$80M in Funding Awarded to Roeslein Alternative Energy Partnership for Climate-Smart Project
To be used in a five-year pilot project in Iowa and Missouri, titled Horizon II, Roeslein Alternative Energy (RAE) and 13 public and private entity partners will dedicate $80 million in awarded funding from USDA’s Partnerships for Climate-Smart Commodities to demonstrate a climate-smart future for corn, soybean, livestock and renewable natural gas production, a release says.
The goals of Horizon II include:
• Enhance climate-smart markets
• Reduce greenhouse gas emissions (GHG)
• Improve carbon sequestration in corn, soybean, pork and beef commodity production
• Create opportunities for small and underserved producers
• Benefit soil health
• Clean water
• Flood control
• Habitats for native wildlife
Improved management of nitrogen fertilizer and other inputs on agricultural land will also be incentivized.
In the pilot program, Iowa and Missouri producers will have the opportunity to be compensated by:
• GHG reductions and carbon sequestration in soil through an outcomes-based carbon credit program
• Cover cropping and grassland restoration though a market-based program, supporting renewable natural gas production through anaerobic digestion of herbaceous biomass and manure
After full development, deployment and verification, the program may be extended and tailored to other agricultural commodities, such as dairy and poultry, and other regions of the country, the release explains.
Partner organizations involved in the RAE Horizon II project include
• Biostar Renewables
• Conservation Districts of Iowa
• Iowa Agriculture Water Alliance
• Iowa Soybean Association•
• Iowa State University
• Missouri Prairie Foundation
• Sievers Family Farms
• Soil and Water Outcomes Fund
• Smithfield Foods
• The Nature Conservancy
• University of Missouri
• Verdesian
• Veterans in Agriculture.
“Since founding RAE, our overarching goal has been to provide farmers an alternative way to use land, especially highly erodible acres, in ways that will benefit the environment, wildlife, and their own livelihood,” says Rudi Roeslein, RAE founder and CEO. “This funding will propel Horizon II forward more rapidly than otherwise would have been possible. We will show how farmers and landowners can do well for themselves while also providing ecological services and wildlife benefits.”
