Alternative energy at Green Alchemy Farm

Yoder and his wife, Anniemarie, were some of the primary inspiring minds behind the Pennsylvania Renewable Energy & Sustainable Living Festival in Kempton since 2005, sponsored by the Mid-Atlantic Renewable Energy Association, which they also stood behind from the beginning with a few other co-visionaries. In 2010, the two left MAREA to instead channel their efforts into the Green Alchemy Farm concept, where Yoder said he believes he is now better able to serve the cause he aimed to support with his environmental involvements from years ago.

Yoder strongly pushes forward on behalf of “the little guy,” away from corporate powerhouses which often don’t lean toward doing what’s right for the betterment of human lives and all the shared components of the planet. He travels around the state and even the country to give presentations and host workshops to educate people about their often unseen choices of how to take care of themselves and their families more affordably and environmentally.

His own property houses several sets of solar paneling—as one of the first places in Berks County to incorporate solar power—and a wind turbine, while he also raises an oil-producing organic sunflower known as the Nusun variety, which he said is comparable in health benefits to olive oil and is also usable as a biofuel. All of the vehicles on his property run not on ordinary gasoline but instead biofuels, which includes cleaned and filtered, used waste vegetable oil from restaurant fryers and the oil from his specialty sunflowers, which total 10 acres per year. Yoder said he tests out biofuels as opposed to biodiesels, and this is because when they’re extracted and produced, biodiesels include ingredients that are not sustainably made. Biofuels, on the other hand, are made sustainably at Green Alchemy Farm. Hydropower is something Yoder has tested out and practiced onsite, as well.

He and his wife have also secured two Sustainable Agriculture Research & Education grants from the federal government for assessing organic possibilities with their sunflower supply and also organic grass-fed beef. Green Alchemy Farm is considered a Pennsylvania Certified Organic Farm between grass-fed beef, pork with nitrate-free smoked products, pasture-raised turkeys and the sunflower oil for fuel purposes and also to complement meals.

Yoder stressed that he doesn’t do installations for the alternative and sustainable energy methods he promotes, but he offers consultations and educational advocacy for those who are looking for insight, advice, guidance and tips. While converting to energy-positive approaches can seem expensive and costly, especially in a difficult economy, Yoder said there are still ways to save money and energy, like by unplugging electronics when they’re not in use.

He also points out that spending $30,000 on a brand new car that isn’t necessarily energy-efficient shows that $30,000 could be spent on solar paneling efforts, which would bring much better benefits across the board after five to 10 years through the electricity credits earned to use toward a utility bill in colder months, resulting in lower costs and less stress on the environment.

Working away from the confines and structure of non-efficient energy approaches, stepping beyond supporting expensive and earth-destructive means of hanging onto electricity and environmental harm through transportation is possible one small step at a time, Yoder said. He explained that when people reach out to him to and show dedication in wanting to change how they live every day, the self-liberation possible and how he can help others is what he finds most rewarding about standing behind Green Alchemy Farm.

Yoder has several multiple-day educational workshops planned throughout the next few months and still in the works, with listings of past presentations on his website.