Green and Clean Energy
Ruby Red Farms has embarked on a project to become Canada's first demonstration farm that profiles solutions for small and mid scale farms to be carbon negative. The farm is developing solutions for generating heat, electricity and transportation fuels that are green, clean and in harmony with nature. It is our intention to be an inspiration and lighthouse to other farms by generating clean energy in support of growing healthy and delicious food.
The farm will showcase farm based generation of clean energy through solar, biomethane, biomass and ethanol projects. We believe that any path taken to address climate change must include farms as part of the solution.
Our first project to be implemented in 2018 will include 43 solar panels on ground mounts to start offsetting power and fuel usage. The electricity will support the farm operation as well as an electric vehicle. Here the 43 panels are ready to be taken out for mounting on the solar racks.
Next up will be biomass and biomethane projects. The biomass projects will be focused on generating heat and electricity as well as biochar. Biochar is a solid material resulting from exposing biomass like wood to high temperatures with no oxygen. The resulting material can sequester carbon for 100's of the years making this a major method to reverse climate change. The biochar can be applied to farm land and improves soil health. Fertilizers can be captured by the biochar preventing fertilizers from being leached in the rainy winter season into streams, lakes and oceans. Less fertilizer means less environmental pollution and less fossil fuels being used to manufacture and transport fertilizers to farms. Biochar is an amazing way of storing carbon on farm land rather than releasing carbon dioxide to the atmosphere.
Our biomethane project will convert waste and farm feedstocks to energy for transportation fuel, heat and electrical generation. Check out the first equipment for this project below - A 30 kW Capstone Microturbine. This miniaturized jet engine can make generate energy from biogas and biomethane.
Last up will be an small scale ethanol plant to create fuel for vehicles used on the farm that can run up to 85% on ethanol fuel.
Our second farm site is located in North West British Columbia with frontage on the pristine Skeena River. This land was originally cleared and farmed as a potato farm. The land is now being proposed as a farm to support community based biomass energy and heat production. Our farm will be a pilot for the systems used to generate heat and electricity. Additionally the farm will grow willow biomass and harvest it to make chips and pellets for the local community.
We believe that farmers can generate energy in a way that is close to and in harmony with the land. And now we are going to show how its done!
