FAQs

1) How Does Reinvest in Minnesota – Clean Energy work?
Reinvest in Minnesota - Clean Energy (RIM-CE) is a pilot working lands solution to help speed the transition to sustainable energy crop production.  It will pay farmers to establish grasses and other native perennial biomass crops, while at the same time increasing habitat and improving water quality. Its tiered twenty-year easements ensure maximum benefits to both landowners and society and help spur perennial crop production by reducing farmer risk. RIM-CE is a complementary working lands program to the existing and successful RIM-Reserve program – both should be supported.

2) Why is Reinvest in Minnesota – Clean Energy important?
Global warming and rising natural gas and oil prices are driving the need to reduce consumption and develop alternatives to fossil fuels.  It’s important that the next generation of energy from biomass crops is done in a way that is a win-win for green energy, rural communities, our state’s wildlife habitat, and our state’s lakes, rivers and streams. 

3) How does RIM-CE enhance job growth and economic development?
RIM-CE is an economic development engine for farmers, rural economies and the bioenergy sector.

• Easement payments will provide $40 million directly to farmers to grow native perennial grasses.  Farmers growing these energy crops can expect an additional $32 million over 20 years from bioenergy facilities buying their crops.
  
• RIM-CE can lead to an additional 50 full-time jobs, plus 75-86 seasonal jobs in the native seed production and prairie installation and management industries.
  
• The 13,000 acres of perennial grass production for biomass could lead to at least 30-50 full and part-time jobs in the trucking and harvesting sectors.
  
• Facilities will need new employees to process and handle biomass material - 10 new jobs at Koda Energy's bioenergy plant in Shakopee, and 5-15 for Chippewa Valley Ethanol Coop's gasifier operation are projected. Both facilities are looking at RIM-CE as a potential source of biomass.
  
• RIM-CE helps secure jobs in many of the industries that depend upon a stable supply of energy.  The ethanol industry is only one of the state’s natural gas dependent industries, but its impact is quite significant – Minnesota’s ethanol plants in 2008 are projected to generate a total of $4.95 billion in economic impacts and 18,461 jobs. RIM-CE can help to make sure these jobs are retained as fossil fuel prices fluctuate.

These estimated economic returns and jobs are only the tip of the iceberg. They do not include the significant number of “indirect” jobs created and retained through increased demand for local purchases, eco-services (hunting, bird watching, etc), local labor, or the impact of this money as it circulates through the local economy. 

4) How does RIM-CE open up new markets for farmers?
University of Minnesota research has shown that many native perennial species can be successfully grown on marginal agricultural land, opening up new markets for our farmers.   Farmers are eager to respond to this new market, but are limited by agricultural policies and economics that currently favor corn, soybean and other commodity crop production over perennial grasses. RIM-CE targets non-prime farmlands with non-food bioenergy crops. Helping farmers begin producing perennial grasses requires some financial investment to mitigate their risk as they make the transition and try out new farming systems. 

5) What will be the global warming and energy benefits?
Green energy done right can displace coal and natural gas today, and oil tomorrow, in ways that protect our lakes, rivers and streams for future generations.  Native grasses and other perennials need only be planted once, and they minimize the need for costly inputs of fossil-fuel-based diesel use, pesticides and fertilizer.  Additionally, perennial grasses have deep root systems that can lock large quantities of greenhouse gas pollution in the soil, reducing our global warming footprint. 

6) What is the impact on Wildlife/Habitat?
Permanent cover on the land is the most important factor in wildlife habitat.  Harvested on a schedule mindful of such natural cycles as bird nesting season, grasses provide food and habitat for numerous wildlife species.  Research on the Conservation Reserve Program and RIM has demonstrated wildlife benefits but the impacts of energy crops have not been studied. That’s why Reinvest in Minnesota –Clean Energy has tiered payments and a monitoring component that will start building the needed information bank on best practices. 

7) What is the impact on water use and water quality?
Perennials require less fertilizer and water than most commodity crops to grow, while providing permanent cover, which reduces the nutrient and chemical run-off and soil erosion that produces nonpoint source pollution in our lakes, rivers and streams.  Currently a large percentage of our water bodies are listed as not meeting regulation.  A transition of marginal agricultural lands to perennials can play a significant role in helping the agricultural sector meet its TMDL/water quality goals.

8) Why should we move forward now when national legislation is in such flux?
In 2007, Congress passed a Renewable Fuels Standard that emphasizes reduced greenhouse gas emissions and mandates 21 billion gallons of advanced biofuels by 2022, including 16 billion gallons of cellulose-based biofuels.  Minnesota has always been a leader on renewable energy, and can be at the forefront of meeting this standard.  Congress is currently considering a new program of biomass crop incentives in the Farm Bill, which is expected to be resolved in the next couple of months.   Minnesota should ensure that the type of energy we grow on our land is right for Minnesota.  Taking a lead at the state level ensures us a seat at the table on national policy.  If and when national biomass crop incentives do pass, Minnesota will be best able to compete for scarce dollars by having done its homework on which crops and farming methods work best.

9) Who supports RIM-CE?
Launching the next generation of energy crops has broad support.  It was put forward by a diverse group of business, farm, and conservation interests in 2007, and established in law by the legislature in 2007 to foster the transition to the next generation of biofuels.  A broad set of stakeholders found common ground in advising the Board of Water and Soil Resources on how to run the program. 

10) What will RIM-CE cost?
The Agency responsible for the program – the Board of Water and Soil Resources -- has requested $46 million for jumpstarting this program to get energy crops in the ground while improving conservation on the land.  This sum represents about 13,000 acres of marginal land that could be put towards this new market development.  This is in comparison to the 40,000 acres that is estimated to come out of CRP lands in Minnesota this year to produce corn, soybeans or wheat.  Introducing a new “production” crop takes a significant investment to compare varieties, monitor results, and modify farming practices.  $46 million and 13,000 acres can leverage significant private dollars, spur rural economic development, and jumpstart the next generation bioenergy economy in a way that helps the state meet its wildlife habitat and water quality goals. In the long term, this successful demonstration will enable all farmers with access to green energy markets to learn from experience how to select, grow, and harvest green energy crops - and earn their profits in the marketplace.

11) Why do we have to pay the value of the land for the easements?
Due to high commodity prices, the value of farmland is rising rapidly.  Introduction of new crops need to match or exceed the returns expected from commodity crops such as corn and soybeans for it to be economically viable for farmers.    The land value upon which the RIM-CE payment is calculated is based on data which is about two years old – and is therefore actually much below today’s market prices. The RIM-CE payment can be thought of as 20 year contract, whereby the public “buys” cleaner water, increased wildlife habitat and carbon sequestration, while the bioenergy market buys the biomass.  Over the life of the RIM-CE easement, the payment can be seen as a “bargain” for the public, as the easement covers only part of the cost of keeping this ground in perennial grasses, but we get all of the environmental benefits.