Rehberg tours Northern Bio-Energy Center

Montana's U. S. Rep. Denny Rehberg saw first-hand the work Havre's university is conducting in finding alternative energy sources when he toured the Bio-Energy Center at Montana State University-Northern Thursday.

Greg Kegel, dean of Northern's College of Technical Sciences, said he has been told that nothing else covers all the areas of testing and research of fuels, lubricants and additives like Northern's center.

"This is probably the most complete testing center in the United States, if not in the world," Kegel said.

Kegel and staff members of the center gave a tour of the facilities to Rehberg, and a pitch for his support in getting continued federal funding for the research.

He said Northern has had a string of success in testing and promoting use of fuels produced from oilseeds grown in Montana and right on the Hi-Line.

Northern has proven that the locally produced biodiesel is a drop-in fuel — it can be directly used without modification to replace part of the diesel used in vehicles, including the buses in the North Central Montana Transit, which have been using Northern-produced biodiesel for more than a year.

It also is working with Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway to test locally produced biodiesel. Kegel told Rehberg that the university is three-quarters of the way through a test of using biodiesel produced at Earl Fisher Biofuels in Chester in one of the railway's switch engines at it's Havre station.

That station goes through 35 million gallons of diesel a year, he added.

Kegel said he recently spoke to a BNSF representative from Seattle about the testing.

The representative said, "'We love this project, keep it up, '" Kegel said, adding that BNSF is considering using more biodiesel in the mixed fuel.

The center also is continuing work being done by head researcher Nestor "Jon" Soriano Jr. on producing aviation fuel from locally grown camelina, he said.

"We can make the fuel, we've already done that. We've run it in a jetliner in Japan, " Kegel said. "So, we know we can make the fuel, but Jon's got an idea that we can make this fuel with much less energy needed to make it."

Soriano said work also is ongoing to find a camelina-derived replacement for aromatics — substances in aviation jet fuel that reduces problems such as gasket swelling and fuel-line leaks. He said he is researching finding ways to produce those using biomass.

"Once we put that together, we'll have the perfect jet fuel," he said.

"This is a big deal for us, " Kegel added. "This is a big research project, and it's taking off."

The research also is on how to reduce emissions — while showing Rehberg the difference between burning a lamp filled with petroleum diesel and biodiesel, with black smoke billowing off the diesel and virtually no smoke to be seen from the biodiesel. Soriano said the biodiesel produces 80 percent to 90 percent less in total hydrocarbons and 34 percent less carbon monoxide.

But the problem is in promoting the use of the fuels and in getting farmers to grow the feedstocks.

Rehberg said he knows a producer who grew camelina for six years, "and never saw a profit."

"We're going to change that, " Kegel said.