{"id":873,"date":"2006-04-04T16:41:00","date_gmt":"2006-04-04T22:41:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.casadeblundell.com\/jonathan\/?p=873"},"modified":"2008-11-19T11:47:40","modified_gmt":"2008-11-19T17:47:40","slug":"fuel-from-the-farm","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/casadeblundell.com\/jonathan\/fuel-from-the-farm\/","title":{"rendered":"Fuel from the farm"},"content":{"rendered":"

From today’s WDL<\/A><\/p>\n

By JONATHAN BLUNDELL Daily Light staff writer
\nTuesday, April 4, 2006 11:55 AM CDT<\/p>\n

CARL\u00e2\u20ac\u2122S CORNER, Texas \u00e2\u20ac\u201d At a small truck stop just south of the Ellis County line, music legend Willie Nelson and friends, including Academy Award winner Morgan Freeman, are hoping to change the world, one community at a time.
\nCarl\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Corner has become a landmark to motorists along Interstate 35 over the years and now Nelson hopes it will become a model for the country\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s use of alternative fuels.
\nNelson introduced his plans at a press conference and ground breaking Saturday afternoon.
\n\u00e2\u20ac\u0153We\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re kicking things off in Texas from here,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Hill County native Nelson said. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153I came from around here and I think what we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re doing will be a light at the end of the tunnel for farmers everywhere.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d
\nThat light at the end of the tunnel Nelson is hoping for is biodiesel, the process of turning feedstock oil and used cooking oil into working fuel for diesel engines.
\n\"\"<\/a>The Carl\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Corner truckstop has already begun selling BioWillie fuel to truckers and other interested motorists, but with a partnership between Nelson and Pacific Biodiesel Inc., a new refinery plant will be built on two acres behind the landmark destination, that has a capacity to refine 8,000 gallons of fuel a day, or two million gallons a year.
\n\u00e2\u20ac\u0153The idea is for a community-based facility,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Nelson said. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153This is important because we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re starting wars over oil. This will help truckers and small time farmers that we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve neglected for too long.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d
\nAs a part of the partnership, Elgin Cotton Woolmill in Hill County will provide processed cotton seed oil, grow by local farmers, on local farms.
\nThe oil will then be processed into diesel fuel at the refinery.
\nDuring off-season months, when cotton is not being grown, the refinery plant will utilize recycled cooking oil for the fuel.
\nThe biodiesel fuel can be used in most late model diesel engines with no changes or modifications to the engine. Older engines may need to change out rubber hosing before using the fuel.
\n\u00e2\u20ac\u0153This all started as a dream 10 years ago in Hawaii,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Pacific BioDiesel president Bob King said. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153On Maui we were looking at how to get rid of used cooking oil. On an island that can become a big problem. We found a solution in biodiesel.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d
\nKing and his wife Kelly formed Pacific BioDiesel and built their first two plants in Maui. Soon they were asked to build a plant in Japan and have now built plants in Oregon, Nevada, Pennsylvania and Virginia.
\n\u00e2\u20ac\u0153After we ran into Nelson, things really started happening,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d King said. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153The dream is getting bigger now and we see this as community-based biodiesel production. We make our fuel from the crops grown in the community and refine it in the community and we sell it in the community. That leads to lots of great things such as jobs in the community. And we also isolate variables in the fuel process. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s real sustainable.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d
\nKing said that after 10 years of use he and his company are very comfortable using the fuel.
\n\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Nelson brought us to Texas,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d King said. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153And now we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re going to use cotton seed oil or used cooking oil to produce two million gallons of fuel for this community. Every community will experiment with what works best in their community. Cotton can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t be grown in all areas, but the local farmers know what grows best and they can rotate their crops to reduce the need for pesticides.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d
\nThe plant will be designed for multi-feedstock, so other feed crops can be grown and used as well. The process takes about five days, from the time the feedstock enters the refinery, till the time the biodiesel fuel is ready.
\n\u00e2\u20ac\u0153This is a unique process,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d King said. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153The local farmer is growing the fuel and once it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s done in the refinery we have ASTM (American Society for Testing and Materials) spec. biodiesel.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d
\nIf construction goes as planned, the refinery plant is scheduled to open July 4.
\n\u00e2\u20ac\u0153We\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re counting on local farmers to grow the fuel and for local restaurants to \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcsupersize\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 their fries for recycling their cooking oil,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d King said. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153And July 4 will be our independence day.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d
\nBrian Lindgren with Elgin Cotton Woolmill said the plant would be a big boost to the local farmer.
\n\u00e2\u20ac\u0153We\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve been in this business for 100 years,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Lindgren said. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153We buy cotton seeds from the local farmer to turn into cotton seed oil. And any market we can find for cotton seed oil helps all our farmers.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d
\nCarl Cornelius with Carl\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Corner Truck Stop said initially the idea of biodiesel was scary.
\n\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Nelson called me up and said he wanted to put biodiesel in here,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Cornelius said. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153That was kinda scary. But we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve heard nothing but good comments from all the truckers who use BioWillie. Some say it increases their mileage by a couple miles more per gallon. That can add up to one-fifth better mileage and it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s one-fifth less pollution. Some guys are coming in here saying how great it is with tears in their eyes.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d
\nAnother advantage of biodiesel is less wear and tear on the engine because of the high lubrication aspects of the fuel.
\nThe fuel also has a very high flash-point, 300 degrees, so it can be shipped and stored without hazardous material warnings.
\nMike Nasi with the Biodiesel Coalition of Texas said biodiesel is a part of the future for Texas.
\n\u00e2\u20ac\u0153We represent a family of the biodiesel industry,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Nasi said. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153We have to work with the state legislature, Washington and others on biodiesel. There are lots of areas that need to be cleaned up and biodiesel is part of the solution. Think about using biodiesel in the military or on marine crafts. This is a biodegradable fuel for the open waters and seas. It benefits our national security and reduces our dependence on foreign oil. The industry in Texas is doing very positive things.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d
\nFor Nelson, it was his wife who brought him into the biodiesel industry.
\n\u00e2\u20ac\u0153I got into biodiesel accidentally from my wife, Annie,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Nelson said. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Three years ago she wanted to buy a Volkswagen Jetta that runs on biodiesel. The car ran good and clean. So I decided to buy a Mercedes. We took it over and filled it with this \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcvegetable oil.\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 We heard later that the Mercedes people almost fainted, but the car still runs wonderfully.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d
\nNelson said with his personal interest in biodiesel and his work with Farm Aid, he put \u00e2\u20ac\u0153two and two together.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d
\n\u00e2\u20ac\u0153This will help our farmers get out of the hole they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve been in,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Nelson said. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Our country\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s agriculture has been on the bottom rung of the ladder for some time. We\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve lost over eight million farmers over the last 20 to 30 years and this is a light at the end of the tunnel.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d
\nNelson said farmers can now produce their own fuel, on their own property, with the community refineries or smaller farm-based refineries.
\nIn Japan, Pacific Biodiesel was contracted to build a refinery plant for a Kentucky Fried Chicken franchise. The plant processes used cooking oil from 60 restaurants and produces enough biodiesel to completely power one KFC restaurant, as well as numerous cars and trucks.
\n\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Biodiesel and ethanol are the future,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Nelson said. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153All these things combined will help us reduce our dependence on foreign oil. The president said recently that Americans are addicted to oil. I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve been addicted to a lot of things, but I didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t know I was addicted to oil. Now I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m going to get off of it as soon as possible.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d
\nNelson said he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s also used biodiesel on his tour buses whenever possible.
\n\u00e2\u20ac\u0153We\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re running biodiesel 100 percent of the time, whenever we can find it,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Nelson said. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s still hard to find it in some areas, but we hope to change that.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d
\nNelson also hinted that Carl\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Corner would offer E-85 in the future as well. E-85 is an alternative fuel for gasoline-powered vehicles, based on a mixture of gasoline and ethanol.
\nCurrently only 1 percent of American cars run on diesel fuel.
\n\u00e2\u20ac\u0153I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m concerned about the future of America,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Nelson said. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153We need to start growing our own fuel and quit being dependent upon foreign oil. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s going to be a great help financially to the farmers. There\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a much greater bottom line on fuel than there is on food.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d
\nActor Morgan Freeman was also on hand to share his support for the project.
\n\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Nelson and I met years ago doing a movie in Hawaii,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Freeman said. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153And now we find ourselves interested in this same problem. We\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re killing ourselves with our use of energy and this is one of the healing agents. I see a great future for biodiesel around the world.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d
\nAs a principal partner in the project, Nelson said he was very invested in the refinery plant.
\n\u00e2\u20ac\u0153We\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve invested quite a bit of time and money into this project,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Nelson said. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153I thought I had discovered something unusual when I first found out about biodiesel, but it turns out we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re still 10 years behind most other countries of the world. I got involved through Farm Aid and I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m working to get others involved as well. Knowledge is power. We have to increase the supply side, because there is a definite demand side. Fuel prices will continue to increase, but this fuel source should remain constant.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d
\n\u00e2\u20ac\u0153If each community can have their own plant, we don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t have to worry about other areas or countries causing our fuel prices to increase,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Nelson\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s wife Annie said. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153There are no variables to be determined by other countries.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d
\nNelson and Freeman followed their announcement Saturday with a tour of a similar facility in Durant, Okla., on Sunday.
\nThere are nearly 50 biodiesel refinery plants across the country at this time.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

