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Researchers at the University of Kansas are making biodiesel… and it’s costing only $1-a-gallon to make the green fuel.

This story from the Lawrence (KS) Journal-World says Prof. Susan Williams is using the school’s leftovers with intentions of putting the biodiesel back into the university:

With her raw materials virtually cost-free — used cooking oil from campus dining facilities, leftover methanol from chemistry researchers and potassium hydroxide (lye) from the hardware store — the associate professor of chemical and petroleum engineering and her colleagues can brew up biodiesel for less than $1 a gallon.

The project is gaining attention outside Lawrence, among regulators, academics and even fuel marketers themselves. All are angling to find reliable, consistent data that can indicate which alternative fuels might offer the best economic value, mechanical efficiency and environmental benefits.

So far, Williams’ team has brewed up only about 700 gallons of biodiesel… certainly not enough to make a huge impact on any energy market. But it’s a good start. And the next move is to start testing the clean, cheap fuel in some university equipment, such as lawnmowers.

It’s the middle of summer, and the last thing on students’ minds is how they’ll get to school. But those rides to classes this fall might be a bit cleaner as more schools across the country switch their buses over to biodiesel.

In Ohio, schools are getting incentives to run their diesel buses on the cleaner-burning biodiesel. This story from the Marion (OH) Star says the money is to help make up any difference in the cost between petroleum-based and plant-based fuels:

The Ohio Department of Development started taking applications in January for grant funding up to $25,000 for schools that commit to using B20 fuel, which is a blend of 20 percent biodiesel and 80 percent petroleum diesel.

Since the grant’s introduction, more than 20 Ohio schools have been approved for reimbursement in the difference between using biodiesel and petroleum diesel. Engines do not need any modifications to make the switch from petroleum to biodiesel. Soy biodiesel costs anywhere from the same as petroleum diesel to 10 cents more per gallon, according to CleanFuelsOhio.org. [Shelby Brammell, an educational consultant representing Clean Air for Kids] said it can cost up to 20 cents more.

Brammell is making the circuit around county fairs this summer to see how much interest there is in biodiesel for school buses. And after she tells parents that the green fuel is as biodegradable as sugar and 10 times less toxic than table salt, that interest increases dramatically.

Now, if only we can increase the students’ interests in scholarly activities that much.

Camelina is growing in popularity as a feedstock for biodiesel for its high oil content, hardy nature and short growing season… especially popular in the Northern Plains, such as Montana, where conditions can be a bit tough.

But this story from The Prairie Star, a Great Falls-based publication serving Montana and parts of Wyoming, says researchers are offering some advice to overcome some of the oilseed’s shortcomings:

“What I see is it’s a rotational crop to improve wheat production,” said Kent McVay, cropping systems specialist at the Montana State University’s Southern Agricultural Recearch Center (SARC) in Huntley, Mont.

McVay said the oilseed has also been studied at both Huntley and in Wyoming. “It will take a couple of years to really know if you get a yield boost using this type of rotation.

The article points out that, right now, there are no herbicides for camelina. McVay advises growers to cut down the broadleaf leaves if they’re going to rotate this crop.

July is the time to celebrate Independence Day, but, unfortunately, the United States is still a long way from declaring energy independence.

Home-grown, renewable fuels are one part of the answer when it comes to meeting America’s fuel needs, and soybean farmers and their soybean checkoff have been working to develop, test and prove the value of soy biodiesel for nearly two decades now. The results of that work have proven the value and effectiveness of soy biodiesel and its benefits as a cleaner burning “green” choice.

Recently, a complete “green” fuel station opened in Lawrence, Kansas. Harold Kraus, a National Biodiesel Board Director and Kansas soybean farmer Harold Kraus was there.

“This brings all the fuels together at one pump: B2, B10, B20, B30 and B100,” says Kraus, talking about the Zarco 66 Earth Friendly Fuels Station. It’s the state’s first blender pump where the mixing of the biodiesel and the pricing is done right at the pump. “You’ve got an easy way to select the blend you want for biodiesel.”

Making soy biodiesel more accessible to truckers, farmers and other users has been a primary goal of soybean checkoff investments. A biodiesel user on his own farm, Kraus says he believes strongly that soybeans can be efficiently and effectively used as both a food crop and a fuel crop to the benefit of all.

“We’re only taking the oil out of the soybeans. We’re not taking anything out of the food system,” says Kraus. He points out that the soybean meal still goes into the animal feed industry, and nothing is being taken from consumers… only value being added at the farm gate.

The production of the cleaner, greener soy biodiesel fuel has been growing at a rapid pace. Last year in the U.S., about 450 million gallons of biodiesel were produced.