One of the country’s busiest biodiesel plants is on track to have a record year.
This article from the Erie (PA) Times-News says Hero BX was part of a recent USDA tour checking out the plant’s success:
Operating 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, the plant on Erie’s lakefront is on track to produce 40 million gallons of biodiesel this year, said Chris Peterson, a vice president for Hero.
The plant, which began operating in November 2007, has a rated capacity of 45 million gallons a year. Peterson said that capacity is based on running feedstock of virgin cooking oil.
A more typical batch of ingredients — 70 percent animal fat, including catfish oil and poultry fat, and 30 percent used cooking oil — reduces the plant’s capacity to about 40 million gallons.
USDA officials say plants such as Hero promote energy self-sufficiency and are good for the rural economy.