http://www.thecountrytoday.com/farm/article_781c34ee-9d75-11e3-80a2-0019bb2963f4.html
Farmers: On-farm biofuel production a viable option
Posted: Monday, February 24, 2014 11:02 am
By Jim Massey, Editor | jimmas...@mhtc.net | 0 comments
WISCONSIN DELLS — The idea of producing biodiesel or running straight
vegetable oil through his farm machinery came to Jake Wedeberg about
nine years ago in the form of a truck.
“A truck made a delivery to our farm and something smelled like fryer
oil,” Wedeberg said. “I found out the owner of the truck was using
vegetable oil as a substitute for diesel.”
Wedeberg began digging into the concept more and eventually developed
his own on-farm biofuel processor. He now puts biodiesel and straight
vegetable oil through his machines and also works with Organic Valley to
help the cooperative use biofuels in their fleet of trucks.
Wedeberg and Dane County farmer Jamie Derr offered practical tips for
on-farm biofuel production Feb. 6 at the 2014 Wisconsin Corn/Soy/Pork
Expo. The two farmers have been converting crops into biofuels and using
straight vegetable oil in other machinery for about the same length of time.
Wedeberg plants no-till corn and soybeans in partnership with his
brothers on a farm near Gays Mills.
He said farmers have two options when it comes to substitutes for diesel
fuel in their vehicles — they can purchase or make a biodiesel processor
to make biodiesel or can attach a converter on one or more farm
implements to allow the machines to run on straight vegetable oil.
There are pros and cons to both systems, he said. Farmers can grow their
own oilseed crops to run through a biodiesel processor if they go with
that option, or they can get waste cooking oil from nearby restaurants
for free or at a low cost.
Either way, there are costs to making the conversion.
Derr, who farms near Marshall, said he first heard about the potential
for on-farm oilseed production at the 2011 Wisconsin Corn/Soy Expo. He
purchased a biodiesel processor and has been dabbling in production ever
since.
“It makes dynamite fuel,” he said of biodiesel.
Derr estimated that it would cost about $10,000 to get started in
producing biodiesel fuel on the farm or $4,000 to $5,000 if a farmer
opted to put a converter on a piece of machinery to allow it to run on
straight vegetable oil.
“I tell people if you’re going to put it on a machine, it had better be
a machine that runs for 500, 600 or 700 hours a year to justify the
expense,” he said. “You’d better be putting 3,000 to 5,000 gallons of
fuel through that machine every year.”
An average sized on-farm biodiesel processor could produce about 10,000
gallons of fuel per year if it was kept busy, Derr said.
“One of the maddening things about this is people call me and say, ‘Tell
me how it works,’ ” Derr said. “I tell them, well, you have to do this,
that and the other thing, and unfortunately, it’s fairly specific
depending on the application. There’s really no one-size-fits-all.”
Derr collects about 100 gallons of vegetable oil from area restaurants
each week that he runs through machines on his farm.
“I tell these restaurants my story,” he said. “They are more inclined to
give it to me than sell it to someone they don’t know. They know where
it’s going and they can talk about it with their patrons.”
Wedeberg said farmers should not attempt to burn straight vegetable oil
in an unconverted diesel motor.
Canola and sunflowers are two of the more popular crops that can be
converted into biodiesel, Wedeberg said, and soybeans can be practical
sometimes, depending on the value of soybeans for grain.
He is able to process enough biodiesel fuel in about a day to put
through machines on his farm for about a month, Wedeberg said.
“The next time diesel hits $5 a gallon, don’t complain about the oil
companies – do something about it,” Derr said.
Interest in on-farm production of biofuels has waned in recent years,
Derr said, when crop prices reached record levels. There may be more
interest again soon now that grain prices have dropped, he said.
“When the diesel price gets high, everybody starts to pay attention,” he
said. “(On-farm biofuels production) is a lot of stuff to deal with, but
it’s definitely doable.”
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