Home-brewed biodiesel

ZILLAH, Wash. -- When Tad Fewel needs diesel for his farm tractors, he doesn't call a distributor.

He makes his own.

The rural Zillah farmer is a devotee of homemade biodiesel, one of a hard-to-quantify number of people who use home processors to make the fuel they can burn in diesel engines.

"A lot of people suspect it's hippies doing this. But I'm a farmer trying to save a buck," he said.

Even though the pump price of diesel is about half what it was a year ago, the operator of an 80-acre family farm on Roza Drive is still saving money in supplying his fuel needs.

That, and the environmental benefit of reduced greenhouse gas emissions, is what prompted the 37-year-old Washington State University graduate to purchase a biodiesel processor more than two years ago.

"It is rewarding, financially and environmentally. You get the best of both worlds," he said.

But he cautions that making biodiesel takes commitment and a healthy respect for and the necessary training to deal with the hazardous chemicals required to transform vegetable oil into usable biodiesel.

The National Biodiesel Board, a Missouri-based trade group that represents primarily manufacturers and producers of farm products used in biodiesel, also issues a caution.

"We certainly think people who make their own biodiesel have their hearts in the right place," said Jenna Higgins, director of communications for the 365-member board. "With home brew, there are safety, quality and legality issues."

The commercial biodiesel industry has struggled of late because of the high cost of raw materials, which makes biodiesel less competitive with petroleum-based diesel. Lack of access to capital for manufacturers in the current recession also is a factor.

Production of commercial biodiesel peaked in 2008 at 700 million gallons, and industry estimates are that production may be cut in half this year.

Higgins added that no one keeps statistics on the number of people who produce their own biodiesel at home.

Biodiesel is different from ethanol. While both use biomass energy produced from plant materials and animal waste, ethanol is an alcohol-based biofuel while biodiesel comes from the fats in plants and animals.

The safety issue deals with the chemicals, which include methanol and potassium hydroxide, that are necessary for the chemical reaction that creates biodiesel from vegetable oil.

Fewel credits Don Mills, owner of Costless Energy in Yakima, where he bought his processor, for helping him get started with training and advice.

The company has sold about six biodiesel processors, available in various sizes ranging from 40 gallons to 500 gallons. Mills said the processors start at about $2,400.

Mills said he regularly offers classes to train people on what biodiesel is, how to make it to meet fuel standards, and the safety aspects that must be followed.

"The bottom line is making biodiesel is no more dangerous than filling your car with gasoline. More accidents happen with gasoline than with methanol and potassium hydroxide," he said.

There's a fuel tax for users who travel on public highways, but they can seek a federal tax credit at the end of the year, Mills said.

Fewel doesn't have to pay the tax because his uses are off-road, including in tractors and heaters used for frost protection in the spring for apples and cherries. He also is growing wine grapes.

Fewel has an 80-gallon processor, and it takes him about three days to make a batch of biodiesel. He isn't certain he can make biodiesel for the 99 cents a gallon that Mills said the product can be made.

He just knows he is saving money and taking some control over his farming costs.

"I don't want to wait for someone in government to lower the costs. I want to be more self-sufficient," Fewel said. "I don't believe a politician will fix the price of fuel for us."

He is certainly saving on the price of the primary raw material he's using to make the biodiesel: common vegetable oil used in deep fryers at restaurants in the Zillah area and in Yakima.

Fewel provides the barrels in which restaurant operators put their used fryer oil. That's where the commitment part comes in. He said makers of biodiesel need to pick up the product when they say they will to maintain a good working relationship with restaurants.

He gets the used oil for free.

"They have to trust you will be there on a long-term basis," said Fewel, even when that means making pickups on weekends or holidays.

He has been satisfied with his experience in biodiesel and expects to continue.

"A lot of people are skeptical and we were, too," he said. "I like to let people know it does work. It will work in any diesel engine."

A couple of drawbacks do exist, he said. Biodiesel tends to thicken in cold weather. The problem can be alleviated by mixing some petroleum-based diesel with the biodiesel. Another is that biodiesel has slighter lower energy content than petroleum-based diesel.

There is one more thing. Fewel said if he is operating a tractor close to lunchtime, he finds himself getting hungrier.

"It smells like french fries," he said.

* David Lester can be reached at 509-577-7674 or dlester@yakimaherald.com.