From today’s WDL By JONATHAN BLUNDELL Daily Light staff writer Tuesday, April 4, 2006 11:55 AM CDT CARL\u00e2\u20ac\u2122S CORNER, Texas \u00e2\u20ac\u201d At a small truck stop just south of the Ellis County line, music legend Willie Nelson and friends, including Academy Award winner Morgan Freeman, are hoping to change the world, one community at a … Continue reading Fuel from the farm<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[17,24,1],"tags":[1627,1626,1632,1633,1629,1630,1631,1628,1625],"class_list":["post-873","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-take-action","category-treehugging","category-uncategorized","tag-biodiesel","tag-biowillie","tag-bob-king","tag-carl-cornelius","tag-carls-corner","tag-corn","tag-elgin-cotton-woolmill","tag-morgan-freeman","tag-willie-nelson"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pEnSo-e5","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/casadeblundell.com\/jonathan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/873","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/casadeblundell.com\/jonathan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/casadeblundell.com\/jonathan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/casadeblundell.com\/jonathan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/84"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/casadeblundell.com\/jonathan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=873"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/casadeblundell.com\/jonathan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/873\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/casadeblundell.com\/jonathan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=873"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/casadeblundell.com\/jonathan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=873"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/casadeblundell.com\/jonathan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=873"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}