Daryl Ehrensing, senior faculty research assistant, and Don Wysocki,
associate professor of soil science, made presentations at Klamath
Experiment Station’s Field Day last week on the potential of ethanol and
biodiesel production from canola oil and other crops in the Basin.
Ethanol and biodiesel have made headlines as solutions to an increasing oil
demand in light of fewer resources. Produced from crops, the biofuel could
help satisfy the world’s growing need for energy.
The benefit to the Basin lies more than in producing fuel, Ehrensing said.
Other products, from car interiors to lubricants, also can be produced. The
process separates the oil from the rest of the seed, providing good meal for
livestock. “Waste” products, or biomass, also can be used in the
production of ethanol.
“There’s no such thing as a waste product,” he said. “We just need
to learn how to use it.”
While there is promise in biodiesel for Basin farmers, Wysocki said he
wanted to dispel the rumor that biodiesel would replace petroleum
completely. To produce enough fuel for the state of Oregon alone would
require six million acres of canola, he said.
But the market is growing.
About 25 million gallons of biodiesel were produced in 2004. By 2006,
that number was up to 200 million gallons. Thirty-five biodiesel plants are
in operation nationwide with 50 more in development.
The production of biodiesel can take place entirely within the region,
keeping the money with local residents.
“We can never satisfy the total need for fuel, but we should still produce
it here to keep the money here,” Wysocki said.
A canola variety trial is in progress at the experiment station to see what
varieties produce the most seeds and oil. The crop had never been
experimented with at the station before, said Richard Roseberg, associate
professor and agronomist.
Klamath Falls resident and farmer Lynn Long encouraged the experiment
station to begin the trial. With the energy crisis and the poor market for
potatoes and barley, it was something that needed to be looked into, Long
said.
“The Klamath Basin could really use a new cash crop,” he said.
H&N
photos by Andrew Mariman Rich
Roseberg, Klamath Experiment Station associate professor, walks through an
experimental field of canola.
