Propane Offers New Opportunities for Agricultural Producers
The Propane Education and Research Council (PERC) is encouraging agricultural producers to take a closer look at how propane can play a larger role on today’s farms and ranches. With growing concerns about electric grid reliability and increasing energy demands, propane is emerging as a dependable and flexible energy solution for a wide range of agricultural operations.
Recently, PERC shared several opportunities for producers to expand their energy options, and we caught up with Mike Newland with the Propane Education and Research Council to learn more about how propane can support modern agriculture. According to Newland, propane solutions are well suited for both livestock producers and row-crop operations.
“So we’re here talking about opportunities to expand their markets, whether you’re a livestock producer, there’s opportunities for backup power, if you’re running irrigation at your farm. And if folks haven’t read a Department of Energy report that came out July 7th, I’d encourage them to go read that,” Newland said.
The Department of Energy report highlights increasing stress on the nation’s electric grid. As older power plants are taken offline and new technologies are added, grid reliability is becoming a growing concern. Newland explained that expanding AI technology is one of the major contributors to this strain.
“DOE talks about the stress on our electric grid because we’re taking power plants, the older plants coming offline, but more importantly, all the new AI technology that we’re plugging into the grid is straining our grid and it’s going to get worse,” he said.
The report also outlines potential power outages in the next two to five years, which could have serious implications for agricultural producers who rely on uninterrupted power. To help address these challenges, propane-powered prime generators are being deployed to support the grid.
“And they talk about some of the outage potentials in the next two to five years and how that could really be a big impact. And we’re doing meg, one megawatt, megawatt and a half, prime power generators that are plugged into the electric grid to support some of those deficiencies, and all that happens on propane,” Newland added.
For producers rebuilding or expanding facilities, propane backup power is especially valuable. This includes confinement and poultry buildings, where power is critical for animal health and safety.
“So if you’re putting up a confinement building, and I know down, you know, we had some hurricane damage with a lot of the poultry buildings down your way. If you’re still rebuilding, we’ve got great backup generators for those buildings to make sure your systems, your water, your feed, your fans are all ready to go when you need them.”
As energy reliability becomes a bigger concern, propane continues to provide agricultural producers with dependable, scalable solutions to protect their operations and maintain productivity.
Audio Reporting by Dale Sandlin for Southeast AgNet.