State's first biodiesel plant opens in
Salem
Facility will make 1 million gallons of fuel per
year, enough to satisfy area needs
MICHAEL
ROSE
Statesman Journal
July 8, 2005
Oregon's first biodiesel-production plant opened
Thursday at an industrial site in southeast Salem.
Salem Mayor Janet Taylor pushed a button at the grand
opening, and a low hum emanated from a large steel tank. A private
company developed the nondescript plant at 4725 Turner Road SE. The
biodiesel plant will employ two operators and its capacity is small
by industry standards, but many people hope it's the start of a new
era of home-grown energy.
"This is a big day for Oregon," said Gov. Ted
Kulongoski, who spoke at the plant's opening.
Kulongoski and others have pushed legislation to
promote alternative fuels in Oregon, including expanding the use of
biodiesel. The fuel is a blend of diesel and vegetable oil, that can
power diesel engines. It burns cleaner than petroleum diesel alone
and results in lower emissions and improved air quality.
The vegetable oil for biodiesel often is extracted
from oil-seed crops, such as canola. Used cooking oil from food
processors and restaurants also is used for biodiesel.
The plant, operated by Oregon-based SeQuential
Biofuels and Hawaii-based Pacific Biodiesel Inc., will begin
production using used cooking oil for raw materials.
Salem-based Kettle Foods, a maker of kettle-cooked
potato chips, will supply a portion of the used cooking oil for
biodiesel production. Cameron Healy, a founder of Kettle Foods, is a
minority investor in the biodiesel plant.
The Salem plant will produce 1 million gallons of
biodiesel fuel per year -- enough to supply all of the biodiesel
market in Oregon. In comparison, some biodiesel plants in the
Midwest produce as much as 30 million gallons of biodiesel per
year.
The project's backers expect that the demand for
biodiesel in Oregon will grow exponentially.
"We anticipate that we're going to push the market a
lot harder and create demand for more than 1 million gallons of
biodiesel," said Tomas Endicott, a partner with SeQuential
Biofuels.
Government fleets, such as those owned by the state,
are among the largest users of biodiesel fuel, he said.
The joint venture also intends to build a plant in
Portland that would produce as much as 4 million gallons of
biodiesel annually. It originally had planned to start biodiesel
production in Portland but later revised its plans when getting
permits approved took longer than expected.
Starting production at an existing industrial site in
Salem allowed the joint venture to get its diesel on the market
about six months sooner, Endicott said. When the Portland plant is
operational, the joint venture will decide whether the equipment in
Salem will stay or be relocated to Portland.
"We think there is such a good market that we couldn't
build plants fast enough," said John Miller, a Salem businessman who
also is a minority investor in the project. Miller said he's
optimistic that the Salem plant will remain open for the long
term.
Backers of the project say Oregon can't rely on used
cooking oil alone to sustain biodiesel production. Eventually, the
state will need to start growing oil-seed crops to supply vegetable
oil.
Growing crops for biofuels could become another source
of income for Oregon farmers. But growing canola seed in the
Willamette Valley is problematic. Canola can cross-pollinate with
vegetable-seed crops, contaminating the vegetable-seed-grower's
crop. Vegetable-seed growers are demanding restrictions on canola
production.
Country-western singer Willie Nelson also is among the
minority investors in the Salem biodiesel plant.
In a videotaped presentation, Nelson greeted Oregon's
governor and Salem's mayor. A hat that was autographed by Nelson was
presented to the governor.
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