The Road to Regaining Dominance

The emphasis on starting with existing biomass technologies is wise, Mennell says, but that shouldn’t cause people to overlook promising emerging fuels such as switchgrass, which can be grown on marginal crop land that doesn’t compete with food uses. Considering the carbon footprint is also important.

“Minnesota does have significant biomass resources that could be utilized,” says Mennell, but there’s a “real need” to figure out how to sustainably manage those resources.

Matt Norton, forestry advocate and staff attorney for the Minnesota Center for Environmental Advocacy, seconds that warning. He sees economic and environmental problems with entrepreneurs taking a “starry-eyed” view of Minnesota’s natural resources. His advice? “Go slowly.”

“I think I share many of the values with these entrepreneurs, but good intentions have to be checked and doubled-checked with the science. Otherwise significant damage can be done,” says Norton.

Wahlstrom believes that if Minnesota dives in now, it can learn how to properly manage the state’s agriculture and forests and “bump head first into the hurdles that stand in the way.” The hope is that sorting through the issues now will give Minnesota a head start.

“It’s an area that’s ready for someone to step forward and take the lead, “ Wahlstrom says. “So we’re saying: ‘Let Minnesota do that.’”

Creating a Future

It’s a long to-do list, especially for a state and economy working through one of the worst recessions in decades. Wahlstrom says, though, that many of the recommendations can be acted on right away without waiting for budget allocations.

The BioBusiness Alliance is already scheduling small group and community presentations and starting on its next phase: creating an organization called the BioBusiness Resource Network that will work on managing large projects with statewide impact. The Destination 2025 report is a beginning, not an end, the report says:

“As [writer and social ecologist] Peter Drucker said, ‘The best way to predict the future is to create it.’”