Biodiesel could spark local industry – Nez Perce, private firm working on separate plans for three refineries

Efforts to build a biodiesel refinery have gathered speed across the Pacific Northwest.

John Stucke
Staff writer Spokesman Review

Later this month a private company will announce plans to build two such alternative fuel factories, one in Spokane County and the other near Seattle, said Rich Baden, executive director of the Spokane County Conservation District.

He declined to name the company late Tuesday but said it has experience with financing and operating such ventures.

Separately, the Nez Perce Tribe is attempting to build a biodiesel refinery on its reservation east of Lewiston. It would be the largest industrial undertaking by the tribe, which is eager to diversify its economic base and create good paying jobs.

Plant-based fuels are becoming more popular across the country because they burn cleaner than petroleum and can help boost farm-based economies. The federal government offers financial incentives to build and operate refineries.

There were few commercial plants making biodiesel a few years ago. Today there are dozens making the fuel, which can be burned by trucks, buses, locomotives and cars — any machine powered by a diesel engine.

None, though, are in the Pacific Northwest, a region backers say is a ripe market. One is being built in northwestern Washington’s Whatcom County, but the fuel will be exported.

What biodiesel is used in Washington and Idaho is imported from the Midwest.

While a relatively new concept in the United States, biodiesel is widely used in Europe. In fact, the German inventor of the diesel engine designed it to run on fuel oils derived from plants.

Building a biodiesel refinery would cost millions of dollars. The more fuel it can make, the more expensive the refinery.

Baden offered few specifics about the upcoming announcement, except that the district acted as a "facilitator," not an investor.

The Spokane County plant would likely recycle cooking oil from the region’s restaurants and turn it into fuel, Baden said. It would make a Dodge pickup with a Cummins engine burn cleaner, with a scent that hints of french fries.

If refineries are successful, Baden said, they would expand by purchasing certain crops grown by regional farmers.

That would be the real benefit to the area, he said.

If farmers can add canola or mustard as a profitable rotation crop, fields in Eastern Washington would bloom yellow by the thousands of acres.

"Once these plants are up and running, it would bring back some real viability to our rural economy," he said.

On the Nez Perce Indian Reservation, land-use director Jack Bell said the tribe has completed a promising feasibility study that shows a viable market for a big biodiesel plant.

Both Bell and Baden said there’s room for more than one biodiesel plant. Tom Hudson, project planner for the Nez Perce, said demand is rising fast.

Hudson said carcinogens emitted by burning petroleum diesel concern the public and clean-air regulators. Thus, cities are increasingly fueling bus fleets with biodiesel.

So are school districts worried about children inhaling diesel exhaust as multiple buses idle when awaiting student riders.

Commuters also have an interest in burning biodiesel. But the fuel has to be competitively priced and easy to find at the pump, tribal officials said.

Hudson said the Nez Perce project would take advantage of federal programs and tax credits extended to alternative fuel operations.

In addition, there are biofuel incentives in the energy bill pending in Congress.

The biggest market for the tribe may be blends, Hudson added. Biodiesel can be "splash blended" with petroleum diesel.

A stumbling block for the Nez Perce proposal may be infrastructure.

A refinery needs natural gas and the nearest high-pressure line capable of delivering the quantity required is the Port of Lewiston or the Potlatch paper mill.

Extending a high-pressure pipeline several miles to the reservation would take a major investment, Avista Corp. spokeswoman Catherine Markson said.

The Nez Perce study found that a plant producing 10 million gallons a year could succeed in north central Idaho.

Hudson pointed to the region’s transportation options as a plus. Fuel could be shipped by rail or truck, or it could be shipped down the Snake River, in barges that each year carry more than 20 million gallons of petroleum-based fuel upstream, but are empty for the return trip to Portland.

The tribe could have a business proposal to consider by year’s end, Hudson said.

A plant would need about 50 employees.

The biggest "if" is money.

Building a plant would require a private equity partner willing to invest in a project estimated at $16 million to $20 million.

"Things are falling into place," Hudson said. "This is viable."

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