A company in Minnesota has found a way to brew biodiesel cheaper and more efficiently. This article from the Minneapolis Star Tribune says Superior Process Technologies figured out how to refine grease, tallow and other waste oils into biodiesel and hopes to take the process to a commercial level.
Superior Process engineers Kirk Cobb and Joe Valdespino, whose innovations draw on decades of experience in the paper and oleochemical industries, now are working toward a big step: constructing a commercial-scale biodiesel refinery.
[Parent company] Baker Commodities plans next year to start building a 20-million-gallon-per-year biodiesel plant in Vernon, Calif., to recycle waste grease into fuel, said Doug Smith, general manager of Superior Process and assistant vice president for R&D at the parent company.“Our process is superior to the traditional method,” said Valdespino in an interview at the company’s lab and office on NE. Broadway. “It saves energy. It increases yield. … It enables you to use cheaper feedstocks.”
The article goes on to say the process is able to take better advantage of cheaper feedstocks, such as used deep-fryer oils, rendered animal fats and the contents of grease traps in sewer lines, hoping that when the process is commercialized, they’re able to make the green fuel for less than $2 per gallon.