April 20, 2007

Sims announces next giant step toward energy independence

Groundbreaking partnership will produce 2 million gallons of homegrown biodiesel to power Metro Transit

The push to produce fuel made in Washington for Washington is about to come full circle thanks to a first-of-its-kind partnership that will bring an estimated 2 million gallons of homegrown biodiesel to King County. The biodiesel, made from canola grown on Yakima County farms and fertilized with biosolids from King County's two wastewater treatment plants, will help power Metro Transit buses for nearly a year.

"This unprecedented partnership linking farms, biosolids, biofuels and our fleet of Metro buses represents a watershed moment for King County and the state of Washington," King County Executive Ron Sims said. "This is another case of the county turning waste into a resource. This time biosolids from our local wastewater treatment process are being used to grow canola that will be refined into biodiesel to power our local transit system.

"This ultimate act of recycling shows how far we've come in developing new approaches to creating energy independence while reducing our carbon footprint."

Sims says Metro will receive its first shipment of fuel made from canola seed grown by Sunnyside, Washington farmers by the end of the month. The purchase reflects the county's commitment to serve as a living laboratory and national model for strategies on preparing for and mitigating against global warming,

The biofuel will be enough to run all Metro diesel-powered buses on a 20 percent mix of biodiesel and Ultra Low Sulfur Diesel for nearly a year. Metro expects to pay about $2.30 per gallon for initial shipments of the fuel containing the canola, about six cents per gallon more than it currently pays for soy-based biodiesel. The ongoing cost of the fuel will be tied to market prices.

The biodiesel shipment is the culmination of an innovative experiment that began in 2003.

What would happen, University of Washington scientists wondered, if some of the nearly 115,000 tons of biosolids produced annually at the county's treatment plants was used to fertilize canola – a fairly drought-resistant crop that can also be used to make biodiesel?

To test the idea, King County teamed up with Natural Selection Farms to find out. Just as scientists had predicted, King County's biosolids applications helped grow a quality canola crop. It wasn't long before some other farmers in the Sunnyside area agreed to join the effort.

Natural Selection Farms has since built a seed-crushing facility to make canola oil for shipment back to Seattle, where it will be further processed into biodiesel to power Metro's buses.

"We've demonstrated the marriage between the nutrients in biosolids and those necessary for canola production is a recipe for success," Ted Durfey, owner of Natural Selection Farms said. "We've proven the vision we shared in 2003 requires dedicated partnerships to ensure potential growth for this emerging industry in our state."

As the state's largest commercial biodiesel customer, Metro will be in a position to expand its environmental reach. Its use of biodiesel is expected to remove an estimated 22,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide from the air in the coming year. That's the equivalent of removing 2,800 vehicles from King County roadways. Put another way, an additional 6,628 trees would have to be planted to offset the same amount of carbon dioxide that's being eliminated through this use of biodiesel.

While it's too early to say whether enough canola will be planted in future seasons to ensure ongoing supplies of homegrown fuel, this partnership has shown the loop can be closed and the door opened for the possibility of more east-west partnerships in the future.

Related news

• Video with Executive Sims
• Canola fact sheet (PDF)
• Metro buses to switch to state-grown canola-seed fuel, Seattle Times
• Metro buses get biodiesel partner, Seattle Post Intelligencer