Small biorefinery produces biodiesel from locally grown oilseeds

By SUE ROESLER, Farm & Ranch Guide
Wednesday, November 5, 2008 5:02 PM CST

SIDNEY, Mont. - Chuck Flynn spends a lot of time these days with his hands in grease.

He's not an auto mechanic, but he is excited about biodiesel and what it could mean for producers in the upper Midwest.

“We're studying the potential of biodiesel from locally grown oilseeds by producers,” says Flynn, a research chemist at Montana State University's Eastern Ag Research Center in Sidney. “We spend a lot of money for oil. If we can (make) our own, why not?”

This spring, SunBio Systems, Inc., based in California, set up a small, farmstyle biorefinery and reactor at the MSU satellite site in Sidney.

Flynn is now going through crushing oilseed and making biodiesel in the hopes of refining some that will meet ASTM (American Society for Testing and Measurements) standards.

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