Jumping on the biodiesel bandwagon
OLYMPIA – Farmers, environmentalists, entrepreneurs and urban lawmakers on Tuesday joined in what Rep. Brian Sullivan called a “kumbaya” of praise for state aid to alternative fuel production in Washington.
“It’s a small step toward a great thing,” said Patrick Mazza, with Climate Solutions, a Seattle group fighting global warming. He compared the proposed incentives with the 1920s federal mail contract that helped a fledgling company called Boeing.
On Tuesday, farmers from the Palouse and north central Washington testified by phone and video link, backing a proposal that all diesel in Washington be at least 2 percent biodiesel. That guaranteed market, they said, will spur skeptical farmers to plant oilseed crops to feed a hungry biodiesel industry.
“This is one of the few issues that hawks, hippies, sodbusters and tree huggers all agree is a good idea,” said House energy committee chairman Rep. Jeff Morris, D-Anacortes.
“We have the acreage, we have the willpower, we have the ability, we have the leadership,” said Sullivan, D-Mukilteo.
Several companies are considering alternative fuel facilities in the state, including California-based Pacific Ethanol. Tom Koehler, company vice president, told lawmakers Pacific Ethanol is considering putting a $60 million plant in Washington, one of five ethanol plants it plans on the West Coast. Another company, Technical Holdings, is building a biodiesel refinery near Othello, according to Gary Trautman, of Moses Lake man who works with the company. And Newman Lake resident Tim King said that Carbon Technology Center is buying seed-crushing equipment from Canada for a plant in Eastern Washington.
Among the few dissenting voices: the Western States Petroleum Association, which says biodiesel use is skyrocketing without government mandates.
“I’m not going to get a kumbaya moment,” said Bill Kidd, director of external affairs for BP, who was representing the association.
Resistance from oil companies isn’t a surprise, said Rep. Hans Dunshee, D-Snohomish. He listed a string of “old-time” industries that resisted new ones: paddle wheelers vs. the railroads, telegraph companies vs. telephones, and the state’s once-mighty butter lobby, whose resistance to yellow-dyed margarine was defeated only after a citizens initiative in 1952.
Among the proposals lawmakers are considering:
“Setting up a $100 million “Energy Freedom Loan Account” to award low-interest loans and grants for research and development of new, renewable energy sources and facilities. (HB 2939)
“Requiring all diesel fuel sold to be at least 2 percent biodiesel by July 2007, rising to 5 percent once at least 2 percent can be produced in-state. Biodiesel is derived from vegetable oil, such as canola or mustard seed oil. (HB 2738)
“This is a gallon. This is about 2 percent,” Dunshee said, tossing a tiny bottle into a plastic pickle jug. “What’s the big deal?”
“Requiring all gasoline to be at least 2.5 percent ethanol by July 2007, rising to 10 percent as in-state production increases. (HB 2738)
“Exempting Washington-made alternative fuel – pure alcohol fuel and biodiesel – from the 23-cent-a-gallon fuel tax. (HB 2663)
Among those testifying Tuesday by video link – a first for lawmakers – was David Bauermeister with the Spokane Regional Chamber of Commerce’s Ag Bureau. Farmers need well-paying rotation crops, particularly for dryland wheat, he told lawmakers. Research money is key, he said, to come up with alternative uses for by-products, like the seed meal left behind after the oil is pressed out.
Many farmers echoed each other: that the key to developing oil crops here is requiring that biodiesel or ethanol be blended with regular fuels. A couple of growers suggested that the in-state requirement, however, be changed to include farmers in North Idaho.
“Right now, northern Idaho raises far more canola than we do. They’re experienced at it,” said Terry Morgan, a farmer from St. John. Eastern Washington farmers, he said, are still skeptical. “It’s a chicken and egg syndrome,” he said. “You have to show them that it (the market) is there.”
Morris said he would consider changing the bills to include North Idaho.
Read Smith, a fourth-generation Eastern Washington farmer, told lawmakers that he has been using a 10 percent biodiesel blend in all of his diesel equipment, some of it 50 years old.
“It performs flawlessly,” he said. Contrary to some fears, he said, he’s had no problems with fuel turning to gel or clouding, even when it’s 5 degrees below zero.
Some Republicans, as well as the Association of Washington Business, are balking at the idea of the state mandating what goes in people’s fuel tanks. But the governor – who echoed farmers’ calls for a guaranteed market – said Monday that she supports the idea.
“We thought 2 percent was pretty small,” Gov. Christine Gregoire said.