As a part of a series of columns on agribusiness issues, Director of Wayne County Zoning and Planning Steve Higinbotham wrote an article today on the growing local interest in renewable energy sources and solicits feedback from the public on these issues.

The city of Richmond and its plan commission is currently updating its land use ordinances. The discussions have included regulations for wind towers, confined feeding operations and ethanol production facilities. The Wayne County Plan Commission has recently introduced these topics for discussion in its meetings as well. The Richmond/Wayne County Chamber of Commerce agribusiness committee will serve in a capacity to network, educate and address these specific issues. If you have a comment that could play a part in developing land use criteria for Wayne County, please contact any of these organizations, because there is no doubt that what was once old will be new again.

You can read the full article.

According to a story in today's Pal-Item, Cambridge City is slated to get a biofuel station.

Cambridge City is on the short list of Indiana locales slated to receive ethanol fueling stations under a recent federal grant. The $1.3 million federal grant will help pay for more than a dozen new ethanol fueling stations, most of them along Interstate 65 in Indiana, officials announced Friday.

According to Wikipedia, "Ethanol can be blended with gasoline in varying quantities to reduce the consumption of petroleum fuels, as well as to reduce air pollution...Ethanol derived from crops (bio-ethanol) is a demonstrably sustainable energy resource that may offer environmental and long-term economic advantages over fossil fuel (gasoline)."