HomeMy WebLinkAboutZurich Citizens News, 1981-06-04, Page 8s
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Citizens News June 4, 1901
Zurich farmer plans to make et
Phil Durand, RR 2, Zurich,
may be. the first official
recipient of a provincial
grant , to produce ethanol
fuel -alcohol.
Plans call for an August
start-up of cookers and
fermenters at Durand's
farm. Over 240 gallons of
ethanol will be produced per
day using raw materials
ranging from grain to sugar
beets.
Though he believes the
grant is coming, the
province may contribute
about $15,000 as part 'of a
program initiated last year
to encourage construction of
farm stills, Durand is not
sure what he will be getting.
Durand is pleased to hear
he may be getting a grant,
but his plans are not con-
ditional to receiving grant
money. He said he was en-
couraged by the discussions
of both the federal and
provincial governments and
the easing of licencing re-
quirements for ethanol fuel
production.
The project is a $60,000.in-
vestment and joint effort in
what Durand calls a
"community -family pro-
ject". Partners in the pro-
ject are Durand, his sons
Steve, Dave, Ken, Dan and
Joe, and his nephew Andy.
The men are hoping to run
over 20 pieces of farm
machinery once their equip-
ment has been coverted to
run on straight ethanol fuel.
A solar heated shed was
recently constructed by the
family partners to house the
farm distillery.
What is now becoming
visible, however, is merely
the tip of the iceberg for
senior partner Phil Durand
who has spent several years
investigating the feasability
of producing farm alcohol.
Travels throughout the U.S.
to see large and small scale
distilleries in operation
opened Durand's eyes to the
tremendous possibilities for
reducing North America's
dependency on oil.
Already in some parts of
the U.S. alcohol production
has advanced to large scale
proportions with operations
churning out 500 gallons per
minute in some instances,
says Durand. 'Costs on such a
level have been cut to as low
as five cents per gallon,
making fuel. alcohol a profit-
ble venture for the investor.
In Durand's somewhat
smaller operation however,
propane needed to heat the
primary cookers is expected
to cost about 12 cents per
gallon of ethanol produced.
As well as heating the
building with solar energy,
Durand plans to pre -heat
water used in the cooking
process.
The major cost of the
operation is the initial cook-
ing of the ground vegetable
mash. If the water can be
pre -heated 70 to 80 degrees,
by solar heat, this could be
quite a saving in other fuel
costs Durand notes.
For each 2,000 gallon
fermenting tank, 120 gallons
of fuel is expected to be turn-
ed out on a three-day cycle
basis.
"We're going to try to
distill a couple of tanks per
day," explained Phil, "but
we can slow down, speed up,
or even shut down the whole
process if necessary."
The small-scale plant will
also involve at least one full
time partner for 10 to 12
hours each dayto monitor
vaious stages of production
from start to finish. With
grain storage facilities also
on the premises, Durand ex-
pects a good deal of his raw
material will come from
corn that can later be fed to
his cattle and hogs in the
form of mash.
"It makes for excellent
livestock feed," said Phil. "I
know of one or two large
cattlemen alread usin the
SOLAR HEAT — Rhil Durand of RR 2, Zurich, stands in front
of a building he plans to use for ethanol fuel -alcohol produc-
tion. The building features solar panels which will be used to
heat the building and heat water to be used in the cooking
process to make the fuel.
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mash from distillation
plants for their animals."
Even after cooking,
fermenting, and spinning
residue free of much of its
moisture, explained Durand,
corn still retains much of its
protein which cannot be
broken down by enzymes.
Experiments in using the
corn for cereal and other
products are also being con-
ducted by some companies
interested in the mash for
human consumption, he
said.
It's not just corn,
however, that will see its
share of testing in the
Durand distillery come this'
fall. Bruised apples, cull
potatoes, sugar beets and
Jerusalem artichokes are
but a few of the experimen-
tal materials Phil is planning
to test once in operation.
Windfalls, such as- last
year's disastrous "sprouted"
wheat crop will also be taken
advantage of for their
alcohol content, he explain-
ed, rather than go to waste
as before.
The prospect of creating a
clean energy fuel is largely
in keeping with Durand's
past concern about main-
taining a healthy environ-
ment. In the early 70's,
Phil's involvement with the
Huron County Power Plant
Committee helped dis-
courage hydro's plans for
constructing a coal-fired
generating plant in the
vicinity which farmers
feared would pollute much
valuable cropland.
As chairman of the White
Bean Growers at that time,
Phil' argued against the
proposed facility, showing
officials what negative
effect elevated levels of
pollution could have on area
crops. The result was a
report which eventually dis-
uaded planners from going
ahead with the project.
Such interest in local liv-
ing conditions has also
carried over into more re-
cent speeches delivered by
Phil to area service clubs
where he urged neighbours to
plan for tomorrow's needs.
The talks have helped
generdte interest in possibly
starting a co-operative ven-
ture with area farmers, says
Phil, where raw materials
and fuel could be gathered
and distributed on a wider
scale.
"Right now, though, it's a
family affair," says Phil. "I
could have put the whole
thing up and done it by
myself, but I wanted
something that would create
some interest with my
sons."
The project has also
helped support a nearby
manufacturer which was
hired to fabricate much of
the steel tanks and ' pipes
needed for the operation.
The decision to buy Cana-
dian, says Phil, rose largely
out of economics when con-
sidering the current rate of
exchange' onthe dollar.
"I've also found that hav-
ing equipment made in
Canada means I can double
my capacity for about half
the cost," he commented.
The advantage of buying
homegrown technolbgy,
however, may even out con-
siderably when one con-
siders the vast difference in
regulations and permits re-
quired between Oanad and
the U.S. While American
farmers have been able to
produce alcohol fuel with
relatively little fuss from
government officials, their
Canadian counterparts must
currently acquire a yearly
$250 permit, plus a bond for "
;200,000 from the federal
government.
"It's costing us hundreds
of thousands of dollars each
day to import foreign oil."
said Phil, "and You'd think
the government would want
to create incentives by
relaxing -the restrictions."
In the meantime,
however, he's willing to
work `with the system and
bide his time until a long
overdue amendment is
passed relaxing such
regulations for farmers ex-
perimenting in fuel produc-
tion. The amendment was
supposed to be passed before
Christmas, but with con-
stitutional matters taking
priority it was shoved by the
wayside.
And for those - farmers
looking to, drop in this
summer for a bit of Durand
home recipe —you'd better
not get any hopes up for fuel-
ing anything else but your
tractor. The moonshine
might be fine for combustion
engines ,but Phil's not
recommending it be tipped
back to wet the whistle.
"With the kind of steel
tanks and pipes we're using
instead of copper, they've
warned
poisonous
lamented.
not
that it's
to drink," he
ZURICH
(fra-rdi--ervare)
Father's Day
Sunday, June 21
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Handy Man"
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