The city of Kokomo added another first to its long list Wednesday, unveiling the state’s first city-run biodiesel production facility.

“I knew that if we could find a way of making our own fuel, the city would save money and reduce our use of foreign oil,” Kokomo Mayor Greg Goodnight said at the plant unveiling.

“What we created was a biofuel program that will immediately begin to reduce our energy and maintenance costs, and shrink the city’s carbon footprint.”

With 12 local kitchens providing the “raw feedstock” — the used cooking oil used in the process — the biodiesel plant is equipped to produce 55 gallons of high-grade biodiesel a day.

The fuel burns cleaner than regular diesel, is less stressful on engines, and can be produced for about 80 cents a gallon, according to the city’s biofuels manager, Paul Munoz.

Another advantage to the facility, which the city put up $60,000 to create, is that it will keep large amounts of waste oil out of city sewers.

But Goodnight said the project is more than simply a tool to lower the city’s diesel bill.

K-Fuel, as the program is called, is one of the first steps in the administration’s initiative to “change the economic environment of the city,” Goodnight spokesman David Galvin said.

“We’re trying to create an atmosphere in Kokomo where we can create the jobs of the 21st century,” Galvin said.

“We started really simple: bringing in renewable energy is one step. The next step is looking for local and regional partnerships, and advancing those partnerships in ways that save and bring jobs to Kokomo.”

On hand at Wednesday’s plant opening were various elected officials and invited members of the community, as well as representatives from several Indiana cities interested in the same technology.

Jeff Breeden, owner of Biodiesel Logic, the manufacturer of the city’s new processor, said Kokomo should be prepared for a wave of visitors.

“You’ll have 200 people come through here this year to see this unit, from other cities,” said Breeden, whose two manufacturing plants in Alabama are seeing orders increase annually.

“We’ll sell 50 to 75 more this year; we may even sell 100. And most of what we sell are larger units than this,” Breeden said.

The rather complex process involves filtering the oil, de-watering, separating out glycerols through the use of methanol and purifying it through an ionic resin material called Amberlite.

The plant itself cost about $27,000, and if the city is pleased with the results, Biodiesel Logic sells units that could quadruple the city’s annual biodiesel production.

The biggest difficulty from here may be the city’s ability to acquire “raw feedstock” for free.

Wednesday, Dan Saunders, managing partner of Kokomo’s Texas Roadhouse restaurant, was applauded for contributing his eatery’s oil to the program.

All of the 12 original contributors, including both Kokomo hospitals, two Wendy’s restaurants, Mulligan’s Pub, Puckett’s Pies, Booster Club of Kokomo, Martino’s Italian Villa, Ray’s Drive-In and Dan’s Variety Bakery, will receive credit on the city’s new Web site, www.fuelingkokomo.org, and on city publications.

Saunders said he had a contract that either cost him money or paid him money for the Roadhouse’s used oil, depending on the market for raw feedstock.

“It just seemed like a great opportunity to not only help out the city, but also, looking at the bigger picture, to help out the environment,” Saunders said.

Breeden said he can “tell the price of diesel by counting the number of hits” on Biodiesel Logic’s Web site.

Munoz said the federal government estimates the price of diesel will increase to an average of $2.47 a gallon this year. Based on that estimate, the city could save $25,000 on its diesel bill.

Mike Downey, sales manager at Kingsbury Energy Group, LaPorte, said larger operations have to pay to acquire enough feedstock to stay in business.

But the federal government also subsidizes biodiesel blenders, so large producers like Kingsbury (a plant that may eventually produce 5 million gallons a year), can still sell biodiesel, in bulk, at a competitive rate.

There are so many different feedstocks that can be used to make biodiesel, Downey said, that unlike corn-based ethanol, biodiesel should be a viable option well into the future.

Out at the Kokomo Wastewater Treatment Plant — the new home of the K-Fuel program — four 1,000 gallon tanks stand ready to hold raw feedstock and finished product.

Within a week, city-produced biodiesel will run in the city’s diesel fleet.

“This program will eliminate about half a million pounds of carbon dioxide and several hundred pounds of diesel ash from our atmosphere every year,” Goodnight said Wednesday.

“We call the initiative Kokomo’s Renewable Energy Partnership, and it is about sustainable development,” Goodnight said.

“We are taking our first steps toward a local economy that is more diverse, competitive, and rooted in sustainable practices. We want to be a hub of the renewable energy industry.”

Scott Smith may be reached at (765) 454-8569 or via e-mail at scott.smith@kokomotribune.com