By DALE HILDEBRANT, Farm & Ranch Guide
Friday, August 15, 2008 11:05 AM CDT
GRAND FORKS, N.D. - When considering biodiesel production, camelina
appears to be the Cinderella crop, according to information presented at
the recent Bio-Mass ‘08 Technical Workshop in Grand Forks.
In recent months biodiesel production has decreased in the U.S. because
of high prices for soybean and canola oil, the two main oils currently
used in biodiesel processing, since the oil from both of these seeds is
in high demand in the food industry.
At the present time, about 90 percent of the oil used in biodiesel is
soy oil and the other 10 percent is canola oil. But the biodiesel
production capacity of the U.S., which is 2.5 billion gallons per year,
isn’t being fully utilized with production last year of only 500 million
gallons.
However, Duane Johnson the vice president for agricultural development
at Great Plains Oil and Exploration in Big Fork, Mont., thinks camelina,
which is sometimes called “false flax” could return profit to the
bio-diesel industry and thus spur further growth.
For example, at the current market prices, soybean oil feedstock costs
$5.25 a gallon and the feedstock price is about 80 percent of the final
product cost, making the final cost of a gallon of biodiesel
approximately $6.60, which is a figure well above the current price of
diesel fuel.
Johnson also noted that converting good grade vegetable oil such as
soybean and canola oil is adding to the backlash over food versus fuel,
a debate that is currently taking place world-wide. Since camelina is an
industrial oil, not a food grade oil, using it as a feedstock for
bio-diesel would lessen that argument.
Using figures prepared by various agencies back in 2003, Johnson
provided the following comparison for using oil crops grown in North
Dakota for biodiesel. Even though the growing costs per acre and the
cost per gallon of the oil are considerably higher, the following data
provides a good comparison between the various oil crops in regards to
bio-diesel production.
Raising camelina could also be an economic plus for farmers in the more
arid areas of the northern Great Plains.
Alice Pilgeram has been working with camelina research for the past
several years at Montana State University and claims the crop can
provide growers with a high value crop with relatively low input costs.
Production acreage in Montana has increased from just 450 acres in 2004
to between 20,000 to 40,000 acres planted this year.
Several other states, including North Dakota, are currently raising
camelina and looking at expanding acreage in the future.
When it comes to fuel production, biodiesel is the most efficient form
of alternative fuels, according to Johnson. In terms of gasoline and
diesel fuel production, for each calorie expended in the extraction and
manufacture of these products we recover 0.8 calories of energy. Ethanol
production returns 1.1 calories for each calorie expended, but for
biodiesel, for each calorie expended 3.5 to 5.2 calories of energy are
recovered.
And, camelina is a superior oil when it come to biodiesel. The oil
contains a high amount of linolenic fatty acid, which usually leads to a
short oil life before it turns rancid. However, the camelina oil also
contains a high level of vitamin E that serves as an anti-oxidant and
extends the oil’s shelf life.
The high linolenic content is important to biodiesel production, since
it gives the product a pour point of around -15 degrees Fahrenheit,
which is considerably lower than the other oils offer and is important
for users in this region of the country.
Pilgeram also noted that at least five biodiesel companies in Montana
will be utilitzing camelina oil in 2008.
Agronomically, camelina is an ideal crop for this region, since it
produces well with about 10 inches of rain and requires a low rate of
fertilization and pesticide use, and does well on marginal land, Johnson
explained.
“We can get maximum yield with up to 10 inches of rainfall,” he said.
“After that we start having disease problems.”
Johnson claims the biodiesel industry needs to look to a new generation
of feedstocks if it is going to be successful.
“The future of biodiesel is going to be what happens in the next
generation,” he said. “Right now all of the oilseeds that we use to make
biodiesel, whether it be soybeans, sunflower, canola or mustard, are
competing against a world food market. We need to start looking at
non-food crops, or the next generation of crops, for biodiesel production.”
These next generation crops should be lower in cost, because they aren’t
competing for food use. These sources include using algae, where the
technology is five to 10 years away, the tropical plant jatropha, which
is three to seven years away, and camelina, where the technology is here
now.
Camelina has one more advantage - a meal by-product that can be
successfully used in beef, dairy, poultry and fish rations. Cold-pressed
camelina meal contains a residual oil of 8 to 11 percent and this oil
contains 34 to 38 percent omega 3 fatty acids and very high levels of
vitamin E.
The meal is also an excellent source of protein and is very low in ash
content.
Beef feeding trials are currently underway at Montana State University
that show feedlot daily rates of gain were higher with a ration
containing 3.5 percent camelina meal than rations containing 3.5 and 7.0
percent soybean meal.
It may have been dubbed “false flax” in the past, but many feel there is
nothing false about the future of camelina as one of the new sources for
biodiesel production.
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Tags: alternate fuels, biodiesel, camelina, Feedstock, food vs fuel