This project offers a number of economic benefits. Land owners will receive new income streams. For the communities, this is a new economic activity. Ultimately, it is a local solution to an income crisis for agricultural producers. A 20% to 40% reduction in energy costs for maple producers will make this activity economically cost effective. Those costs will be more stable and better known.
Furthermore, this short circuit affords significant environmental benefits. A number of studies show an 85% to 90% reduction in CO2 emissions in the combustion of switch grass pellets instead of natural gas or fuel oil. The replacement of three million litres of heating oil annually by a renewable green energy source is not negligible. It will no longer be necessary to transport those heating oil quantities from the major centres. We will also be eliminating the risk of heating oil spills in sensitive natural areas. While it grows, switch grass captures the equivalent amount of carbon emitted during its combustion. This is a virtually greenhouse emission-neutral energy form.
The natural elements for this project to succeed have been combined. The region has fallow land and market potential. We have the basic knowledge of crop techniques. The pelletization technology is well known. The local energy circuit project offers economic and environmental benefits for agricultural and maple producers and will have the effect of revitalizing the community. We have the human resources and the energy necessary to put it in place. This is a great way to address the energy crisis by guaranteeing maple producers a stable price. It is a simple method for offsetting the decaying regions and our declining agriculture. Once again, it is an excellent way to reduce both atmospheric and land pollution.
However, the balance of this development remains a major challenge. No structure of its kind has yet been established. Securing the supply of quality biomass, transforming and distributing it over a maximum radius of 100 km is the issue.
Land owners must invest approximately $1,200 to $3,500 per hectare and wait three years before making a sale. In the short term, we can't guarantee them that their future harvest will be purchased, since maple producers do not yet have the appropriate evaporators. The technology for using the pellets in the evaporators does exist, but maple producers will have to renew their evaporators and storage reservoirs. That's an investment of $20,000 to $60,000, depending on their production.
The idea is to obtain the financial support to carry out the action plan that we are proposing to you here: to encourage and facilitate the switch from oil to biomass among maple producers; to provide the agronomic expertise to agricultural producers; to significantly increase the number of hectares under cultivation and to improve knowledge of the agronomic factors in regions such as ours; to reduce the risks related to coordinating the markets of the various players in order to facilitate decision-making and accelerate the achievement of economically viable production volumes; to implement the processing stage; and, lastly, to support agricultural producers in converting to energy crops.
In closing, we want to thank you for lending your ear. The fact that you have invited us already lends us additional conviction. This journey has stimulated our desire to move forward. Together, we are convinced we will find the ways to make our marginal lands a promising economic and energy contribution for everyone and, it goes without saying, for Canada.