The Utah Department of Transportation (UDOT) has teamed with Utah State University (USU) and Ph.D. student Dallas Hanks on a project to grow biodiesel feedstocks along state highways. The first seeds of this first-of-its kind project were planted in late April, Hanks said.
The idea for the project began with Hanks, owner of a small scientific research company called Blue Cow Inc. and former collegiate professor who saw it as an opportunity to complete his Ph.D. in plant soils and environmental sciences. Although he has looked at the utilization of roadsides for vegetable and grain and fuel source crops for several years, it was not economically viable until this year.
“Once we get to a break point of about $2 per gallon of diesel, this program becomes very feasible,” Hanks said. “I thought this would be a great application because we could utilize the dry land conditions for these oil seed crops.”
UDOT agreed to fund the first phase of the project, giving $57,200, as well as the use of equipment and personnel help if needed. Canola, safflower and some perennial flax seeds were selected as the most likely to give high yields and four locations ranging from the northern end down to the central part of the state were identified for planting. Hanks said that at each location there are 24 plots and, because the data coming out of the project will be used for his dissertation, the management of all the plots is his responsibility.
While the ultimate goal of the project is to produce biodiesel in areas that do not encroach on farmland and determine the yields in these areas, a secondary benefit exists as well.
“UDOT spends well over $1 million a year to mow and treat their roadsides for weeds,” Hanks said. “If we could not only grow a biofuel, but also reduce the weed pressure and herbicide use that would be an additional benefit.”
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UDOT employees assist USU doctorate student Dallas Hanks in the planting of the first plots in late April.
Although the project itself is moving along well, the weather thus far has been uncooperative, Hanks said. Unfortunately, Utah is experiencing its third-driest spring ever recorded, the heat indexes are off the charts and there are records being broken left and right, he reported. As a result, germination on the plots is lower than Hanks would like it to be. “It’s just that we’ve got one of those years with environmental conditions we can’t control,” he said.
Despite the setbacks, both Hanks and UDOT are hopeful and UDOT spokesman Adan Carillo told Biodiesel Magazine that the organization plans on fueling its vehicles and other state vehicles on the biodiesel produced from the project.
“Gov. John Huntsman Jr. set out a challenge to UDOT to come up with ways to reduce our dependency on petroleum fuel by 20 percent, so when Dallas came to us with this idea it was a match made in heaven between USU and UDOT,” Carillo said. “It was something that we were looking into and … it just made perfect sense.”