Advantages of Vertical Integration in Bio-Fuel Producing Rural Communities
First in a Four-Part Series
We recently traveled across America, on both the old route 66 and variations of 66, and many of what used to be country highways before they were replaced by super interstates. Through towns like Muleshoe, TX, and Augusta or Batesville, AR, the sight was, to say the least, sobering. Small towns (2,500 plus) across America are suffering constant population drain. Main Street is a run of closed signs, torn awnings, rusty signs and roofs, vacant decaying buildings and the once proud homes stand with their naked roofs and broken windows. About the only remnants of a once proud mid-America are the churches, which are still maintained.
The few towns that are doing well, such as Plainview, TX, are doing so at the expense of other towns for 100 miles in every direction. And in many of these towns the economic base may be dependent on one business entity - and thus the town is owned by that corporation.
The potential solution for the mid-America population flight is biodiesel and biomass energy conversion.
There has been talk about the concept of bio-fuels as a weapon against the oil cartel. We use "cartel" because in effect the U.S. is hooked on oil - more specifically, we are hooked on transportation fuel. There are 2 million big rig trucks in the United States, owned by 500,000 trucking companies. These cost about $185 thousand per tractor, burn approximately 300 gallons per 12-hour loaded- haul day, get about 5 miles per gallon and by necessity are running (working) 24/7.
Bio-fuel is a large category that includes ethanol, methanol, biodiesel and syngas, which are all capable of being produced from many sources of organics such as animal fat rendered from poultry processing, peat powder, paunch, animal and humanure, rice and wheat chafe, rice and wheat, or canola, safflower, sunflower, jojoba, castor beans, rape seed, etc.
Biodiesel is particularly attractive to motor owners and operators for the following reasons:
- Diesel engines can run on a 100 percent diet of biodiesel and can return to conventional petroleum diesel if a supply of biodiesel is disrupted.
- Biodiesel in a 20 percent to 40 percent blend (B-20 and B-40) with distillate diesel cleans fuel lines and tanks.
- Biodiesel is an "oxygenating" fuel that produces a cleaner burn, leading to a cleaner engine, longer lubricant life, extended engine life and greater economy of operation.
- Biodiesel blends provide transportation engines with increased torque for adequate fuel mileage and can lower exhaust emissions by up to 70 percent.
- Stationary engines such as well and water pumps run at a constant speed can benefit from operating on 100 percent biodiesel.
- Engines running on B-20 are better lubricated than those running on 100 percent distillate, even though distillates have lubricating oil added.
- Converting an engine to run on crop-based vegetable-oil biodiesel requires only a low cost refitting of fuel lines and increased fuel filter changes until the solvent properties of the biodiesel has effectively cleaned the fuel system. Potentially much less than engines converted to McDiesel or animal fat-based fuels.
- Crop-based diesel can be produced by local farm co-ops up to 15,000,000 gallons per year, (42,000 gallons a day +/-). These plants require about 315,000 gallons of oil (derived from 200 tons per day of crop seed), a figure practical for local farmers to provide by committing perhaps 30 percent of their single-year crop for conversion to bio-fuel. Some farmers may be able to raise a second (winter) crop fit only for fuel conversion.
- Producing less than 15,000,000 gallons per year qualifies for a subsidy of $0.60 per gallon until December 2008.
Next month, the case for crop based biodiesel.
February 2006 Builder Architect Edition Issue