Pilot light turned on for rural furnace – Idaho Senator Patty Murray pushes through $750,000 for straw-to-energy program

Turning straw into electricity on Eastern Washington farms received a financial jolt Wednesday from the federal government.

John Stucke
Staff writer
The Spokesman-Review

Sen. Patty Murray ushered $750,000 into the federal energy bill to help a Spokane County group buy a furnace and generator that will turn bluegrass residue into rural kilowatts.

The straw-to-energy initiative needed the money to build a demonstration project on Larry Gady’s farm outside of Rockford.

It is hoped that the pilot will show that burning farm residue in special furnaces that capture the smoke to fuel generators is economically viable.

The idea was spearheaded by Larry Albin, a former Farm Service Agency state executive director with an interest in alternative fuels and a knack for turning ideas into products.

"This money is what we needed," Albin said. "By next year we should know if this thing is going to work."

Since Washington regulators banned bluegrass burning, farmers have been vexed by what should be done with the straw. They tried turning it into strawboard with little success. Others tried to bale it and sell it as fodder.

Albin thinks that cooking the straw and making electricity can help farmers get rid of the straw and perhaps generate a few dollars. None of the smoke would be released into the air.

Inland Power & Light and the Bonneville Power Administration are partners in the project along with the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Besides electricity, farmers may be able to produce ethanol and other byproducts.

In a press release Wednesday, Murray announced that the money was part of the energy bill that is expected to pass the House and Senate within the next couple of weeks.

•Business writer John Stucke can be reached at (509) 459-5419 or at

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