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Irrigated Agroecosystem Component:
Triple
BIOTM: BIOAg, Bioenergy and Bioproducts Program
Biofuel Variety Trials
There is increasing interest in the Pacific Northwest
(PNW) to develop a biodiesel industry not only from a renewable
and environmentally friendly (biodegradable, non-toxic, low emission,
high lubrication) energy perspective but also from a sustainable
agricultural perspective as it offers new crop rotation alternatives.
As a result, the biodiesel industry has the potential for enhancing
rural economy and farm profitability while simultaneously aiding
our national security and decreasing greenhouse gas emissions. The
significant cost challenges for developing a biodiesel industry
are mainly due to the cost of virgin vegetable oil (NREL, 2004)
and, unique to the PNW, the transportation costs of bringing oil
in from outside of the region. As a result, only one recently built
biodiesel manufacturing facility exists within the region and the
amount on consumption is still low.
As oil prices continue to rise and public support
for alternative fuels broadens, biodiesel has attracted increasing
interest in the political, environmental, and commercial arenas
throughout the Pacific Northwest (PNW). In contrast to bioethanol,
production of biodiesel is a simpler technology, is less limited
by production scale, and is thus more feasible for establishing
distributed processing plants in rural areas where the oilseed is
produced. New legislative and commercial developments make it possible
for biodiesel to be one of the first adopted biomass-based products
in this region. Consequently, the biodiesel industry has the greatest
potential to be the first major bioproduct/bioenergy business sector
of substantial scale in the PNW.
In the spring of the 2004 growing season a project
was established to assess the inclusion of oil seed crops in irrigated
cropping systems of the Pacific Northwest. The objective is to identify
potential benefits of increased soil carbon sequestration under
conservation tillage systems, and to evaluate the potential for
biodiesel production in the PNW. These tests will be conducted at
the USDA Paterson experimental farm and will involve soil carbon
and emission monitoring of the oil-seed cropping system. The field
data, along with biodiesel emission statistics, will allow assessment
of greenhouse gas emission reduction and carbon sequestration potential
for a full-scale biodiesel industry in the PNW and determine the
economic value of these benefits based on greenhouse gas reduction
requirements. These studies will be expanded to the dryland sites
of eastern Washington in subsequent years.
The last decade has been characterized by huge
U.S. trade deficits. Petroleum imports account for much of the trade
imbalance. In fact, petroleum imports for transportation purposes
alone were $50 billion in 1996. America's dependency on foreign
oil (now over 60 percent and rising) is not only an economic issue,
but is one of national security--particularly in times of global
unrest. These factors, coupled with environmental concerns regarding
the use of fossil fuels and production of CO2, fostered with the
expansion of the fuel ethanol industry, make ethanol a high priority
issue for USDA. The capacity of the U.S. industry exceeds 2.1 billion
gallons per year. Similarly, a nascent biodiesel industry has been
developing in recent years. The industry has become an important
partner with American agriculture, and the USDA estimates that 17,000
jobs are created for every billion gallons of biofuel produced.
A likely market for alternative energies is within
agriculture itself. Low-cost alternative fuels can be used to power
farm tractors and small agricultural production and processing facilities
within rural communities. Pacific Northwest biodiesel production
has the potential for assisting rural and farm development, aiding
our national security through increased reliance on domestic renewable
energy, and improving upon existing environmental concerns such
as greenhouse gas emissions. Biodiesel is an EPA approved renewable
fuel that can be produced either from regionally farmed oil seed
crops or from recycled vegetable and animal fats. Thus development
of biodiesel crushing and processing plants within the region could
effectively add to state and, in particular, rural and farm economies
by utilizing area commodities through the creation of a new job
related infrastructure.
Biodiesel includes fuels derived from corn soybeans,
sunflower seed, cottonseed, canola and rape seed, crambe, safflower,
flaxseed, and mustard seed. Currently, soybeans are the most commonly
used fuel feedstock in the US, where rapeseed is the primary feedstock
in Europe. A list of crops and their oil production potential is
included in the biofuel
variety trial field day poster. Those plants highlighted will
be included in the trials at the Paterson field site.
The main obstacle for the development of widespread
oilseed production in rural Washington is economic. Current market
prices for oilseed production are simply not high enough for producers
to justify replacing more lucrative rotational crops. Higher feedstock
(oil) prices would jeopardize the profitability of biodiesel refining.
In addition to the research on biofuel varieties, WSU is conducting
research on two additional strategies for enhancing the potential
for a regional biodiesel industry: 1) research on the impact of
producer owned processing and 2) development
of co-products from oilseed crushing / biodiesel refining that
add value to and reduce the costs of processing.
For more information on the the biofuel variety
trials contact Hal Collins,
USDA-ARS.
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Updated
May 11, 2006
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