Biodiesel is the way to go

The following editorial appeared Tuesday in the Everett Herald.

Who would have believed that paying $2.26 for a gallon of regular unleaded gasoline would come as a relief? That’s the current average in the Puget Sound area, according to AAA, down 30 cents from a month ago and 66 cents from mid-September.

Don’t breathe too deep of a sigh, though. A federal energy report issued Monday predicts that oil prices will remain well above $50 a barrel for years to come, and go even higher after accounting for inflation. Growing demand in the United States and China, combined with lower anticipated production from OPEC countries, means the days of dirt cheap gas and diesel fuel are probably over.

But there’s a silver lining in that oily black cloud. Expensive gas means more fuel-efficient cars will be rolling off assembly lines, including hybrids, tempering our dependence on a finite resource and spewing less pollution into the air. And higher prices at the pump will open the door to alternative fuels a little wider — wide enough, perhaps, to make some of them economically viable.

In green Washington, where we readily embrace environmental advances — we were among the first in the nation to have curbside recycling — political leaders are already on the road to encourage the mass production of biodiesel, a clean-burning fuel that could be produced in Washington from vegetable oil. Envisioned is a plant in Eastern Washington that would take canola, mustard and/or soy grown by Washington farmers and refine it into a fuel that modern diesel engines can use with little or no modification. Currently, biodiesel is usually blended with petroleum-based diesel, but biodiesel can be made from 100 percent renewable ingredients. From the farm to the refinery to your local gas station. What a great alternative to the political and environmental price we pay to burn oil.

Government can and should help, and proposals are expected when the Legislature convenes next month. Currently, vegetable oil for biodiesel production is trucked in from the Midwest. For a large refinery to succeed in Washington, farmers need to provide the crops. A large biodiesel plant, if prices are right, can make such crops worth growing. And canola and mustard — two efficient sources of biodiesel — can be grown without much irrigation, a major plus in dry Eastern Washington. The Spokane Valley has enough acreage to produce millions of gallons of biodiesel a year. That won’t replace our need for oil, but it would be a major step in the right direction. If the days of cheap oil are truly over, it’s the only direction to go.