Here farmers, local power utilities, researchers and the federal government have joined in a partnership to prove that electricity can be generated economically from biomass. This pilot project will convert switchgrass to electricity in a coal fired power plant, and is another step toward the development of home-grown energy supplies in Iowa. The next step is the development of biomass energy systems which utilize hydrogen fuel cell to produce electricity. I call this concept electrofarming and it has many advantages over the coal-fired biomass system. For example, hydrogen fuel cells produce no emissions, only water and electricity.
Fuels cells are more efficient than turbines, even at lower power levels.
Farms could use electrofarming systems to provide the energy for their farm and sell the excess to the power grid, leading to higher rural incomes and more decentralized power production. What we need now is a commitment from the Administration to help to develop an electrofarming demonstration project. That is the future. Ethanol is the present and the future. The ethanol industry provides a tremendous opportunity to supply energy to Americans.