Brave New Klamath

By Phil Hayworth

Pioneer Press

Fort Jones , CA

Wednesday, June 4, 2008

page E8, column 2

pioneerp@sisqtel.net

Imagine a future of cars and big-rig trucks powered by algae. Or high-tech, high-paying companies drawn to Klamath County industrial parks by the promise of tax breaks and cheap geothermal power.

Star Trek stuff, you say? Think again, folks.

Because Klamath County is headed in just that direction, thanks to the pioneering efforts of county, city, education and business leaders here who hope to harness Klamath's natural gifts and, in the process, put the Saudi Arabian oil fields out of business.

"Lord knows that if we can ever do something with algae, we'll be the new Saudi Arabia ," said Klamath County Economic Development director Trey Senn. 

Sure, harnessing the power of algae in Upper Klamath would be nice - and certainly help to clean it up. It might happen one day, but that's not likely in the near future. On the horizon, however, said Dan Golden, coordinator for the Klamath County Biofuels Task Force, is the use of select strains of oil-rich algae grown in closely monitored bioreactors that could, theoretically, be grown with nutritional inputs from wastewater treatment plants and carbon dioxide from industrial production.

"Here in the Klamath Basin , one company has been formed to research algae-based oil for biodiesel production," he said. "We are not talking about lake algae here. The beauty of this is that transportation fuels could be derived from waste materials, thus cleaning up the environment without competition with human or animal food sources."

That's called killing two birds with one stone: cutting fuel price inputs and protecting the environment. Fuel prices are soaring and account for much of the cost of feeding the world, he said. But using biofuels to get Klamath's - and the country's -- food to the marketplace could significantly cut costs at the register. By using algae and waste material instead of actual food - such as corn which is now used to make ethanol - Klamath could be on the cutting edge of efforts to free America from its almost dangerous dependency on Middle East oil.

It's already happening here, on a variety of fronts, from biofuels to solar to geothermal. Take Rich Walsh, owner of R and R Enterprises, who a year ago built a 1 million-gallon-per-year biodiesel plant on land leased from Liskey Farms. The local entrepreneur already sells his biofuel to at least three gas stations here in Klamath and hopes to expand his operation.

The problem, he said, is getting enough of the raw "seed" material from which he squeezes oil, refines, then turns into high-performance fuel.

"As long as commodity prices remain high, farmers of things like Canola seeds would rather sell it on the market" instead of selling it as a fuel source, he said.

Canola is Walsh's primary seed material of choice. He could use other things, he said, and algae is a possibility. But right now, he grows some of the canola himself, then ships in the rest of what he needs to keep his present group of customers fueled up. Canola produces a powerful, clean oil that, when refined in his 400-gallon facility, can produce a biofuel that can run just about any kind of diesel engine. He himself operates his diesels on nearly 100 percent biofuel - no mixing necessary.

R & R sells its biodiesel to local petroleum dealers who blend it into B20 -- 20 percent biodiesel, 80 percent petroleum diesel. Another Klamath-based biodiesel operation, Evergreen Biofuels, is seeking investors to convert an old chemical plant in Klamath Falls into a biorefinery, Golden said.

The big issue confronting the development of the biofuels industry is around "feedstocks" or the material used to convert into fuels, Golden said.

"Using corn for alcohol to supplement gasoline, and food-grade oils from soy or canola to supplement diesel, creates competition with the human and animal food supply. The biofuels industry is currently looking for ways to utilize biomass materials not used to feed animals or humans. Thus, the industry is looking for economical ways to convert wood and agricultural wastes into ethanol -- so-called cellulosic ethanol processes -- and ways to render oil-rich forms of algae into biodiesel. Chevron and Shell Oil both have algae bioreactors up and running to perfect algae to biodiesel processes."

Now, if we could only harvest Upper Klamath Lake algae. In the meantime, biofuels cover only one small area of what has become known as renewable energy, Golden said. Solar, wind, hydro, and geothermal are the others.

" Klamath County has long been a 'hotbed' of geothermal development," he said.

For example, OIT is pursuing development of a geothermal electrical generation system that would make it the first campus in the nation to be fully "off the grid." A private 10-megawatt geothermal electrical project is planned for Liskey Farms, where geothermal already heats Walsh's R & R greenhouses and biodiesel plant. A number of businesses and government buildings in Klamath Falls already use geothermal for heat and the City of Klamath Falls is in the process of extending its system to new residential and commercial developments such as TimberMill Shores along Lake Euwana .

" Klamath County is blessed with an abundance of renewable resources," Golden said. "The issue is how to put them to use. One thing is for sure: The era of cheap fossil fuels is behind us. Oregonians spend billions each year purchasing oil and gas. Most of that money is removed from our economy."

Oregon produces no oil, he reminds, so Oregon and Klamath County need to develop the economy by capitalizing on abundant renewable energy resources.

"The money invested will circulate throughout our economy," he said.

To that end, Team Klamath - a collection of city, county, colleges and local businesses - will this year propose legislation that could make its way to Salem where it's hoped state lawmakers will agree to give cities and counties such as Klamath Falls and Klamath County the ability offer "green" tax incentives and subsidies to companies that operate off the grid.

Some incentives already exist, Economic Development director Senn said. But there's much more that can be done, he insists. 

"We need state-sponsored sustainable incentives, such as industrial parks," he said. "Let's give businesses that want to move here tax breaks. It's really a matter of state policy and it's not on the books - yet."

Senn said he sees a future where the city and county adopts new rules to encourage sustainable construction, such as building deeper, or going solar or geothermal.

"Let's say you do something like giving 15 percent off property taxes for 10 years if you build a green home," he said, "or even if a home is renovated to be green."

Senn, like so many across the country today, suspect that oil and natural gas prices aren't likely to go down. Meanwhile, environmental regulations are sure to proliferate. He prefers, instead, to appeal to people's pocketbook.

"I firmly believe it's better to use a carrot approach, rather than a stick," he said.

Because green is "green," he said - green as in money saved and the environment protected.

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