Resources: Interviews
Netaka White, Executive Director, Vermont Biofuels Association (Fall 2006)
Netaka White, Executive Director of the Vermont Biofuels Association (a VSJF grant recipient in 2006) has been instrumental in shepherding the development of Vermont’s emerging biofuels sector. White has seen the VBA—a trade association—grow from twelve members at the end of 2004 to over eighty fuel users, fuel suppliers, farmers, researchers, renewable energy consultants, students, and individuals today. VBA activities include an annual conference, pilot projects, policy development, and a wide array of other efforts to connect stakeholders interested in biofuels. VSJF recently asked White to reflect on the substantial growth of Vermont’s biofuels sector over the past three years.
VSJF: What was it like creating a business association without a sector?
NW: Well, it was, and it has been, very exciting and very challenging. I’m pretty comfortable in breaking new ground and we could see a biofuels opportunity was starting to show some promise, but it really needed focus, facilitation and network development. By its very nature it’s very challenging to get something going where there’s just a heartbeat, and get it into something that’s steady and will hopefully have its own momentum.
VSJF: It’s been an interesting three years- what are some of the changes that you’ve seen in Vermont’s biofuels industry? What was it like three years ago? What is it like now?
NW: Three and a half years ago, when we started, we were just a handful of people looking at ways to reduce fossil fuel consumption, primarily from an environmental standpoint. We also believed there was real potential to develop the local production of biofuels and, if that were true, then a number of economic and environmental benefits would follow. When the VBA was starting to form there were only a few practitioners; people that were starting to dabble as producers or distributors of biodiesel. So, it was a very small group of people that identified with the concept of a biofuels sector. Albeit, there were people working in wood chips like BERC and individual businesses selling stoves or pellets and that type of thing, but they didn’t necessarily identify with the idea of an emerging or connected industry. That’s what we wanted to help foster.
In the three years since we formed as an organization, we’ve focused mainly on biodiesel through the work that we’ve done with the Vermont Biodiesel Project. Working with the partners in the project, we’ve seen very significant growth in a variety of related businesses. The agricultural component is coming along. People are experimenting with oilseed crop production and crushing, on-farm production of biodiesel, using it in their greenhouses, etc. There were one or two fuel suppliers in 2004, while now there's almost two dozen fuel suppliers selling biodiesel. Some of them are also starting to sell pellets. Almost 300,000 gallons of biodiesel was sold in Vermont last year (2005), and the year before that it was 55,000 gallons, and the year before that, when we started, we were pushing 8,000-9,000 gallons. So, by the measure of use, we’ve seen considerable growth.
What’s particularly encouraging and rewarding is that 'biofuels' has become a household word throughout Vermont. That was not at all the case three years ago. And I’m not suggesting that that’s all because of the Vermont Biofuels Association, we’ve had a major role in that, but we’ve been one player in a network and in a collaborative process.
VSJF: Where did the impetus for change come from over the past three years? You mentioned the VBP, but what are some of the other things? Peak oil? Climate change? Other reasons?
NW: I think people come to appreciate the role of biofuels from their different perspectives, and there are a variety of entry points into wanting to use or distribute the products. For some, it’s the ability to make their own fuel. Initially, when the VBA started, that was a real driver, to be able to use diesel powered equipment but without using fossil fuel. So it was the ability to make fuel from waste vegetable oil, and others saw the potential to make it from Vermont agricultural crops. That was really the driver in the beginning.
We know that biodiesel lowers the amount of greenhouse gas emissions, compared to petrodiesel, and while some of the founders of the VBA were very concerned and understood the implications of global warming, as a nation or as a state I think people are much more aware of those risks now than they were when we started. So that’s an entry point for others: the potential to reduce greenhouse emission through the use of agriculturally based fuels.
Another entry point is the fact that the fuel is domestically produced from ag crops and it’s not a Middle Eastern oil product. That falls under the rubric of fuel security and a stronger reliance on domestically produced energy. And so for some people, that’s their point of entry. The environmental benefits might be secondary. For some it’s the local economic development potential: How many jobs can be created? How many farms can be spared from going into housing developments? How can we make agriculture more viable? And on and on.
VSJF: Where do you think Vermont fits in the national context of biofuels production?
