Association forms to unite players in multi-billion dollar market
Pat Dulin of Dulin’s Café in downtown Vancouver could sell the used fryer grease from his restaurant to soap manufacturers, but he’d rather it be used to make biodiesel fuel. It says so right there on the trivia card displayed at each table in the dining room. In fact, he pays Oregon Biofuels $25 each month to take the grease away and use it for just that purpose. His interest in sustainable fuels drove his decision.
"What we’re trying to be is 95 percent trash free, and we’re pretty close to it now," said Dulin of his earth-friendly plans for the restaurant. "I just thought (using the grease for biofuel) sounded great. It’s a great concept as far as the earth is concerned."
As the Oregon Biofuels truck leaves Dulin’s each month with a fresh 50-gallon drum of grease, it enters the larger machinations of a growing regional industry.
A local groundswell
The formation in September of the Northwest Biofuels Association marks a significant step in the growth of the industry here.
"I think it’s a real statement, and an indicator of the maturity of an industry, when a trade group gets going," said association Interim Director Robert Grott.
The nonprofit organization held its first meeting this month in Vancouver. It seeks to unify all the players in the biofuels arena throughout the region, representing Montana, Idaho, Oregon and Washington. With 18 charter members, including Vancouver-based Columbia Credit Union, Grott and his partners hope to grow the region’s market share as well as serve as a clearing house of information to the industry. Another function of the association may be to legitimize the growing industry.
"It’s sort of haphazard and opportunistic right now," said Peter Moulton, clean energy program director with the Olympia-based firm Climate Solutions, an organization dedicated to making the Pacific Northwest a carbon-free energy consumer. "There are a lot of snake oil salesmen out there. But it’s certainly a viable economic opportunity."
While the association represents these four states, all roads, or rather rivers, appear to lead to Vancouver. At a day-long conference earlier this month on the business of biofuels in the Pacific Northwest held at Portland’s Mount Hood Community College, the city was repeatedly mentioned, citing the Port of Vancouver’s location as the logical end-point for product distribution from these markets.
Companies such as Carson Oil use the port regularly. Vancouver resident and association member Jeff Rouse imports biofuels from the Midwest for Carson Oil. The company operates a terminal at the port, where 1.5 million gallons pass through annually. And, the anticipated ethanol plant Great Western Malting intends to build at the port will add to the mix.
Greasing the wheels in Olympia
While the association is careful to distance itself from policy making, it is clear its members with ties to Washington would like to see better legislation to foster industry growth in the state, as far as attracting business, as well as regulation. As it stands, the state’s renewable fuels standard helps spur growth here, but Oregon has attracted biofuel companies with its Business Incentive Tax Credit, which has netted major refiners like SeQuential Pacific Biodiesel.
And while Oregon seems to be attracting refineries, Washington is in a good position, not only as a distributor through the port, but also to become a major grower of feed stocks for the fuels. Some, like Big Bend Economic Development Director and association member William Riley believes Washington could go far with agriculture in terms of biofuels, but he believes lack of legislation in that area could cause trouble.
"There are no laws in Washington to regulate canola and brassica crops," he said, referring to two crops used heavily in the production of biofuels. "I’m not sure (lack of regulation) can help the industry, and here’s why: The canola and brassica plants have the potential to cross pollinate edible foods that we grow. We’re concerned about these crops not having any regulations."
He added, "There’s all kind of proposals for biofuel refineries, but there’s nowhere near the amount of local crops necessary to supply them."
Acting locally in Eastern Washington
Separate from the mass production visions of major refineries is the notion that local farmers can fuel their own operations on biodiesel. This is an application many in the association think could be a breath of fresh air for local farmers.
"Diesel fuel cost is considered the final nail in the coffin for the farming industry," Moulton said. "There are some groups of farmers that would like to produce biofuel to run their equipment and save a substantial amount of money."
Riley is one that has taken up this torch. He’s building a mobile biodiesel refinery with hopes of showing farmers in eastern Washington how simple it is to produce the fuel.
"We think that biodiesel can offer a farmer the opportunity to create his own fuel," he said. According to Moulton, this approach may in the long run make better business sense than the mass production model.
"Even in the best case scenario for production, we couldn’t be able to produce the amount of fuel needed to really compete with fossil fuels at this point," he said. "There’s no silver bullet out there, there’s a lot of bronze buckshot. And the bigger issue is about increased energy efficiency."
