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MFA Oil Company has expanded into the emerging biomass renewable energy market by teaming up with Aloterra Energy LLC, a biofuels company headquartered in Ohio, in organizing and investing in MFA Oil Biomass LLC. The goal of MFA Oil Biomass LLC is to create a vertically integrated renewable energy supply chain by combining knowledge of energy markets with the farming knowledge of its members.
After researching numerous energy crops, MFA Oil Biomass LLC found Miscanthus giganteus to be the strongest on several fronts. Miscanthus giganteus is a C4 warm season perennial grass that is non-invasive, drought and pest resistant, and needs less fertilizer than food crops, which means less run-off into water systems. In addition, it is capable of growing well on barren land without the aid of heavy fertilization and is extremely efficient in sequestering carbon from the air. Miscanthus giganteus has been used as a source of heat and electricity in Europe for well over ten years. It also has been converted into biofuel products such as ethanol and, compared to other ethanol inputs, produces more overall mass.
The MFA Oil Biomass LLC plan is intertwined with the USDA’s Biomass Crop Assistance Program (BCAP), which is similar to other conservation programs and key to getting farmers to look at energy crops. BCAP will pay farmers up to 75% of planting costs and offers to pay an annual rent payment while they wait for their crops to mature. Once the crops mature, farmers will be able to get two years of matching payments for their tonnage, up to $45 per ton beyond what the farmers sell it for. The only exclusion is land that is currently in the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP).
For more information on MFA Oil Biomass LLC, contact Jared Wilmes at (573) 442-0171.
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