With diesel prices above $3 a gallon and some Inland Northwest farmers having difficulty finding enough fuel to keep their machinery operating, four Spokane and Whitman county agricultural cooperatives are weighing development of a biodiesel plant in one of the two counties.


Theyve drafted a business plan to construct a 5-million-gallon-a-year, $8.5 million biodiesel facility here and are hoping to find funding, says Jim Armstrong, spokesman for the Spokane County Conservation District.


If we had the financing we would begin to write seed-crop contracts and begin a crushing operation by next year, says Armstrong.


Biodiesel can be used in most diesel engines without modifying the engines, and can be made from most vegetable oils, recycled cooking oil, and animal fat. Armstrong already claims that biodiesel can be made cheaper than petroleum can be produced.


Its more expensive to extract oil from the ground than grow a crop, says Armstrong. Its really a no-brainer.


Unlike soybean-based production plants in the Midwest that make about 95 percent of the nations biodiesel, a plant in this region would have to use rotational crops such as mustard seed as feedstock for biodiesel production.


Wheat is king here, says Armstrong.


He says the 2,500 farmers in the four cooperatives, and possibly others from different counties who could join the effort if the proposed facility becomes successful, would need to agree to grow rotational oil-seed crops every three or four years to provide feedstock for the plant.


Yet, its not the biodiesel that would likely be the primary product of the proposed crushing and biodiesel facility, says Matt Morra, a University of Idaho chemist and soils professor whos been studying the benefits of mustard for fertilizer and pesticide purposes for the past 17 years.


While the oil from crushed mustard seeds could be used for what Armstrong calls the fairly simple process of making biodiesel, the remaining 60 to 70 percent of the crushed seed, known as meal, could be used for both high-value culinary and agricultural uses.


The biggest challenge to a biodiesel plant is finding markets for the meal, Armstrong says. He says the U.S. now imports more mustard meal and mustard powder for such products as spices and salad dressings than it produces. The U.S. imports about 46 million metric tons of mustard a year compared to about 41 million metric tons a year grown within the country, with the biggest source of imports being Canada, says Armstrong.


Morra says hes working with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to get mustard meal, with no additives, registered as a bio-pesticide. He says mustard emerges from a crusher looking like corn flakes, and asserts that it not only can kill insects and weeds, but is comprised of 5.5 percent nitrogen, making it a potentially valuable fertilizer as well.


He says mustard is an excellent rotation crop for wheat, which generates higher yields when its planted in rotation with mustard. Mustard, as a crop, doesnt need some pesticides. Armstrong says mustard also can be seeded as a no-till crop, meaning that a plow is not required and seeding and fertilizing can be done in one path through the field, thus reducing the amount of fuel needed to produce a crop.


The oil-seed crop required to fuel a biodiesel plant would come from dry-land production and not irrigated land, which would produce a crop of higher value, Armstrong says.


Soybeans dont grow in this area, but mustard and canolaboth potential sources of biodiesel oilgrow well here, Armstrong says. He says meal from canola is rich in protein and is a good feed for livestock, but its market value doesnt approach that of mustard.


Armstrong says a 5-million-gallon-a-year biodiesel plant would cost about $5 million, and a crusher to separate the oil from the meal would run another $3.5 million. Such equipment is produced in the U.S. and Germany and could be operational within six to nine months after its ordered, he says. He adds that if funding were available, crusher operations would begin within the next year.


The state of Washington currently has one operating biodiesel plant, Seattle Biodiesel, but it doesnt have its own crusher and uses soybean oil transported from Iowa, Armstrong says.


For a biodiesel facility with a crusher to break even financially, he says, it must sell the meal left after crushing for about $400 to $500 a ton. That byproduct revenue pushes the cost of producing biodiesel oil below $1 a gallon and makes it competitive with petroleum prices, after distribution costs. Although canola meal is valued at only between $150 and $175 a ton, edible mustard meal sells from $800 to $1,000 a ton, he says.


