Eco-entrepreneur tests fuel-saving products

Montana Business Quarterly, Summer, 2008 by Amy Joyner

Jessica Windy Boy, director of the Bio-Energy Innovation and Testing Center, explains that the Havre lab provides product testing and development on heavy-duty diesel engine equipment, as well as bio-lubricants, oil treatments, and ceramics. Local entrepreneurs, such as the Deneaults, pay Windy Boy's department and her student employees to complete pre-market studies and develop new products.

Big Sky Enviroproducts worked through the Montana Department of Transportation to arrange for the university's testing of Mach 9 and TX-7.

"We can do testing at a fraction of the cost," Windy Boy says. "Other such labs are at University of California-Davis and in Houston. It's very expensive --$80,000 to $100,000 to walk in the door."

She says that the Missoula company will receive comprehensive lab testing chemical analysis for much, much less. The Havre lab also helps students with on-the-job training.

Windy Boy notes that because Mach 3 changes the molecular structure of fuels, the testing will provide a report that has used voluntary EPA verification protocols. She adds that they will use a small engine test cell designed at MSU-Northern. "There's no insurance policy, in case it wrecks an [expensive] engine. We will throw it into a $300 engine, though."

Whether it's that $300 engine, $4 for a gallon of gasoline, or a $1,400 propane-powered lawn mower, Big Sky Enviroproducts isn't all about money. Yes, Pete Deneault knows that his products cost a bit more, but they will save people money over time. They also will help with the ever-important movement to rid the earth of unnecessary pollution.

It's not just large corporations that can participate in pollution prevention. The fact is that every person generates waste in our daily activities. People like Pete and Fabian Deneault are helping us reduce or prevent the pollution we cause and save money, too.

Amy Joyner is a reporter for the Montana Business Quarterly.