REYNOLDS, Ind. - A task force of state leaders, including a Ball State University director, are hoping a tiny northwest Indiana town will become a model for rural communities by using renewable energy to fuel cars, heat homes, and power businesses.
Dubbed BioTown, USA, the goal is for Reynolds and its some 550 residents to be among the nation's first communities powered entirely by agricultural-based fuels.
"We are taking challenges and turning them into opportunities by developing homegrown local energy production to become independent from foreign sources," Gov. Mitch Daniels said in announcing the project Tuesday.
John Motloch, director of Ball State University's Land Design Institute and professor of Landscape Architecture, has been asked to be a part of the task force for the "world's first renewable energy community."
Motloch met with the director of Economic Development for the Indiana State Department of Agriculture, who invited him to join the BioTown Task force via e-mail the following day.
"The BioTown vision for Reynold's to be the nation's first town run by 100 percent biorenewable energy is highly innovative. This is an exciting opportunity for Ball State students and faculty. We have the opportunity to play a significant role in this initiative that can positively impact Indiana communities," Motloch said.
"A gas pump selling the ethanol-blend fuel E85 could be operational by the first of the year," said Charlie Van Voorst, president of the town council in the White County community about 25 miles north of Lafayette.
The pump will be used to power the town government's three vehicles, and Van Voorst said he hoped town residents also would use the corn-based fuel.
"Smaller towns are losing their businesses, they're closing their schools and closing their banks," he said. "I think this will make Reynolds a little more secure in those areas."
Later phases of the plan include using other bioenergy sources - including methane gas - to power electrical generators and heat homes, officials said.
The alternative energy sources will come in part from animal waste gathered from local livestock farms. State officials said farms within a 15 mile radius of Reynolds have some 150,000 hogs as their source.
Deborah Abbott, a spokeswoman for the state Department of Agriculture, said a task force of community leaders, economists, engineers, urban planners and agriculture experts would decide what technology and renewable fuels to use.
"The project may take three years to complete," she said.
"Our goal is to make Indiana a leader in the future of agriculture, and to do that, we must be progressive in advancing new uses for our products and finding more environmentally-friendly ways to dispose of our by-products," Director of Indiana Agriculture Andy Miller said.
The project is part of the Indiana State Department of Agriculture's proposed plan, "Possibilities Unbound: The Plan for 2025." The plan will extend over several years and includes seven elements, one of which is bioenergy. BioTown, USA will try to reach this goal by providing energy to people using biorenewable energy resources.
Voorst said he was not sure how much the project would cost the town.
"It's all a learning situation," he said. "Hopefully, the town will benefit with lower utility costs and lower gas costs."
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