"Home Brew" Biofuels Workshop

(above) participants at the Florida NRCS biofuels workshop (NRCS photo — click to enlarge) biofuels production equipment (NRCS photo — click to enlarge)

NRCS field personnel and local producers along with and RC&D coordinators from three offices participated in a biofuels workshop held by NRCS and USDA’s Risk Management Agency to educate agricultural producers on the production of biodiesel from crops, vegetable oil, and animal fat.  The workshop was jointly sponsored by the Florida Three Rivers RC&D, Suwannee River RC&D, and West Florida RC&D.

The workshop was taught by Matt Rudolph of Piedmont Biofuels in North Carolina.  He made the trip south to act as instructor bringing a trailer loaded with portable biodiesel equipment to demonstrate biodiesel production from start to finish.

Lectures covered the basics of biofuels production and how to organize a local biofuel co-op.  A hands-on demonstration showed participants how to produce biodiesel from a variety of crops and vegetable oils with special attention on locally grown crops such as peanuts, soybeans, and sunflowers. 

Florida Three Rivers RC&D Coordinator John Harper was on hand to lend his expertise to the group.  His RC&D council has purchased the processing equipment necessary to produce biodiesel from crops grown in the Florida panhandle.   “Three Rivers RC&D built a processor about seven months ago.  We relied on the knowledge of one of our county commissioners who is an expert in biodiesel processes.  We work with our farmers and show them how to get into biodiesel production for themselves.  We hope with the demonstration today that farmers will see how they can grow crops such as soybeans and sunflowers and how to extract biodiesel from them,” Harper said.  The washing machine-sized processor, built by Three Rivers RC&D, will produce 100 gallons of biodiesel in ten hours and can easily transported to a farm.

Following the hands-on instruction Rudolf demonstrated the process of turning cooking oil into biodiesel for the participants.

Florida NRCS Outreach Coordinator Anne Bowens, who was instrumental in putting this workshop together, moderated the meeting.  “Our goal for this workshop is to show farmers how they can turn farm residue into fuel for their tractors and other farm equipment.  We want farmers to think about where they will be five to ten years from now relative to fuel consumption on their farms.  We need these alternative methods to produce fuel and that is what the workshop today all is about,” Bowens said.
Your contact is NRCS public affairs specialist Bob Stobaugh at 352-338-9565.

Links...
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Hear Florida NRCS Outreach Coordinator Anne Bowens and Three Rivers RC&D Coordinator John Harper share their thoughts on biofuels with Southeast AgNET's Cindy Zimmerman.