Apr 17 - Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News - Dave Gallagher The Bellingham Herald, Bellingham, Wash.

A research expert from the U.S. Department of Agriculture will speak to Whatcom County farmers today about converting grass and hay into liquid fuel.

Gary Banowetz, director of the Agriculture Research Service for the USDA, will talk about the potential of building small gasification systems in this area and forming cooperatives to give local farmers the opportunity to make money on marginal land.

"I think this is an important opportunity for rural communities, as well as finding a way to provide more stability to our national energy supplies," Banowetz said.

He said the technology would take grass or hay and turn it into either electricity or fuel, blending in with gasoline.

"I would think that this would be especially attractive for fuel, considering the high prices we are currently paying," Banowetz said.

It would probably be three to five years before gasification systems might be available to the public.

"We are still in the research phase, so this is not a slam-dunk yet. The biggest challenge is whether this is an economically feasible project," Banowetz said. "To make it work economically, you can't haul the raw material far, which is why I think a system of smaller facilities might work."

If the numbers pencil out, it could mean a source of income for farmers who have marginal land that won't grow much more than grass. One such farmer is Barney Cohen, who owns 22 acres of farmland in Whatcom County.

"From what I've heard about the project, it seems to hold promise," said Cohen, who is also an investment adviser for Piper Jaffray. "If it is economically feasible, I think it would be a big deal to a lot of farmers around here."

Susan Kirsch, an organizer for today's presentation, thinks it's important to keep the production facility on a small scale because it benefits the farmers most.

"By keeping it on a smaller scale, more is going back to the raw producers," Kirsch said.

She said having this presentation is important to get the conversation started, to see if this is something that would benefit this community.

"If we can get land that isn't producing crops to generate money for farmers, I think that would be something people might be interested in looking into," Kirsch said.

Reach Dave Gallagher at 715-2269 or dave.gallagher@bellinghamherald.com.