(The following story by Kim Skornogoski appeared on the Great Falls Tribune website on July 17, 2010.)
GREAT FALLS, Mont. — Every day, trains packed with Montana grains chug past Earl Fisher Biofuels.
This morning, company officials will join BNSF representatives and U.S. Sen. Jon Tester, D-Mont., at the Havre Depot to celebrate a decision that could allow the Chester-based company to someday provide at least some of the fuel for the engines pulling those trains.
Railway officials announced last month that over the next year, Montana State University-Northern’s Bio-Energy Center will test biodiesel produced by Earl Fisher Biofuels in one of two BNSF Railway switch engines used at the Havre Depot.
For now, that is 24,000 gallons of fuel, but considering that between 30 million and 40 million gallons of fuel are pumped into trains at the Havre station annually, the potential is much higher.
“If Montana farmers can provide the fuel that’s shipping their grain out to Portland, that would be a win-win-win,” Earl Fisher Biofuels co-founder Brett Earl said. “(BNSF) uses a tremendous amount of fuel — more fuel than we even dream about making.”
BNSF Havre Diesel Shop superintendent Beau Price said Havre offers a perfect opportunity to test biodiesel on trains under extreme cold and heat conditions.
“I can’t say at this point that there’s a plan to put (biodiesel) in our entire fleet,” he said. “The real benefit will be in the long term. It’s going to allow us to see what the impacts will be on the engine and that information will be useful to us and to the entire industry.”
Price said the arrangement bloomed naturally.
Many of the diesel shop employees were once students at MSU-Northern. Greg Kegel, dean of MSU-Northern’s College of Technical Sciences, pitched the idea that the college could test biodiesel train engines, and Price saw it as a way to help both the Bio-Energy Center and the Hi-Line work force.
The college wasn’t capable of producing the quantity of fuel needed for the test, so it turned to nearby Earl Fisher Biofuels.
One switch train will continue to use diesel to act as a control and the other will run on a mix of 20 percent biodiesel, which BNSF requires be made with Montana-grown oil seeds.
Trains currently can use as much as 5 percent biodiesel mixed with regular diesel. But because biofuels are usually more expensive than diesel and haven’t had extensive testing on train engines, railway companies often only mix it in when states require them to.
The Bio-Energy Center first will certify the Chester-made fuel to make sure it’s up to standards. Every three months during the test, center staff will compare the fuel performance, consumption and emissions of both of Havre’s switch engines to see how the biodiesel stacks up.
Kegel is confident the biodiesel will deliver.
“This will be an extensive study, and I have no doubt that biodiesel will stand up to it,” Kegel said. “Right now, they are hauling in millions of gallons of diesel from across the globe. Why wouldn’t they want to buy biodiesel made right down the road?”
BNSF figures that using the blend of biodiesel will reduce the greenhouse gas emissions from the single locomotive engine by 1.4 million metric tons during the one-year test period.
MSU-Northern recently received a $2.25 million federal allocation to install new testing equipment to allow the scientists there to see if biofuels can be used in aircraft. The center also was able to add four employees, which combined with AmeriCorps workers will provide the manpower needed to test the train engine.
The Bio-Energy Center also is testing various additives that could make biodiesel less likely to gel in cold weather.
“The research and development they are doing with biofuels will be part of the next generation of transportation fuels and crops that farmers grow,” said Sen. Jon Tester, D-Mont., who will be at a Saturday open house to celebrate the BNSF decision. “I look forward to seeing this made-in-Montana idea put to work in a BNSF engine.”
When Earl Fisher Biofuels first got started, the company didn’t sell a drop of biodiesel during Montana’s long winter.
Last year, the company added the Montana Department of Transportation and the Havre and Chester school districts to its list of winter clients. With BNSF now a steady client, it will have year-round demand for biodiesel and for the crops — such as camelina, canola and safflower seeds — that produce it.
The company doesn’t need to expand to meet the railway’s test fuel order. But if the arrangement becomes long term, it would look to add employees and equipment, according to company officials.
For now, a sign on the train will advertise that its running on Montana-made biodiesel, and the testing will help prove the fuel’s year-round reliability.
“We’ve finally gotten to the point where we’ve figured out the fuel, and we’re capturing the interest of the end users,” Kegel said. “It’s just baby steps, but each one of those steps is getting us closer to our goal of revitalizing rural Montana. This is exciting.”