MONEY

3 ways Iowa can prepare for, reduce impact of climate change

Donnelle Eller
deller@dmreg.com
Jerry Schnoor, of the University of Iowa, speaks during a two-day Task Force meeting on Climate Preparedness and Resilience, Tuesday, May 13, 2014, in Des Moines, Iowa. Governors, mayors and other local government officials are in Des Moines to discuss the impact of changing weather patterns and the effect on food production, health, and ability to prepare for flooding and drought. (AP Photo)

Iowa and the Midwest face challenges and opportunities with climate change, nearly a dozen experts said Tuesday, paving the way for today's meeting of a 26-member Task Force on Climate Change Preparedness and Resiliency.

The group of state, local and tribal leaders will make recommendations to President Obama on how to prepare for and reduce the impact of climate change.

Farmers & climate change

More Iowa farmers say they see climate change, although they may be reluctant to call it that, says Chris Anderson, assistant director of Iowa State University's climate science program.

"Farmers have noticed," he said. For example, an ISU poll shows that nearly half of the farmers are concerned about excess water, particularly in the spring.

That worry is causing some farmers to look for ways they can "fortify fields" to be more resilient to climate change. They're using conservation practices such as no-till, grass waterways, contour planting, and cover crops.

"But most farmers require a more certain expression of change before taking action," Anderson said.

That's why Anderson said experts need to discuss how climate change will affect profitability. Working with a private company, AgSolver in Ames, for example, farmers can see land that will lose money because yields are low. "By simply not farming some fields, farmers would see a higher profit margin," he said.

"Conservation doesn't have to be corn making money in the market," he said. "It can be about corn losing money in the field."

Soil, climate solutions in "biochar"

Just about every word that came from Julie Euken, deputy director of Iowa State University's Bioeconomy Institute, needed an explanation. Imagine, she said, that pyrolysis is like a pile of leaves burning in your backyard. The smoke can be condensed into an oil and the ash becomes something called biochar.

Biochar is "like a condominium for micro-organisms, nutrients and water. It provides some really nice things for soil." ISU tests show biochar added to soil has increased water-holding capacity, and the improved water available to plants -- so they can better withstand drought. "We anticipate more drought and heavy rain events" with increasing impact from climate change, Euken said.

Bio-oil can be used as a fuel and to create other products. ISU wants to blend the bio-oil with coal at its power plant -- something that creates chunks like granola -- and burn it to dramatically reduce greenhouse gases, then apply biochar to farmland.

The university plans to work with Harry Stine, the billionaire owner of Stine Seed, who has built a pyrolyzer near Redfield. Stine has found that the process has dramatically improved soil in South America. "He's found if he applies biochar to his soils there, it sometimes doubles his yields, and gone from three crops a year to four crops," Euken said. "So, he's a real believer."

Building wind

MidAmerican Energy's investment in wind has exploded in about a decade. "Back in the early 2000s, our wind program was at zero percent," said Adam Wright, the company's vice president of wind generation and development.

From 2004 through 2012, the company invested $3.9 billion in wind energy, an amount that will climb to about $5.8 billion next year. It's 2,285 megawatts of wind energy that will grow to 3,335 megawatts in 2015.

As wind grows, reliance on coal declines, Wright said. By 2015, MidAmerican's energy from wind will climb to 40 percent -- the single largest source of power -- while coal-powered energy will drop to 33 percent.

"We're producing more energy in total, more is coming from wind, less from coal, less from natural gas, and at the same time our carbon emissions are significantly reducing," he said, roughly 50 percent.

The shift to greater wind generation is helping attract industrial customers like Facebook, Microsoft and Google, shielding customers from volatile fuel prices, and positioning "ourselves in a responsible way" if a carbon tax is levied. After 2016, "we will be below what we believe will be the threshold: 1,000 pounds of CO2 per megawatt hour generated," Wright said. "Our customers will be protected from that tax."