Arkansas County biodiesel production falls well short of lofty goals

Arkansas County and its neighbors are still waiting for the creation of 100-plus jobs related to the biodiesel industry.

A project known as Farm to Fuel was launched in 2013 with the hopes of producing biodiesel from used vegetable oil and oil produced from Camelina, a flowering plant that can be grown in the winter and harvested in the spring.

At a November 2013 luncheon to celebrate the opening of a refinery in DeWitt, there was talk of one day producing up to 1 million gallons of biodiesel per year. This was billed as a transformational project for the southern county seat of Arkansas County and the plan was to replicate the success in an additional 25 communities.

By the end of 2015 about 3,100 gallons of fuel had been produced for the year and used in equipment on local farms and the city of Dewitt. It was nearly 997,000 gallons shy of the original stated goal and well behind the more reachable goal of 200,000 gallons that could be produced if the plant ran its existing equipment at full capacity.

Still, there is hope for the project among its partners. A group including representatives from Phillips Community College, Communities Unlimited, WealthWorks, the city of DeWitt and local investors met in the final weeks of 2015 to renew their commitment.

When operating at scale there is potential for nearly $1 million a year in economic activity, according to notes from a December meeting of Delta Bioenergy partners. That is perhaps an optimistic view when you consider the price of oil is keeping more traditional fuel prices low and decreasing demand for alternatives.

“All the partners still believe in the idea,” said Tami Hornbeck of Communities Unlimited. “Everything that we’re doing is new. Any time you try something new it takes a while to gel and get buy-in. It’s still exciting to people who are involved with it, but requires more structure.”

Communities Unlimited is a Fayetteville-based nonprofit focused on community economic develop-

ment in rural areas and in urban neighborhoods where resources are scarce. It provides services in Alabama, Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Oklahoma, Tennessee and Texas. Among the smallbusiness services offered by Communities Unlimited, which employs 44 in seven states, are technical and managerial assistance and working-capital loans.

Bioenergy projects large and small have stalled across the country. Funding and tax credits began to disappear earlier this decade. Those low oil prices aren’t helping matters.

Grant funding is still coming in, but in smaller amounts for Delta Bioenergy, originally launched as Farm to Fuel. It has had enough success to continue operating, and duplication of the program has been attempted in a number of communities, including Cotton Plant, Dumas, Hamburg and Newport.

Money from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the U.S. Economic Development Administration, Arkansas General Improvement Funds, Delta Regional Authority and the Arkansas Advanced Energy Association totaling more than $430,000 have gone into the project. Private investment has been critical to keeping the initiative running, and Hornbeck is hopeful that additional entrepreneurial-minded folks will see the value.

Local businesses participating in the collection of used vegetable oil range from the Arkansas County jail cafeteria to the DeWitt schools and Kelly’s On the Square. Partners are looking for additional buy-in from surrounding towns.

Students in local colleges are working on ways to better market the program in

DeWitt and nearby towns. Hornbeck notes the best path for survival is if more people are aware of the project and willing to invest either money or their used vegetable oil.

As the thinking goes, if the biodiesel production grows, so too will additional economic opportunities. Hulls left unused can be used for animal feed. Glycerin, a bi-product of the biodiesel production process, can be used to make soap.

There are only a handful of jobs currently related to the industry in DeWitt and Arkansas County. It is unclear if or when that 100-plus job creation goal will be hit.

Whatever happens with the push for biodiesel in DeWitt, Hornbeck said that the point is ultimately to have communities take stock of their strengths and learn to build on them. Perhaps biodiesel isn’t the key to success in Arkansas County or

in the Delta where the poverty rate is greater than 20 percent. Something else can be. “What resources do we have that we can start building jobs around? It’s not just about the fuel, but the change in mindset,” Hornbeck said. “One of the key points in doing this is to be able to see what resources you have available and build on what you have.”

cbahn@nwaonline.com