Small Town Texas
Texas' Massive Agribusiness Sector Makes for Huge Bioenergy Potential
By Lee Burlett
You likely know of Texas by its largest markets. Dallas-Fort Worth, Houston, Austin-Round Rock and San Antonio are some of the most dynamic and diverse economies in the world. In fact, in November, Newsweek ranked Austin, D/FW, San Antonio and Houston in its list of 10 metros best situated for economic recovery, describing Texas as "the No. 1 destination for job-seeking Americans, thanks to a hearty energy sector and a strong spirit of entrepreneurism."
Newsweek went on to write about Texas' growing metros, "For sheer economic promise, no place beats Texas," Joel Kotkin wrote. "Texas offers pro-business policies and relatively low taxes and the physical infrastructure in the cities is generally as good as or better than in many East and West coast metropolitan areas."
Everything you read these days on Texas is about the state's remarkable major metros. But there is so much more supporting Texas' overall economy that is rarely written about in publications like Newsweek. Here are some examples of what Small Town Texas' contributions are to the Lone Star State's economy.
- Texas has 247,500 farms and ranches covering 130.4 million acres, both No. 1 in the nation
- Rural lands, including privately-owned forests, total 144 million acres, 86 percent of the state's total land area
- One out of every seven working Texans is in an agribusiness-related job
- The economic impact of the food and fiber sector totals more than $100 billion annually
As you can see, Texas agriculture is a powerhouse of production, ranking the Lone Star State as the second-largest agriculture producing state in the nation. While Texas is the energy capital of the U.S. (many in Louisiana would argue that claim), its associated bioenergy industry, which should be leading the way as a result of the state's massive agribusiness sector, is just now getting organized as a statewide effort to help secure energy independence for the state.
In 2009, the 81st Texas Legislature established the Texas Bioenergy Policy Council and Texas Bioenergy Research Committee to promote "the goal of making biofuels a significant part of the energy industry in this state not later than January 1, 2019."
The potential for Texas to facilitate bioenergy production from animal and crop waste is enormous. Of course, so are the new jobs that would be generated by that effort. Two years ago, the Texas Renewable Energy Resource Assessment estimated in a report published by the Texas Department of Agriculture that after examination of available feedstocks, total biofuel production capacity in Texas could reach 1.9 billion gallons annually. Currently, Texas produces about 400 million gallons of biodiesel (No. 1 in the nation) and 250 million gallons of ethanol. Of the 1.9 billion gallons, 648 million could come from switch grass, a feedstock that doesn't compete with food products such as grains.
Comment
Over the next two decades, reducing the national debt and being self-sufficient, therefore, independent of foreign-based energy by creating more renewable energy sources in the U.S. is of primary importance to the nation's economy. Texas is the cradle of wind energy production in the U.S. with about 11,000 megawatts. No other state comes close to that total in wind energy production. Texas also needs to take the lead in the South and the nation in bioenergy production that is sourced from the vast amounts of organic material from plants and animals that is so prevalent in that state.
This article is sponsored by The Texas Governor Office's Department of Economic Development