NW: Here’s my perspective on that: I would be surprised in the near term if Vermont was an exporter of biofuels. That is counter to the national scene in that most states producing biofuels are exporters of biodiesel or ethanol. It could be some time before, or if, Vermont becomes a net exporter. Instead I think Vermont is in a unique position to take the lead in modeling some of the opportunities for community-scale development of fuel and byproducts like livestock feed made from crushed oilseeds. By focusing on the benefits of biofuels production for local use and not thinking of ourselves as commodity producers, I think that’s where our strength lies. What I see going on are almost two tracks of biofuels sector development. Elsewhere in the country the focus is on a scale of fuel production that meets commodity needs at the national level and are typically owned by larger companies. The other is smaller scale, say between 100,000 and 5 million gallons of output a year, but also less, and these are locally or cooperatively owned by the farmers, producers and end users who benefit directly. Vermont should be focusing on the latter. We need to build up these community scale and regional operations.
VSJF: What are some of the remaining challenges that Vermont needs to address in the upcoming years?
NW: I think the first thing is to demonstrate that this small-scale production model is viable. That is the most pressing challenge right now. While it works conceptually and has grabbed a lot of people’s interest and imagination, unless it’s economically viable and can work on the scale we’re talking about here in Vermont, then it’s just a cool idea. We need more than that. Proving that it can work is the first thing.
VSJF: What are some of the tools or capacities that need to be developed? What could Vermont’s state government do?
NW: Most of our effort thus far has been focused on biodiesel, but I think we need to have a coordinated and concerted effort in research and investment in a variety of biofuels that can be produced in the state. That approach should include state agencies and our colleges and universities. What Vermont Technical College can bring to bear on biofuels production is different than UVM, is different than Middlebury College. I think another one of the challenges is that there has been a lack of coordination and investment at the state level. Not an entire lack of it, but we really have to pick up the pace. We’re losing our farms with energy costs and dwindling revenue. Producing energy on our farms is part of the solution and state government needs to invest more in renewable technologies so we can figure out what works. State agencies can and should play a role as conveners to build momentum and reduce some of the risk during this transition. We’re a small association but part of the job of the VBA is to help organizations make connections with each other about what kind of work is currently going on and where some of the opportunities for development are. But, we really have a number of questions that need to be answered, and they have to do with scale, and with testing the efficiency of different methods and feedstocks. The outcomes will benefit the entire state so there are definitely ways for government to facilitate this kind of research and accelerate the process.
VSJF: Is there an opportunity for cellulosic ethanol in Vermont?
NW: Well there’s definitely an opportunity to produce the feedstocks. We’re very good at growing biomass in Vermont. Whether or not facilities can economically produce the ethanol within our borders remains to be seen. Again, it will be a question of scale; once cellulosic technology is commercialized will siting a production facility in Vermont be an attractive investment? Whether it’s forest biomass, or high cellulose agricultural biomass like hemp or switchgrass, those are things that Vermont can grow very well. It will be interesting to see how we can add-value to our native ability to produce biomass, and do it in a way that is sustainable.
VSJF: I’ve read that it’s possible to get a lot of oil from algae compared to other feedstocks. Do you see a possibility for that in Vermont?
NW: Sure, there is the potential for significant production of oil from algae and based on some current research, hydroponic production facilities could be sited on Vermont’s farms to take advantage of the nutrients, say from the effluent of anaerobic digesters. This production system would be capable of producing algae and oil year-round in a controlled environment. Within the next year in all likelihood a project will be up and running in Vermont to test such a system. I would say commercial operation is not that far off.
VSJF: Why do you think coops are a good vehicle for advancing Vermont’s biofuels sector?
NW: Our modeling and feasibility studies on locally owned biofuels facilities show that a business whose owners are benefiting directly from the products the business produces is likely to be more viable economically and socially. Cooperatives are financially and socially rooted in the communities they serve. Cooperative businesses are less likely to be sold to investor owned businesses that may not care for the interests of the community after the sale. Since biofuels businesses are dependent on agriculture, they require capital to get established, the margins are slim, and their customers are members of the community -- these businesses are very well suited to evolve and thrive as cooperative ventures.
VSJF: What are you optimistic about? What should we look forward to in the next three years?
NW: What I look forward to is a coordinated approach to the sustainable, integrated production of energy, food, fiber, and livestock feed. That’s the idea. I’m very excited about the potential for meeting what I, and many people, would consider to be essential needs of our state. We can import less and produce more by investing in these technologies and processes. That’s my hope. I’ll be honest in saying that the concern I have is that it’s a free-for-all and that we don’t pay enough attention to the long-term effects of the choices we make today. In other words, that there’s going to be too much emphasis on producing energy from agricultural crops and trees and not enough consideration given to the carrying capacity of our fields and forests. We can easily get into a position where we’re exploiting the land just to produce energy or fuel and we really don’t want to go there The way around that is going to involve patient work in the beginning to make a series of good design decisions so that our planning is 30, 40, 100 years into the future.
Photo credits: Banner, Wayne Fawbush; Netaka White, Joss Price.
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