Subject: BioFuels



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(681)   Mon 17 Jun 91 20:10                             
By: Don Kulha
To: Ya'll

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    At Sonoma Online we also carry the SUST_AG (Sustainable 
Agriculture) conference and after my wife mentioned we had kicked 
off this echo some of the folks got very excited about it. Kevin 
Erb came up with this gem which he asked me to post here.....
   
   Grow your own fuel, state farmers told
   
      columbia, mo. -- Mel Blase was telling farmers how
   they can grow their own fuel.
       Behind him, a diesel tractor was purring along on
   bio-diesel fuel made from rapeseed oil.
       "You have a good shot at making money with this stuff,
   the way government programs are set up," Blase, an
   agricultural economist at the University of
   Missouri-Columbia, told farmers attending the University's
   Agronomy Day (June 5).
       Blase pointed out that farmers participating in
   government's program can grow oil crops under the 0-92
   Oilseeds Program. Under that program, they can get
   deficiency payments for not growing a program crop, like
   corn or wheat, while using the same land for growing a
   oilseed crop, like canola.
       Blase, a farmer himself, said profit potential from
   bio-diesel fuels was looking good these days, and the
   situation could get even better when oil prices shoot back
   up.
       But, alas, Blase is also an economist. "There's money
   here, but you have to have just the right combination of
   things going for you."  He then rattled off his list of
   "factors that have to be working in your favor if you're
   going to turn a profit."
      -- You have to be able to produce at least 2,000 pounds
   of industrial rapeseed per acre. "Not all farmers will get
   that yield the first time," Blase said. "But with 2,000
   pounds, you'll produce a 100 gallons of oil and 1,200
   pounds of meal per acre."
       -- You should cover land costs with payments from the
   0-92 program, if you have a good base.
       "The value of the meal will cover all the other costs,
   except crushing and purifying the oil, " Blase said.. "To
   get the meal to 'pay out,' you have to have a cattle
   feeding operation, access to pelleting equipment, and
   credit the meal for its protein value."
       -- You should have a crusher on your farm or nearby.
   Blase figured crushing costs at 25 cents a gallon, plus
   another 25 cents for esterification (adding anhydrous
   methanol and potassium hydroxide to purify the fuel).
       -- You should have access to someone who is trained to
   make the fuel.
       With all of the above, Blase said, a farmer should be
   able to produce a gallon of bio-diesel fuel for about
   one-half the cost of petroleum-based diesel fuel.
       "But you have to take some risk and have all the right
   things going for you to make a profit," Blase said.
  
       Meanwhile, just a few miles away, University of
   Missouri agricultural engineers Jim Frisby and Leon
   Schumacher will soon be taking their bio-diesel-fueled
  pickup truck for a spin. The Missouri Soybean Merchandising
   Council is supporting their research to see if soy oil can
   be used economically in the trucking industry.
       "Soybean oil shows tremendous promise as a fuel for
   diesel engines," Schumacher said.
       In the past, soybean oil has been used to power
   stationary engines and farm tractors. However, in those
   studies, the engines worked on a heavy, continuous loads.
   Trucks require much more varied engine operating
   conditions.
       Schumacher and Frisby will replace the standard engine
   in the pickup truck with a diesel engine and modify it to
  use the heavier soybean oil. The soybean oil is degummed in
   a process in which the oil is treated with alcohol and a
   catalyst, which changes the molecular structure to make a
   free flowing fuel.
      "It's a process that with training and proper equipment
   any farmer can do," Schumacher said.
       The pickup truck will be tested for more than 12,000
   miles to see how well it performs on the bio-diesel fuel.
       Back to Mel Blase and his tractor.
       "Every time petroleum prices go up ... and every time
   we improve techniques for squeezing oil out of oilseed
   crops ... potential looks better for farmers who want to
   produce their own bio-diesel fuel."
       Behind him the tractor kept running.
      "Notice, bio-diesel gives off less smoke," Blase said.
      "Its day will come."
   ###
   Contact: Melvin Blase, (314) 882-0128

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