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Four years ago, a few friends visited about using woody weeds like Scotch broom for fuel “rather than just burning ‘em into the air.”
That conversation sprouted a local initiative to create Umpqua Bio-Alternatives Cooperative. Since then, UBAC has experimented in Dillard and Riddle with converting restaurant waste vegetable oil into biodiesel and windfall fruit into ethanol. Results of these and other experiments will be reviewed at UBAC's annual meeting in February.
Parallel to these production activities, UBAC has progressed toward other objectives. UBAC's newsletter, Bio-News, is distributed quarterly to members and subscribers. UBAC has offered public education about bio-based fuels at Pioneer Days in Canyonville, Myrtle Creek Festival, Earth Day/Energy Fair in Roseburg and the North County Fair in Drain. One exhibit demonstrated a small engine operating on E-85 (85 percent ethanol and 15 percent gasoline). By adjusting the carburetor, Bush said, the engine started easily and performed smoothly.
On the administrative side of the business, UBAC maintains its registration as a cooperative with the state of Oregon. Two members enrolled in “Small Business Management” at Umpqua Community College to help assess alternative enterprises. One alternative is to market bio-oil and bio-char that others create from forest wastes using fast pyrolysis technology.
Bio-oil is comparable to crude diesel fuel. Under an electron microscope, bio-char looks like chunks of black Swiss cheese. The texture of bio-char helps plants in some soils capture moisture and nutrients and, therefore, may reduce demands for irrigation water and petroleum-based fertilizers.
UBAC continues to build working relationships with others: Douglas Soil and Water Conservation District, Douglas County Forest Council, Phoenix School, the Umpqua's “Think Local“ campaign, the ongoing series of community discussions on Energy Options in Douglas County, Northwest Cooperative Development Center, Umpqua National Forest and International Biochar Initiative.
As UBAC board members look to the future, they frequently recall that original question about using local weeds for fuels. They continue to plan portable “pods” that further enable local communities in the Umpqua to utilize local plant materials for fuel. They wonder about a credit system in which members trade in-kind contributions for fuel additives.
Member contributions might relate, for example, to production — growing a feedstock, harvesting plants or processing plants into a fuel additive. Contributions might relate to public education about opportunities in the Umpqua for utilizing “waste” plant materials to make fuel additives or to improve soils. Or contributions might relate to managing UBAC as a business that supplies bio-based fuel supplements to cooperative members.
“Energy Spotlight” is a monthly feature in The News-Review, highlighting what local businesses and organization do to save on energy costs.
The Douglas County Global Warming Coalition, a group that promotes energy efficiency, is canvassing local business owners and organizational leaders about practices that reduce energy costs.
To nominate your firm for an Energy Spotlight, contact Jim Long at jblong@dcwisp.net. To learn more about the coalition, call Stuart Liebowitz at 672-9819.
That conversation sprouted a local initiative to create Umpqua Bio-Alternatives Cooperative. Since then, UBAC has experimented in Dillard and Riddle with converting restaurant waste vegetable oil into biodiesel and windfall fruit into ethanol. Results of these and other experiments will be reviewed at UBAC's annual meeting in February.
Parallel to these production activities, UBAC has progressed toward other objectives. UBAC's newsletter, Bio-News, is distributed quarterly to members and subscribers. UBAC has offered public education about bio-based fuels at Pioneer Days in Canyonville, Myrtle Creek Festival, Earth Day/Energy Fair in Roseburg and the North County Fair in Drain. One exhibit demonstrated a small engine operating on E-85 (85 percent ethanol and 15 percent gasoline). By adjusting the carburetor, Bush said, the engine started easily and performed smoothly.
On the administrative side of the business, UBAC maintains its registration as a cooperative with the state of Oregon. Two members enrolled in “Small Business Management” at Umpqua Community College to help assess alternative enterprises. One alternative is to market bio-oil and bio-char that others create from forest wastes using fast pyrolysis technology.
Bio-oil is comparable to crude diesel fuel. Under an electron microscope, bio-char looks like chunks of black Swiss cheese. The texture of bio-char helps plants in some soils capture moisture and nutrients and, therefore, may reduce demands for irrigation water and petroleum-based fertilizers.
UBAC continues to build working relationships with others: Douglas Soil and Water Conservation District, Douglas County Forest Council, Phoenix School, the Umpqua's “Think Local“ campaign, the ongoing series of community discussions on Energy Options in Douglas County, Northwest Cooperative Development Center, Umpqua National Forest and International Biochar Initiative.
As UBAC board members look to the future, they frequently recall that original question about using local weeds for fuels. They continue to plan portable “pods” that further enable local communities in the Umpqua to utilize local plant materials for fuel. They wonder about a credit system in which members trade in-kind contributions for fuel additives.
Member contributions might relate, for example, to production — growing a feedstock, harvesting plants or processing plants into a fuel additive. Contributions might relate to public education about opportunities in the Umpqua for utilizing “waste” plant materials to make fuel additives or to improve soils. Or contributions might relate to managing UBAC as a business that supplies bio-based fuel supplements to cooperative members.
“Energy Spotlight” is a monthly feature in The News-Review, highlighting what local businesses and organization do to save on energy costs.
The Douglas County Global Warming Coalition, a group that promotes energy efficiency, is canvassing local business owners and organizational leaders about practices that reduce energy costs.
To nominate your firm for an Energy Spotlight, contact Jim Long at jblong@dcwisp.net. To learn more about the coalition, call Stuart Liebowitz at 672-9819.
