4 minutes with…Thomas Leue, President, Homestead Engineering

 Tell us about your organization and it’s role in the advanced bioeconomy.

Homestead Engineering has been a biodiesel producer and for the past 14 years has sold Yellow Brand Biodiesel, always B-100, retail throughout Western Massachusetts, both packaged and bulk deliveries. For road fuel or for off-road, Yellow Biodiesel comes with full support to assist in any transition to this advanced biofuel.

Tell us about your role and what you are focused on in the next 12 months.

Thomas Leue has been advised by the USPTO that a patent will be awarded in the near future to the Yellow Heat oil burner. Yellow Heat is the only oil burner gun that easily handles unfiltered and un-preheated waste vegetable oil as available from local restaurants. This opens up millions of gallons of low cost fuel to be used for space heating that were mostly unusable by other technologies. Based on Babington technology, the conventional looking burner is a low cost waste oil burner for any liquid oil type fuel. By burning waste vegetable oil, low cost can be matched with low environmental impact and ease of operation. Safer to use than conventional oil burners, burning vegetable oil eliminates the concerns of other waste based fuels, or even conventional fuels that are known to be toxic.

What do you feel are the most important milestones the industry must achieve in the next 5 years?

Homestead Inc. is the development consultant for Northeast Biodiesel Co. located in Greenfield, MA. Opening spring of 2015, NBC will start at the rate of production of 5000 gallons per day. All feedstocks are recycled vegetable oils. Homestead Inc. will be a major retail distributor for the wholesale NBC production.

If you could snap your fingers and change one thing about the Advanced Bioeconomy, what would you change?

I would like to promote the idea that alternative energy is safer and more practical than conventional. Any Diesel engine can get the benefits of biodiesel fuel to reduce impact on climate and reduce wear. Now space heating or industrial process heat can also be based on lower cost and cleaner burning vegetable oil fuel, saving money and the world.

Of all the reasons that influenced you to join the Advanced Bioeconomy industry, what single reason stands out for you as still being compelling and important to you.

I have grandchildren who want to enjoy the world like I always have. I want to tell them I did what I could to reduce my ecological footprint to the extent possible. Saving resources for the future or helping towards cleaner air today, alternative fuels are the best hope for sustainability.

Where are you from? 

Born in Maine, I moved to Texas at 4 years to ride horses and collect wildlife, horny toads and tarantulas, mostly. Now located on an old farm in the Berkshire hills with the fifth generation of my family running around.

What was your undergraduate major in college, and where did you attend? Why did you choose that school and that pathway? 

I studied Ecology at Antioch College. But 3-1/2 years of living in Alaska made me an energy conservation fanatic.

Who do you consider your mentors. What have you learned from them?

My early hero was Pete Seeger. He showed us a way towards right livelihood. My current hero is Chris Martenson, who lives not far from here, learning, like me, to become self sufficient in the things that matter: food and energy production and the value of community.

What’s the biggest lesson you ever learned during a period of adversity?

I burned down my original biodiesel refinery on the farm about 8 years ago. I learned more respect for proper technology and safety. But it was a blessing in disguise for biodiesel is not really a backyard tinker sort of thing. As a current distributor I am able to help others make the transition to a practical alternative energy system and by keeping it local we help others in our community create a degree of self sufficiency and energy independence. Our new biorefinery is owned by hundreds of individuals who have invested in our co-op and will enjoy the benefits of lower costs and lower environmental impact for a more sustainable future. NortheastBiodiesel.com, CoopPower.coop, and YellowBiodiesel.com

What hobbies do you pursue, away from your work in the industry? 

I am not sure they are called hobbies on the farm. Gardening, growing fruit, making cider, raising rabbits and cutting firewood all have a purpose that fill the time at a relaxed pace. It is a kind of lifestyle that harkens back to an earlier time.

What 3 books would you take to read, if stranded on a desert island?

What I actually need is my trusty Ipad and enough batteries and an internet signal to keep in touch with the fascinating world. Lacking those, I would take a bird identification guide, a book on tying knots, and a long Dickens novel.

What books or articles are on your reading list right now, or you just completed and really enjoyed?

The Crash Course by Chris Martenson

What’s your favorite city or place to visit, for a holiday?

The coast of Maine.