Biodiesel draws hot interest in Spokane- Offers of tax credits may boost alternative fuel

There’s a project afoot that could expose Spokane’s greener side. In a town built on mining, logging and railroading, the market for a "hippie fuel" called biodiesel has quietly developed in the past several years.

John Stucke
Staff writer Spokesman Review

The result could be the region’s first refinery that turns crops into auto fuel.

"Here’s the neat thing about it. Farmers can benefit and burning this stuff isn’t toxic," said Jim Armstrong of the Spokane County Conservation District.

To underscore the growing interest in alternative fuels, state and local governments have offered tax credits to makers of biodiesel. The incentive may be enough for Los Angeles-based Baker Commodities to invest more than $3 million to build a refinery in Spokane County or the Seattle area.

Fred Wellons, the company’s director of research and development, said he has traveled to Washington state numerous times to gauge interest and thinks the area is ready.

At one Seattle gas station, drivers have lined up bumper to bumper around the block for the honor of paying $3.50 a gallon for the fuel, which burns far cleaner than regular diesel fuel, Wellons said.

The interest may not be as deeply held in Spokane, but this is where the raw material is grown to make biodiesel.

Farmers can easily grow canola and mustard crops in Eastern Washington. Armstrong envisions a farmer’s cooperative being formed that would operate a crushing plant next to a refinery operated by Baker Commodities.

Such an arrangement would give farmers a good rotation crop to plant when they’re not growing wheat, and it would cut down on air pollution.

Today, Armstrong, local clean-air regulators and the Central Valley School District will announce the start of a program that uses biodiesel in the district’s school buses. The biodiesel will rid the school grounds of at least some of the toxic diesel emissions.

"I’d say there’s a real interest here that many of us hope will turn into a strong market," said Eric Skelton of the Spokane County Air Pollution Control Authority (SCAPCA).

Baker is donating the first 800 gallons of biodiesel for the buses.

The company, a leader in the rendering business, has not yet filed a project proposal. Wellons said it is still looking at markets and awaiting passage of the federal energy bill, which will erase most of a federal excise tax on alternative fuels.

"There’s a lot of pieces to this puzzle," he said. "We’re just trying to understand everything."

Armstrong is more confident. He thinks Baker Commodities or perhaps another company will start building a new refinery within a year.

Th refinery would not resemble a typical oil refinery.

Armstrong said there’s little pollution in biodiesel manufacturing.

"I would liken it to a brewery rather than a refinery," he said. "These aren’t huge and they’re very green. There’s no need to worry about nasty smells. Making biodiesel isn’t hard."

Any plant would need a battery of state permits, according to the Ecology Department. The agency hasn’t yet seen a proposal. But an agency permit handler said biodiesel projects are looked upon as clean industries.

Added Armstrong: "Some people make it in their kitchen and a lot of people make the stuff in their garages."

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