Danby Land Bank 2009 Newsletter

Danby Land Bank 2010 Goals

Short term Goals

1. •Move Community Biomass Energy and grass and wood pelleting forward
   

2. •Continue to experiment on feasibility of using low-input-energy field waste for biofeedstock
   

3. •Find a balance between what operator can economically harvest and what is good for the environment, biodiversity, and the soil
   

4. •Leave a rotating one third of field uncut so biomass returns to soil and biodiversity is encouraged – Director of Tompkins County Assessment says this still allows full agricultural assessment of field.
   

5. •Find out the feasibility of collecting and applying wood ashes instead of lime.
   

6. •Education on biomass/sustainability issues
   

7. •Shared equipment – a tractor might be available – see what else can be gotten with grants
   

Long term Goals

1. •Encourage and define sustainable harvest of fields and woods for biomass
   

2. •Encourage diversification of biomass use by combining hay and wood biofeedstocks – this maximizes flexibility and land owners involved.
   

3. •Influence biomass use regulation, policy, and incentives – local, state, and federal
   

4. •Create economies of scale by combining small land holdings
   

5. •Help landowners pay taxes and maintain their land
   

6. •Help Danby agriculture, economics, and open space policy
   

Links - Local to Global

Town of Danby

Tompkins County

Tompkins County Soil and Water Conservation District

Cornell Cooperative Extension

New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets

World Energy Council

Biofuels - Pelleting

Community Biomass Energy - starting up in the Ithaca area - see “Partners”

Heating with Chipped or Pelleted wood in Ithaca

Pelleting Operation in Wells Bridge, NY

Grass

Jerry Cherney's Grass web site for Cornell University College of Agriculture and Life Sciences

Use of Switchgrass biofuels Pelleting as a Greenhouse Gas offset strategy

Resource Efficient Agriculture Production (REAP) Canada

Grass-based Agriculture in Northern NY

CALS Bioenergy Feedstock Project 

Forests

DEC - Private Forest Management

DEC - Explores Woody Biomass

Stoves

Environmental Protection Agency - Wood stoves

Environmental Protection Agency - Pellet Stoves

Little's Lawn Equipment, Newfield

Pellet Combustion Equipment 

Ithaca Stove Works

Literature downloads

NYSERDA_Biomass_Combustion_in_Europe.pdf

Tompkins_Weekly_Signs_of_Sustainability.pdf

Green_Charcoal_Jan_2005.pdf

Fuels_for_schools.pdf

ADDReport.pdf

Gussing.pdf

Resources, Goals, Links