The Indiana Farm Bureau says the state's small-scale renewable energy is gaining attention.
The 25x25' Alliance, a national renewable energy group, and the Indiana Farm Bureau are showcasing the benefits that small-scale renewable energy is delivering to rural Indiana communities.
The Bureau spotlighted recent initiatives in a daylong tour of northern Indiana Thursday.
The tour included visits to a Danville landfill-to-gas operation, a solar farm in Montgomery County, and the nine-year-old "BioTown" experiment in Reynolds.
It also included a stop at Jasper County‘s Fair Oaks dairy farm, which is almost entirely self-sustaining.
Bureau president Don Villwock says forms of renewable energy such as solar and wind farms, which are often located on farmland, benefit farmers.
"We do have a few solar farms starting to sprout up," says Villwock. "We have a new one in Tipton County that just recently started. So we're really on the forefront, and Purdue University is probably the leading cellulosic research institute in the country."
Villwock adds that ethanol now accounts for 40 percent of Hoosier farmers' corn production.