U.S. Army investigates Salt
Lake biofuel crop
The prickly leafed crop is hardly inviting — it is like a weed sprouting atop 20 acres of parched government land near Salt Lake City International Airport.
And yet, the safflower planted as part of Salt Lake County’s urban-farming initiative holds a potential fuel source that has attracted the attention of the U.S. Army.
Jeffrey Ward, deputy engineer for the U.S. Army Installation Management Command, inspected the safflower crop Monday with a National Biodiesel Board representative and a consultant from the environmental engineering and restoration firm Louis Berger Group to determine whether to seed a similar program on military lands.
“We are very interested in getting biodiesel and using our lands to support our own energy needs,” Ward said. “We want to use what you have learned to potentially go onto Army installations and see what might be possible.”
It is a welcome recognition to a program pursued jointly by Salt Lake City, Salt Lake County, Utah State University, the South Davis Sewer District and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to put fallow public lands to good use.
The safflower now stands on a dusty grassland on the south side of Salt Lake International Airport — a property the city will someday use for a wastewater treatment plant. That transformation is decades away, however. So officials have decided to cultivate the land, growing a drought-resistant crop capable of producing 50 gallons of biofuel per acre.
Officials started with 20 acres, as a test. But ultimately, biofuel production is expected to spread to the entire 200-acre property.
Keith Eastin, vice president for the Louis Berger Group and former assistant secretary for the U.S. Army, called the program an “innovative and unique” approach to biofuel production. He believes it could have a broader application at military installations across the country, where large tracts of land are left vacant as a buffer between training grounds and civilian populations.
“We are thrilled that we can be an example of what might work, not only for the state of Utah, but for our nation as well,” Salt Lake County Mayor Peter Corroon said. “We think this model has the potential to revolutionize fleet fuel production and urban farming techniques.”
Utah State University — a key player in producing the Salt Lake County safflower crop — is pursuing a much-bigger FreeWays to Fuel program that aims to plant safflower, canola, flax and other biofuel crops along the often-unused sides of highways.
USU researchers suggest the nation could produce about 1 billion gallons of biodiesel a year by harvesting along highways. Diesel prices must remain at least $2.50 per gallon for that fuel to make financial sense.
Alan Weber, a feedstock specialist for the National Biodiesel Board, applauded Utah’s efforts. Standing on the edge of the safflower field on Salt Lake City’s far west side Monday, he remarked, “It is so simple, yet so powerful. Yes, it is only 20 acres, but it is 20 acres with national implications.”
Copyright 2010 The Salt Lake Tribune. All rights reserved.
