Converting to Biodiesel on the Farm

While the large-scale production of biodiesel Dakota Skies would have offered won't be coming to ...  More »

While the large-scale production of biodiesel Dakota Skies would have offered won't be coming to the Magic City, farmers are still producing their own fuel though in much smaller amounts. Abby Wuellner has more on the benefits and the drawbacks of small-scale biodiesel production... The smell of diesel fuel so familiar to many area farms is changing in some placesnow farms like that run by Terry Kemmet smell more like french fries. (Terry Kemmet / Chapin, ND) We take waste vegetable oil and turn it into biodiesel. At a McKenzie County Fair Demonstration, NDSU Extension agent Andy Swenson told his audience, due to all the red tape small-scale producers have to go through to receive tax credits for their own biodiesel, it's rarely lucrative to create...except maybe in a case like that of Terry Kemmet. (Andy Swenson, NDSU Extension Agent - Fargo) For the small-scale biodiesel producer, it's probably not a thing you can make money at unless you're taking waste vegetable oil and processing that into biodiesel. (Kemmet) We have this sayingthat waste vegetable oil turns our crank. So we're going to prove it today. Kemmet is taking the oil leftover from area fast food restaurants and converting itin small batchesto fuel. Using glass jars, a two dollar plastic iced tea pitcher, a few chemicals, some water, and that leftover vegetable oil, he's producing small amounts of biodiesel for use in trucks and machinery. And it all started as a hobby. (Kemmet) I learned all about it on the internet. It's free for the taking. Just get on the internet, and it's there. He and many others are now looking into the future. (Swenson) I don't think it's a stretch of the imagination at all that it will become more prevalent in this country. As a result, these farmers are looking forward to decreasing America's dependence on foreign oil, burning a fuel that's better for the environment, and running farms that smell like french fries. From the McKenzie County Fair, Abby Wuellner, KX News. Kemmet says as long as temperatures stay above freezing, he can run his truck on 100 percent biodiesel.  « Less