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OREM - Coconut shrimp, polenta triangles and pot stickers sizzled in deep fryers at Culinary Crafts headquarters, but the Wednesday luncheon's main attraction wasn't the maple-glazed salmon. It was the hot grease.

In a matter of minutes, John Crawford turned soybean oil into diesel fuel. Biodiesel, a renewable fuel made from virgin or used vegetable oils, has been manufactured in the United States for decades. But Crawford said he's invented a process to produce it more cleanly, cheaply and efficiently.

By way of demonstration, Crawford, a chemical engineer and principal in Domestic Energy Partners, poured soybean oil and methyl alcohol into a spout on a black box that hid the processor and out came biodiesel.

Conventional biodiesel production requires a catalyst, such as lye or sulfuric acid, which then has to be removed from the fuel with a stabilizer and water. DEP partner Ron Crafts said six-tenths of a gallon of water is contaminated for every gallon of biodiesel produced in a conventional system. DEP's technology uses a "solid heterogenous catalyst" inside the machine that is not dissolved during the process, Crawford said.

"There is nothing to remove if there is nothing put in in the first place," Crawford told the luncheon guests.

Biodiesel has been touted as a way to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, cut dependence on foreign oil and boost revenue for farmers. Last year, the United States produced 75 million gallons of biodiesel, or about 0.1 percent of the amount of diesel gas it consumed, according to the National Biodiesel Board.

"Biodiesel is the Lexus of diesel fuel," said Andre Shoumatoff, director of Utah Biodiesel, a Park City nonprofit that advocates for the use of biodiesel. "As a home brewer, [I] am always saying there has got to be a better way . . . If [DEP's] claims are true, this technology is quite revolutionary."

This spring, Domestic Energy Partners plans to roll out large-capacity machines suitable for on-site production by companies with large fleets.

Priced at $2 million, each one can produce up to 2.25 million gallons of biodiesel per year, Crafts said. A user can produce biodiesel for the cost of the feed stock plus 40 cents per gallon, or about $1.60 per gallon, Crafts said. A blend of 20 percent biodiesel 80 percent petroleum diesel (B20) is selling for about $2.63 per gallon in Utah, a price comparable to regular diesel. Pure biodiesel costs upward of $3 per gallon.

DEP has already sold four of the machines, including one to BioUSA, a startup company that plans to build Utah's first commercial biodiesel refinery in Springville and begin selling the fuel in late spring.

BioUSA president McKay Morley said he'd like to buy additional machines and boost production capacity to 10 million gallons by the end of the year.

"The initial studies we have done show that demand far exceeds 10 million gallons," said Morley, who fuels his own pickup with biodiesel.

That would represent a huge jump in biodiesel sales in the state. Distributors Dal Soglio Inc., Cardwell Distributing and Jardine Oil sold about 240,000 gallons of biodiesel statewide last year. Their customers include Utah Power and Light, Hill Air Force Base, Park City Mountain Resort and Salt Lake City International Airport.

Culinary Crafts, owned by Crafts and his wife, has produced its own biodiesel on site for the past year, using the new biodiesel technology to capitalize on "yellow grease" left over from cooking.

Biodiesel powers the company's fleet and buildings, thanks to an auxiliary generator Crafts installed. That eliminates the cost of disposing of kitchen grease and protects the company from fluctuations in petroleum costs, Crafts said.

Domestic Energy Partners plans to release a smaller-capacity machine, suitable for production at home or a small business, in two years. That would sell for about the price of a high-end lawn mower, Crafts said.