MES Gets $1M Grant to Help Turn Beans Into Electricity
Utility Will Become First Municipal Electric System to Utilize Such Technology
Southern Standard
By Will Stewart
October 13, 2004

With the help of a congressional allocation of nearly $1 million, McMinnville Electric System will become the first municipal electric system in the country to generate electricity using a clean burning fuel made primarily from soy beans.

The fuel to be used is biodiesel, the fastest growing renewable fuel in American and the only alternative fuel to have successfully completed the Health Effects Testing Requirement of the federal Clean Air Act

"Biodiesel is a renewable resource that can be substituted for fossil fuel in diesel engines. This reduces many of the negative impacts of petroleum-based fuels, typically lowering hydrocarbon and particulate emissions as well as reducing the toxicity of the exhaust," said MES general manager Rodney Boyd.

Because it's made from soybeans, biodiesel also has the potential to bring considerable economic benefit to Tennessee, said U.S. Rep. Lincoln Davis, who spearheaded the effort to obtain the federal money for the project

"It is very important that we think long term about our country's energy needs and the societal cost of energy," Davis said. "Not only does biodiesel have the potential to reduce harmful pollutants in our state, it has the greater potential to put Tennessee farmers back to work."

With the federal money, MES will purchase a Caterpillar generator, a NOX reduction catalyst and biodiesel to burn in the generator.

Because the soybeans used to make the fuel are grown domestically, biodiesel can significantly reduce the country's dependence on foreign oil, said Board of Public Utilities chairman Jeff Golden.

"With today's soaring fuel prices and instability in the Middle East, biodiesel has the potential to help us diversify our supplies and keep our dollars at home," Golden said.

With the project now about three-and-a-half years in the making, Boyd said the biodiesel generator is projected to go online on or around Feb.1 of next year. It was further noted the biodiesel electricity will cost about the same to produce as the petroleum generators MES currently uses and that all biodiesel-produced electricity will be used in Warren County.