agriculture and rural Idaho's financial security synonymous.

These are exciting times to be in rural Idaho. Opportunities abound; the need for high skilled workers is significant; technology is cutting edge and investment is off the charts. Consider the Nov. 18, 2006 "The Economist." In an article titled, "Special report, investing in clean energy (page 71)," "Investors are falling over themselves to finance startups in clean technology, especially in energy." The article goes on to explain why venture capitalists have quadrupled clean energy investments to $2 billion since 2004. According to the article, analysts predict the clean-energy business will grow by 20 to 30 percent a year for a decade.

Idaho is 88 percent rural. Land mass, natural resources, millions of acres in agriculture and timber coupled with skyrocketing investment and public interest all add up to significant potential for our state.

What's in it for you? Cleaner air, less expensive fuel, and a more stable global picture since we're not relying on Mideast oil.

What's the downside? It's not here now. We, as consumers who fill our gas and diesel tanks, plug a television into the electrical outlet and flip a light switch, must create demand for clean energy. Once the investors see demand, they'll say let's build clean energy production plants in Idaho.

We are starting to see interest: Biodiesel plants in the west, ethanol in the south, more ethanol and nuclear in the east and biomass in the north.

Now, let's watch the global ripple effects. A friend in Idaho Commerce and Labor's International Division put it succinctly when she said that interest in clean/renewable energy is not merely important at the local or national level, but is a trend worldwide. Governments and private industry leaders around the globe are looking at clean energy as a sustainable energy source and an economic opportunity. As the world continues to focus on the potential of renewable energy, the technologies and expertise grown locally will have global application. The opportunity for Idaho companies to develop and license technologies, sell products and services internationally will only increase.

Like I said, these are exciting times.

What can you do? Ask for a 10 percent ethanol blend fuel for your car. Go to the counter and ask for biodiesel for your truck. Let your energy providers know you want home-grown, clean, renewable energy.

If you've read this far, there is one more action item for you: attend the Harvesting Clean Energy conference in Boise, Jan. 28-30 at the DoubleTree Riverside. The Harvesting Clean Energy conference is the region's premier event for agriculture and energy innovators exploring opportunities and building partnerships to advance clean energy production in the rural Northwest. We're talking wind power, biofuels, biopower and emerging opportunities; how to grow it, how to make it and how to use it. Click open your Internet browser and point in the direction of http://www.harvestcleanener gy.org/conference to learn more.

The next time you consider agriculture and its impact on Idaho's economy, think food, fiber and fuel. The time to engage in the high-tech, ag-based clean energy market is now.

Dale Dixon is the executive director of Idaho Rural Partnership.