A Santa Rosa county commissioner is spearheading a biodiesel movement, targeting farmers across northwest Florida.

He says farmers can use crops like soybeans and sunflower to make fuel that would power their tractors. The commissioner also hopes his plan will help America lessen its dependency on foreign oil.

Commissioner Bob Cole has been fueling his tractor on homemade biodiesel for over a year and he hopes other farmers will follow his lead.

Bob Cole said, "If a farmer were to grow several hundreds of acres of soybean and through the co-op crush the bean into oil, they would extract the oil and still have the feed cake that could either be sold commercially as a feed or used on their own personal farms."
For more than two years Cole has been perfecting his hobby-creating biodiesel. He says the process isn't as hard as it seems.

Right now it takes Cole about 18 hours to create 100 gallons of biodiesel, and he says he has proof that his alternative fuel works.

"Just recently I went with my wife to Pennsylvania and back on home made fuel, so it's been real good. Not only are we lessening our dependency on foreign oil sources we're helping the American farmers and it's also better for our environment."

Cole hopes to educate other farmers across the panhandle about the benefits of this alternative fuel source, and he says there's another savings that all Americans would feel in their wallets.

"You can make biodiesel from anywhere between $1.25 to $2.00 a gallon, but I warn you it's not for the vein at heart because you do get very dirty."

Cole says he realizes that biodiesel doesn't solve America's dependency on foreign oil, but he hopes his ideas will spark an interest in our community.

"Us as Americans, to say to the people in government that we will not stand anymore of this, we need alternative sources of energy and we want to see it done as soon as possible."

For more information on Commissioner Cole's plan, you're asked to contact him at 983-1925.