The director of the Montana Department of Agriculture said during the Ethanol Producers and Consumers Agricultural Biofuel Summit in Havre Tuesday that great steps have been taken in the state and the nation to increase the production of renewable fuels such as ethanol and biodiesel, but the work is just beginning.
“We have accomplished a lot, and we shouldn’t forget that, ” Director Ron DeYong said Tuesday at the beginning of a two-day summit on biofuels held at Montana State University-Northern’s Bioenergy Innovation and Testing Center. But achieving the federal goal of producing 36 billion gallons of renewable fuels will not be easy, he said.
“We’re going to have to do some serious thinking, ” he said.
There have been some setbacks, he said. While the research on and production of biodiesel is off to a good start, the end of a tax credit on biodiesel last year was a major setback. That needs to be renewed and made retroactive, and an ethanol tax credit set to expire this year also needs to be renewed, he said. The allowance of a higher blend of ethanol — 15 percent — in more vehicles also needs to speed up, DeYong said, adding he would like to see a higher blend allowed than that.
He said Montana could and should be a major part in the process of achieving the goal.
“First of all, we've got the premiere biofuel testing center in the nation at MSU-Northern, ” he said. “We need to make sure that gets stronger, encourage that in any way possible. That is huge for Montana. ”
He said part of Northern’s work includes finding ways to produce completely renewable jet fuel. That could tie into military contracts to buy aviation fuel made from camelina, which would provide a foundation to get the industry up and running. That would then expand to major airlines, he added.
“A lot of those airports are close to large cities and they're going to be required to have cleaner and cleaner air standards, ” DeYong said.
Camelina-based jet fuel will meet those requirements, he said.
Another example he used was the testing Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway and Northern is doing on the use of biodiesel produced on the Hi-Line by Earl Fisher Biofuels of Chester and by the university in one of its Havre engines.
“That provides huge opportunities for future production and marketing just in the rail industry, ” DeYong said.
He said other opportunities include having a camelina crushing plant built in Montana. Most crushing of the oilseed now is done in Iowa, DeYong said.
“We need that to happen in Montana. We need biofuel refining capacity in Montana, we need to have the risk management … we need to get that crop insurance going, ” he said. He said ethanol production is another thing that needs to be ramped up in the state.
“I believe that we really need to build an ethanol plant in Montana, ” he said, adding that every year in Montana there is wheat and barley grown that doesn’t make grade, doesn’t have a high protein content, and the farmers look for a market for it.
“We always have barley and wheat that falls into that category, and I think we need an ethanol plant that processes that, ” DeYong said. That plant should focus on the byproducts of ethanol production, providing a second source of income, he said. “This industry is exploding agriculture. I think we need to sit together, get down, look at the needs and see what we can pull together on that, ” he said. DeYong said the industry has come a long way, but it seems now to be in a low spot.
“I want Montana to be a part of that when we come out of that low spot, ” DeYong said.
