Snohomish County churns out homegrown fuel
SNOHOMISH COUNTY, Wash. -- What began as an experiment has grown into fields opportunity for local farmers.
Three hundred and fifty acres of canola sit, harvested and dried, ready to be turned into biodiesel.
"They're (lawmakers are) discussing what to do about energy independence, about climate change. This is a model for the United States," said Dale Reiner of Reiner Farms.
It's a crop farmers wanted to develop for years, but found the process was too expensive. Not anymore.
With local, state and federal money, Snohomish County built its very own operation to crush and dry the seeds, and the operation is powered by methane gas from a landfill.
For the first time, farmers can dry their granola crop locally instead of trucking it to Eastern Washington.
"It cost us about $900 a load to haul to Sunnyside," said Reiner. "To haul from my farm to here, we're talking about $90."
After the crop is dried, local company Whole Energy Fuels turns the seeds into biodiesel, which is then used to fuel county vehicles.
"The reason it's a role model is because the feedstock is grown locally, processed locally, produced locally, and being put into a local customer's market," said Atul Desehmane with Whole Energy Fuels.
The hope is by the end of the year, they'll be pumping out several thousand gallons of the homemade biodiesel at a local station. Down the road, they hope to provide fuel for not just Snohomish County vehicles, but other public fleets.
"At the end of the day, we'll reduce our dependency on foreign oil. We start that trend to show other governments across this country what can be done when you build partnerships," said county executive Aaron Reardon.
The county hopes to double its canola crop to 700 acres next year.
Three hundred and fifty acres of canola sit, harvested and dried, ready to be turned into biodiesel.
"They're (lawmakers are) discussing what to do about energy independence, about climate change. This is a model for the United States," said Dale Reiner of Reiner Farms.
It's a crop farmers wanted to develop for years, but found the process was too expensive. Not anymore.
With local, state and federal money, Snohomish County built its very own operation to crush and dry the seeds, and the operation is powered by methane gas from a landfill.
For the first time, farmers can dry their granola crop locally instead of trucking it to Eastern Washington.
"It cost us about $900 a load to haul to Sunnyside," said Reiner. "To haul from my farm to here, we're talking about $90."
After the crop is dried, local company Whole Energy Fuels turns the seeds into biodiesel, which is then used to fuel county vehicles.
"The reason it's a role model is because the feedstock is grown locally, processed locally, produced locally, and being put into a local customer's market," said Atul Desehmane with Whole Energy Fuels.
The hope is by the end of the year, they'll be pumping out several thousand gallons of the homemade biodiesel at a local station. Down the road, they hope to provide fuel for not just Snohomish County vehicles, but other public fleets.
"At the end of the day, we'll reduce our dependency on foreign oil. We start that trend to show other governments across this country what can be done when you build partnerships," said county executive Aaron Reardon.
The county hopes to double its canola crop to 700 acres next year.