The possible creation of a local biodiesel co-op will be discussed at a meeting on Thursday, June 16. The RENew Northfield transportation committee will host the meeting, which will begin at 7 p.m. in the 2nd-floor conference room at 402 Washington Street in Northfield.

The possible creation of a local biodiesel co-op will be discussed at a meeting on Thursday, June 16. The RENew Northfield transportation committee will host the meeting, which will begin at 7 p.m. in the 2nd-floor conference room at 402 Washington Street in Northfield.

RENew Northfield is exploring the possibility of creating such a co-op to facilitate the purchase of pure biodiesel (B100) in bulk. The fuel would be stored in a 500-gallon tank at a convenient location. Co-op members would then be able to purchase this clean, renewable fuel at (or slightly above) cost. A southern Minnesota supplier is willing to make B100 deliveries to Northfield at an attractive price, and is also willing to sell a good used 500-gallon tank and pump at a reasonable price. The transportation committee seeks to determine whether there is adequate interest to pursue creation of the co-op, and looks forward to discussion of the structure and operation of the potential co-op if there appears to be adequate interest.

As currently envisioned, RENew Northfield would be the umbrella organization for the co-op, and no new organization (such as a formally incorporated cooperative) would be created. Members would pay a modest annual fee, and would then be able to purchase their fuel for the lowest possible price. Non-members would be allowed to make trial purchases of B100 at a somewhat higher price.

Creation of a local biodiesel co-op would facilitate several desirable outcomes:

1. B100 would be readily available locally at an attractive price. B100
is currently very hard to find, and is often very expensive when it can be found. Farm Country Co-op in Wanamingo (30 miles southeast of Northfield) is one of the few B100 suppliers in
southern Minnesota, and fuel must be purchased there between 8:00 a.m.
and 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday only. Cannon Valley Cooperative in
Northfield is no longer selling this fuel, except blended at low (5%)
concentration with petroleum diesel at their retail station on south
Highway 3.

2. The biodiesel co-op would facilitate promoting biodiesel use locally
and educating the general public and fleet (public and private) managers
about the benefits of biodiesel.

3. The co-op would allow experimentation by members with winter blends
of biodiesel. B100 has not been available locally during the winter
months in past years, as B100 gels below about 32 degrees F. Local
biodiesel enthusiasts have thus been unable to use biodiesel at all for
roughly half the year. We anticipate that we should be able to use a

blend of roughly 50% biodiesel (B50) during the winter, and Farm Country
Co-op is willing to work with us on providing a winter blend of biodiesel.

4. If significant demand for B100 is demonstrated, the likelihood of local commercial entities (Cannon Valley Coop and/or other fuel retailers) offering B100 should increase.

5. The co-op could facilitate “homebrewing” biodiesel from waste
vegetable oil from local restaurants (and/or the Carleton and St. Olaf
food services) if there is member interest in doing so.

Similar co-ops have been created in several other cities around the U.S. in the past couple of years (e.g. Twin Cities Biodiesel Cooperative, http://www.tcbiodiesel.com/; Tacoma Biodiesel Cooperative, http://www.tacomabiodiesel.org/; and Piedmont Biofuels, http://www.biofuels.coop/coop.shtml).

B100 is a clean, renewable fuel that can be made from any vegetable oil or animal fat, and can be burned in any unmodified diesel engine. Since it is domestically produced, it reduces dependence on imported oil. Emissions of most pollutants from biodiesel combustion are dramatically lower than emissions from petroleum diesel. Since the carbon dioxide produced from biodiesel combustion is offset by the carbon dioxide taken out of the atmosphere by the plants (e.g. soybeans) from which biodiesel is produced, biodiesel drastically reduces carbon dioxide emissions. Even taking into account the fossil fuels required to grow, transport, and process soybeans into biodiesel, the life-cycle carbon dioxide emissions for soy biodiesel are about 78% lower than the carbon dioxide emissions for petroleum diesel.