The Beet Goes On  

NovaNews has an interesting article on efforts to grow sugar beets for ethanol production in Canada, claiming an EROI of 9 for the process - Beets could produce trifold crop of biofuel, food and cash.

With the first crop less than a month from harvest, an energy company is already looking for growers for the next growing season.

Atlantec BioEnergy Corporation (ABC) has contracts in place for 520 acres of sugar beets for ethanol production across Nova Scotia this year and has been hosting field days with growers to demonstrate the merits of the crop.

ABC held one such field day in Northville Aug. 26 at the farm of John and Peter Swetnam. The Swetnams have a crop of ABC’s sugar beets in the ground, and John Swetnam said this particular variety is a long-season beet and the land they’re planted in is too heavy for carrots or onions. They used to grow table beets for Avon Foods in the 1980s, and the sugar beets could be an alternative crop.

“All farmers are optimistic,” he said. “Everyone is looking for another alternative for crop rotation and cash flow.”

Although yields have yet to be determined, John said the crop could be of value: it’s a Roundup-ready variety and would help keep weeds off the land.

Ron Coles, ABC Manager of Public Relations and External Development, said most growers in Nova Scotia haven’t seen a sugar beet crop. Test crops have been planted in locations across the province in all different soil types. Coles said it’s good to know what level of fertility you need so you have a good idea of what your input costs will be: the cost of fertilizer could double in the next year, which will have a significant impact on all crops.

Coles said sugar beets have twice the ethanol potential as corn and, for every unit of energy they put into producing the beets, they expect to get nine units of energy in return. He said there is a significant amount of cropland currently out of production and this initiative could help revitalize it. They hope to have 5,000 acres in active beet production next year and they’re moving toward 17,000 acres, although not all necessarily in Nova Scotia. Parts of our province could even produce winter beets, and ABC has several locations lined up to test such a crop.