With diesel now going for $2.68 a gallon and oil selling at $62 a barrel, David Max, vice president of marketing for Sustainable Systems in Missoula, is no longer alone when pondering the nation's energy questions.

What would happen, Max hypothetically asks, if the U.S. embarked on an Apollo-sized mission, but instead of aiming for the moon, it sought to create clean-burning and renewable fuels right here at home?

"When you see oilmen in the White House talking about renewable energy, you know the cows are about to come home," Max said. "We should have embarked on this journey 10 to 20 years ago."

The bio-fuel revolution may be coming to Montana at long last. One Colorado-based company is looking to build a fuel-grade processor near Havre while Cenex Harvest States is considering a 2-percent soy-blend in all its diesel fuels sold in Missoula.

Sustainable Systems, also based in Missoula, is completing renovations to its crushing and processing plant in Culbertson, located in northeastern Montana. Purchased from Montola Growers late last year, the facility could begin producing between 15 and 20 million gallons of seed-oil every year, once renovations are finished and farm contracts are signed.

"Our goal at the Montola plant is to maximize the facility's capacity," Max said. "In the future, our plant could be producing seed-oil for a combination of culinary and biofuel uses."

This year, Max said, Sustainable Systems looks to triple its contracted production of safflower to around 45,000 acres. What it does with the oil will depend on market demands.

"We think the potential for safflower in Montana and North Dakota is pretty large," Max said. "It comes down to having a contract price that the farmer is going to be interested in. If you do the economics, safflower is a profitable crop for the farmer to grow."

Other companies also see a strong future in oilseed crops and biofuel. About 260 miles west of Culbertson near the town of Havre, a Colorado Springs-based company is looking to build an oilseed processor to refine biofuels and lubes.

James Lambert, CEO of the Agro Management Group, said his research and development company produces 15 market-ready bio-based lubricants, most notably crankcase oil made from Canadian-grown canola.

The company also produces hydraulic fluids, drip oils, cutting fluids, oil for Kosher and organic bakeries and chain oil. Lambert wouldn't say which oilseed crop Agro Management was most interested in for its possible Hi-Line processor.

"We're looking at a production facility to produce 1-million gallons of biodiesel annually," Lambert said. "Havre is nicely positioned for us. It has a good location to the West Coast and the surrounding production area. When you produce a bio-based product, you want to be as close to the seed-source as you can be."

Agro's proposed plant would cost an estimated $7 million and would be Montana's first fuel-grade bio-processor. If the plan goes forward, the facility could begin operating as early as October. After five years, it could employ 135 workers, most of them in good-paying technical positions.

"Fourteen years ago, oil cost $13 a barrel," Lambert said. "Now it's more than $60 a barrel. This is really the time and the place to do this. There are no other companies in the U.S. that we're aware of that produce both biofuel and biolube."

Duane Johnson, a professor of New Crops and Agronomy at MSU and who serves as Agro Management's director of research, said the Montana Department of Labor and Industry has begun offering incentives to bring outside bio-based investment into the state. The state also received a $15 million grant to grow the biodiesel and bioproduct industry in central and eastern Montana

Johnson pointed out, Montana already offers such perks as low-rent land when compared to other states. It also has easy access to a railroad, which is needed to move fuel to larger markets, primarily on the West Coast.

"The demand has to trickle down through the system," Johnson said. "We have to build an infrastructure of crushing plants. At the same time, we have to offer farmers very reasonable contracts."

The state may also have the interest of some big oil companies like Conoco. Though Conoco failed to respond for this story, Johnson said the company has expressed interest in purchasing biodiesel that is grown, crushed and processed in Montana.

"There has been interest among certain oil companies to buy into this process," Johnson said, naming Conoco as a possibility. "They want to buy into this stuff."

At one Missoula gas station, owned by Sustainable Systems, motorists can already fill up with 100-percent biodiesel. Unlike some alternative fuels, Max said, biodiesel requires no major changes to the existing infrastructure, now in use by the petroleum industry. Instead, he said, the issue is one of tank space and storage.

"If the biofuels industry takes off in this state, we could see a quantum leap in a very short time," Max predicted. "Once the tanks become accessible, implementing the industry will require a flick of a few switches and that's it."

Cenex, the energy brand for CHS or Cenex Harvest States, operates two biodiesel pumps in Missoula, selling a five-percent and a 20-percent blend. The company is looking to install a 20,000-gallon tank for a biodiesel or ethanol blend of fuel.

Kyle Stensrud, energy manager for Mountain West Cooperative, a division of CHS, said his two Cenex stores sell diesel that's been pre-blended with soy from the Midwest. If the fuel were available in Montana, Stensrud said, his stores would be interested in selling that instead.

"We would support anyone in the Northwest that produced it," Stensrud said. "If it was done in Montana -- that would be our first priority."

While Stensrud has heard all the talk of building biodiesel processors in Montana, he believes such plants are still years away from becoming reality. He believes other states in the region are already well ahead of efforts in Montana.

Already, there are more than 53 biofuel processors operating across the country, with a total combined production capacity of 354 million gallons a year. None of the processors are in Montana.

"I've heard several inquiries (to build one), but it takes a fair amount of capital to get these things going," Stensrud said. "It's just a matter of who's more progressive and who's more willing to take a few risks. But it's coming. This is a priority for us and it's something I believe in."

Stensrud said Cenex may soon offer a 2-percent biodiesel blend in all its premium fuels sold in Missoula. While 2-percent doesn't sound like much, consider this -- if every diesel pump in the nation sold a 2-percent blend, it would reduce the nation's petroleum diesel consumption by an estimated 3.4 million gallons a day.

"The biodiesel industry isn't there to supply that yet," Stensrud said.

But it could be there soon, if the infrastructure needed to crush and process the oilseed creates the demand.

Max, who thinks going "bio" would create a new economy in Montana, believes it won't be long before a large-scale biofuel processor begins operating in the state. The economics begin to make sense, he said, when the rack price for diesel climbs above $2.50 a gallon, with no prospect of coming down.

"I have a hard time not envisioning biodiesel and ethanol sold in every community in the state within the next five years," Max said.

Biodiesel facts

Did you know? Montana oilseed crops like camelina and canola have dual uses as both a fuel and a food product. Camelina, for example, has a high content of omega-3 fatty acids, which makes its oils beneficial as a dietary supplement.

In comparison, safflower oil is low in saturated fats. The University of Montana's dining services uses its oil when sautéing and frying, as does the Kettle-brand chips. Safflower oil, which remains stable under high heat, is perfect for the production of bio-lubricants as well.

Did you know? This past year, Minnesota became the first state in the nation to mandate that all retail diesel fuel include 2 percent biodiesel. However, the state temporarily suspended its move a month later after concerns were raised that the fuel didn't meet quality standards. What's more, neither refineries nor the state had a contingency plan for supply distributions, and some stations had to close.

Did you know? While the U.S. scratches its head, trying to figure out how to get off the oil wagon, Brazil -- part of South America's largest economy -- launched an ethanol motor fuel program back in 1975 and, over the years, has developed a cost-efficient alternative to gasoline.