A34-Lancaster Farming, Saturday, April 19, 2003
Biodiesel In Pa.?
(Continued from Page A 1)
In the U.S., some biodiesel is
already being produced from soy
bean and other vegetable oils and
used by farmers and a number of
public agencies. Most of this bio
diesel comes from the West and
Midwest and is usually blended
with #2 diesel at a rate of 2 or 20
percent (B 2 and 820, respec
tively).
While some farmers and small
entrepreneurs make biodiesel on
their own, there are only about 10
commercial-scale plants in the
country, according to Mike Ger
hart, an economic consultant
with the Regional Economic De
velopment District Inititative
(REDDI) based in Harrisburg.
“There’s a little biodiesel com
ing into Pennsylvania not a
lot,” Gerhart said.
REDDI is in the early plan
ning stages of bringing a biodie
sel-producing plant to the area.
On Wednesday, planners hosted
the first of a series of meetings to
describe the process and hear the
input of farmers and other inter
ested parties. Another meeting is
set Monday, April 21, at the
USDA Service Center in Gettys
burg.
Russ Montgomery, REDDI
president, said the group is look
ing for farmers to join the steer
ing committee guiding the proj
ect.
“We can’t do any of this with
out farmers,” Mont
gomery said. “We
want the farmers to be
at the table.”
Mike Shearer of
Hershey Equipment is
one of the leaders in
the new initiative to
help create better mar
kets for area farmers
by making renewable,
environmentally
friendly biodiesel out
of soybeans.
In the good crop
year of 2001, Pennsyl
vania produced 17
million bushels of soy
beans on 400,000 acres
an average of 43
bushels per acre,
Shearer said. In last
year’s drought, the
number dropped to a
total of 11 million
bushels at 28 bushels
to the acre.
About 9.5 million
bushels of soybeans
per year would be re
quired to supply a bio?
diesel facility produc
ing 10 million gallons
a year the plant size
REDDI is considering,
at least initially.
According to Mont
gomery, the biodiesel
project would be
“starting small at 10
million gallons.”
Shearer said soy
bean markets for area
farmers were hurt con
siderably by the col
lapse in June 2001 of
an Archer Daniels
Midland (ADM) pier
on the Port of Balti
more, where much of
the local soybean crop
was taken for export.
After negotiations
failed with the Mary
land Port Authority
for restoration of the
pier, ADM discontin
ued operation of the
grain elevator on the
site, effective March 1
That means most
soybeans leaving the
area now go to the
south and to poultry
operations on Mary
land’s Eastern Shore.
“It’s not cheap to
move the beans down
there,” Shearer said.
Russ Montgomery, left,
and Mike Gerhart are part
of an economic develop
ment team that is initiating
a biodiesel project in
southcentral Pennsylvania.
REDDI plans to initiate a fea
sibility study on the economic po
tential] of two types of biodiesel
plants in the area.
One possible type of plant
would include an oilseed crush
ing facility to extract the oil from
soybeans, producing feed-quality
soybean meal as a by-product.
Construction costs for such a
plant would be about $25-30 mil
lion.
A second possibility, costing
about $lO million to build, would
be a plant in which all the soy
bean oil is purchased, and no oil
extraction is done on the site.
While the plant with a crush
ing facility is nearly three times
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as expensive to build, it would be
likelier to use local soybeans,
according to Gerhart. Addition
ally, the soybean meal produced
as a by-product could be used to
feed the region’s livestock.
According to Shearer, 420,500
tons of soybean meal are con
sumed annually in Pennsylvania.
Soy hulls are another valuable
by-product.
The feasibility study would
evaluate supply and demand for
feedstocks and products, provide
analysis of key governance and
management issues, and make
specific recommendations for a
biodiesel plant in Pennsylvania.
REDDI hopes to have a con
sulting firm hired to perform the
study in time to have the results
by early next year.
Many plants in western states
use hexane, a solvent made from
petroleum, to extract the oil from
soybeans, a process that is “effi
cient but not environmentally
friendly,” Shearer said. He noted
that the Pennsylvania Depart
ment of Environmental Protec
tion would probably not allow the
process in the state, but would
approve of a crushing facility.
Soybeans are made up of 12
percent oil and 78 percent meal,
along with hulls, moisture,
and other components.
Pure soybean oil contains _
other compounds, includ- H
ing glycerol that is used in
the pharmaceutical indus-
try.
Converting the oil to an
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Brian Peifer, a diesel
mechanic from the Oley
area, makes biodiesel from
kitchen waste oil salvaged
from local restaurants.
approved biodiesel requires a
methane separation process that
removes the glycerol and gums
from the oil.
While many types of vegetable
oils, including peanut and canola,
can be converted to biodiesel,
soybean oil is the most cost-effec
tive, according to Shearer.
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Brian Peifer, a mechanic from
the Oley area, was in attendance
at the meeting Wednesday at the
Berks County Ag Center. He said
he and his son have been produc
ing biodiesel from waste kitchen
oil obtained from local restau
rants. He said he has tried the
product in diesel engines, with
good results.
(Turn to Page A4l)
Mike Shearer explains
the process of converting
soybean oil into biodiesel.