Morra says he cant estimate the market value of mustard for agricultural purposes because its never been sold for that use. He says, however, that organic gardeners likely would pay top dollar for meal to be used as an all-natural fertilizer and pesticide.


The organic market is growing at 20 percent a year and is the fastest growing sector of agriculture in this country, Morra says. Its no longer just for hippies and outcasts. There are not many suitable alternatives for organic producers, many of whom still weed their crops by hand. Mustard is made for human consumption and is environmentally friendly.


Morra suggests that selling bags of mustard meal in the gardening centers of such stores as Home Depot Inc. and Wal-Mart Stores Inc. isnt out of the question.


The bottom line


Although the addition of a crusher and biodiesel plant here would create about 35 new full-time jobs, the bottom line for the proposed project is whether farmers would be able to grow mustard economically.


Farmers are having a tough time, and if its not going to make them money, theyre not going to do it, says Armstrong. These cooperatives are 100 years old, and they didnt get that way by being aggressive.


One attractive element of the proposed project for farmers is the access they would have to affordable fuel generated by a cooperative-owned biodiesel facility. Armstrong says between 15 percent and 20 percent of biodiesel produced at the plant would be allotted to farmers for their use, with the remainder sold to retail customers.


No one from the four cooperatives wanted to be interviewed, nor would Armstrong name the cooperatives. He says the farmers are reluctant to publicize their efforts because previous efforts by others to create alternative fuel plants have failed.


Stressing the importance of the cooperatives making initial contacts with legislators instead of promoting their cause through the media, Armstrong says, We are seeking options on capitalization on how the state can help promote biodiesel.


Armstrong, whos researched the potential of biodiesel in this area for some time, is adamant in his belief that a biodiesel facility cant exist without the active participation of ag cooperatives and farmers. He claims they are the only ones with the infrastructure to make such a venture feasible.


In addition to having rail and truck transportation outlets for their products, local cooperatives have the capacity to store biodiesel oil, meal, and the glycerin byproduct made from the biodiesel process, which is used for making soap.


The demand for biodiesel isnt likely to go away soon, says Armstrong. He says consumption of diesel in Washington alone amounts to about 100 million gallons a year, and that doesnt include locomotive, aircraft, and marine uses.


Armstrong says that to create biodiesel, an 87 percent plant oil, 12 percent methanol (or ethanol), and one percent catalyst such as sodium hydroxide mixture is made. The process results in a 90 percent biodiesel to 10 percent glycerin-methnol-catalyst liquid, with the glycerine, which is removed from the oil, used for soap and the methanol and catalyst available for re-use in the process.


Biodiesel can be used at full strength, called B100, but is more commonly used as a 20 percent mixture with 80 percent petroleum diesel, called B20. Non-toxic and biodegradable, biodiesel provides similar horsepower and fuel economy as petroleum diesel, yet provides superior lubricity to reduce wear on the engine, says the National Biodiesel Board.


One problem with B100 is that it can cause an engine not to run properly in very cold conditions, Armstrong says.


By bringing in soybean-generated biodiesel from Iowa, one Pacific Pride cardlock station at 18826 E. Appleway, in Spokane Valley, has been able to sell a B20 mixture of biodiesel. Last week, that product sold for $3.29 per gallon, or 10 cents higher per gallon than petroleum diesel, says a Pacific Pride spokeswoman.


Central Valley School District here has completed the second year of a three-year pilot project to test biodiesel use in most of its buses, says Gene Marsh, shop foreman for the district.


He says 65 of the districts 85 buses have been fueled over that span by a biodiesel blend and tests have shown a more than 30 percent reduction in emissions by the biodiesel-fueled buses. He says mileage figures are not exact, but asserts buses fueled by biodiesel average an additional one-half mile to three-quarters mile per gallon above buses fueled by petroleum diesel.