State wants plan to turn waste fish into oil

Alex DeMarban
alex@alaskanewspapers.com

June 24, 2008 at 3:31PM AKST

To help lower energy costs where possible, state officials plan to give close to $200,000 to the person with the best idea for a portable machine that turns fish waste into fuel.

The oil-rendering contraption will help seafood processing plants and communities reduce astronomical energy bills and fish waste, said James Jensen, an assistant project manager with Alaska Energy Authority.

The state corporation issued the call for applications on Friday.

The effort hopes to build on the success of UniSea Inc.’s Dutch Harbor operation, Jensen said. The seafood company’s processing plant there has saved loads of money in recent years by rendering fish oil and mixing it with expensive diesel fuel to generate electricity.

The winner will receive $180,000 from the state sometime by December, Jensen said. They must contribute at least $90,000 to get the grant.

The winning machine might be hauled on a barge or even a fishing boat between communities and could render several tons of seafood waste into oil every day.

The fish oil could be used by the processing plant or community in raw form – to heat buildings – or mixed with diesel fuel to power electric turbines, as UniSea does. It could also be turned into biodiesel fuel.

Alaska’s big processing plants use fish oil to heat buildings and make fish meal. But maller processing plants collectively throw away millions of gallons of fish waste a year -- without extracting the oil. Those smaller plants can’t afford the rendering equipment, said John Steigers, a consultant for the project.

"We’re trying to mitigate the economic energy challenges for rural Alaska in a way that utilizes a resource they already have and that is being put in the water to some environmental impact,” he said.