How Ohio Agriculture and Energy Could Offer Big Climate Solutions

I learned a lot at Akron Roundtable : Sustaining Our Future: Energy, Agriculture, and Climate featuring Erin Fitzgerald of Fitzgerald Consulting and former CEO of U.S. Farmers & Ranchers in Action , and Michael Chadsey , Director of Public Relations for the Ohio Oil and Gas Association .

It was a full house, not surprisingly, rich as Ohio is in agriculture and natural gas, with its storied past in all things energy-related – planes, trains, automobiles, and oil. (Did you know Ohio boasts the first recorded discovery of oil in the United States, all the way back in 1814? And Standard Oil, which spawned 43 successors, including ExxonMobile, was founded in Ohio.)?

And we can’t ignore the relevance of our location – oft hailed as the Rubber Capital of the World, Akron remains the quintessential midwest innovation hub.??

You can hear the full Akron Roundtable discussion Friday, July 21 at 8pm on WKSU 89.7FM. In the meantime, here are some key takeaways.

From Erin Fitzgerald:

• Food waste is a major part of our individual climate footprint. “There is no magical place called ‘away…’” (Currently nearly 40% of all food in America goes to waste). “So take only what you need, and support local farmers.”?
• 1 out of 6 Americans are food insecure.?See Map the Meal Gap for more.
• By 2050, we will need to feed 9 billion people. That means a 60% increase in food production.?
• “Food security is national security.”?
• We are losing farmland to development. (According to the Land Trust Alliance, we lose roughly 150 acres of natural land and 40 acres of farmland in the U.S. every single hour.)
• “Agri-culture is the culture of the people who walk the land. 48% of American land is in the stewardship of farmers.”?
• “We are in a new renaissance for agriculture.”
• Agriculture is poised to be the first sector to reach net-negative emissions, and could usher in a net-zero U.S. economy.
• While the innovation pipeline is in place, finance has been slow to follow for ag, which claims only 2% of ESG investments.?
• “Renewable energy is tied to farmland because where do we put those solar panels and wind turbines?” Not to mention technology already in use through anaerobic digestion, which converts food waste and manure into gas to power homes and vehicles.?
• In Indiana, Kroger is using biogas from their anaerobic digester to fuel their trucks.?
• Agriculture offers great innovation potential with co-products like green polymers from soy and corn, and could stimulate a robust bioeconomy. Hello homegrown Nikes?!?
• Microbes and fungi will be key to growing climate-resilient foods.?
• Climate change is not a political issue. “This is about resource efficiency – it’s Econ 101. Think about it as a business solution. It should be a business innovation issue.”?

From Michael Chadsey:?

• “Climate change is real. We are part of the solution. Innovation got us here and innovation will get us out of here.”?
• “NO is not an energy policy.”?
• It comes down to education. What is carbon? What is methane? How long do they take to break down and what are their main sources??
• It’s about finding better technologies to reduce emissions like Class VI injection wells which inject CO2 into deep rock formations for long-term underground storage.
• Hydrogen could become a major part of oil & gas’ evolving future and people are looking to Ohio to develop the infrastructure with a robust population already skilled in energy work, and ample land and resources.?

As host of Farms Across America, I gravitated toward the agriculture conversation, but I found the entire discussion between Fitzgerald, Chadsey and Ideastream Public Media moderator Zaria Johnson to be insightful and encouraging. In spite of varying viewpoints, backgrounds, and industry footprints, all seemed focused on finding solutions rather than casting blame.?

I’m proud to be an Ohioan, but the future of our economy and livability will depend upon policymakers putting differences aside to solve these serious global challenges at home, where we are already feeling the impacts. Ohio has been a place of boom and bust – we know industry like the back of our hand, and we also know failure. From outsourcing at Goodyear to automation at Lordstown, we’ve seen plants shut down and jobs disappear. It’s time we mine our strengths as a state with plentiful natural and renewable resources, a strong and innovative workforce, and loads of heartland pride.?

Were you at the Roundtable? What did you think of the conversation? Or the broader global conversation at the intersection of energy and food security? I'd love to hear your thoughts in the comments below.