energy.agwired.com

Increased demand for biodiesel has meant an increased demand for biodiesel plants… which has increased demand for feedstocks such as soybeans… which has pushed up the price for soybeans… which has hurt the operation of the biodiesel plants. That’s irony, right?

Some biodiesel plants are starting to feel the negative effects of the surge that brought them to life in the first place. This story in the Janesville (WI) Gazette says construction of a $42 million biodiesel plant in Wisconsin has stopped:

The rising cost of soybean byproducts forced North Prairie Productions to temporarily suspend construction on its biodiesel plant in Evansville, President Mike Robinson said.

“We always knew there’d be times when markets are good and markets are bad,” he said. “You’re most vulnerable as a company when you start, and you don’t want to start when times are bad. We just wanted make sure that we are secure when we enter the market.”

Company officials point to a 20 percent rise in soybean oil prices since last August as the main reason for the stop in construction.

Meanwhile, according to this story on the NewsOK.com web site, a biodiesel plant in Northeastern Oklahoma has gone bankrupt because of the high cost its feedstock:

Green Country’s largest unsecured creditor was agricultural giant Cargill Inc., which is owed more than $128,000 for soy oil.

The biodiesel plant began operations in an industrial park in Chelsea in 2005. The business was formed by David Allen and his partner, Scott Williams. Allen bought out his partner for $25,000 in September 2006.

That brings the number of Oklahoma biodiesel plants down to just one, the Earth Biofuels plant near Durant. But two more are still in the works for Tulsa and Guymon. Let’s hope they can stay afloat through this latest storm.

Tyson and Tulsa, Oklahoma-based Syntroleum have formed a company called Dynamic Fuels that will make jet fuel out of animal fat.

This article on the cleantech.com web site says the two will turn 2.3 billion pounds of animal fat into 75 million gallons of biodiesel a year:

Tyson announced that it would build the first biodiesel plant under its venture with Tulsa, Okla.’s Syntroleum (Nasdaq: SYNM) on a site in Louisiana, citing the area’s proximity to feedstocks, transportation, and the Barksdale Air Force Base, which has three squadrons of B-52 bombers.

“We’ve met all of the standards that have been set in the preliminary testing for synthetic fuels, and we’ve contracted with the Air Force for our next set of fuels for further testing.”

Construction on the biodiesel plant will start next year with production expected in 2010.

Lobbyists for the European Union and the National Biodiesel Board have been working Congress hard over the issue of tax credits.

This article from The Hill.com says EU officials say the tax credit just allows American biodiesel to be dumped in Europe while the NBB argues the incentives are needed to support the alternative fuel:

At issue are increased U.S. exports of biodiesel to Europe, which EU officials argue are displacing European crops that would otherwise be converted into biodiesehttps://energy.agwired.com/wp-admin/upload.php?style=inline&tab=upload&action=&ID=&post_id=-1194925751&paged
Uploadl in European countries. EU Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson raised the issue with Senate Agriculture Committee Chairman Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) and U.S. Trade Representative Susan Schwab during his visit last week, according to an EU official.

Denying the tax credit to biodiesel that is exported would close the free flow of trade, according to the NBB, endangering a U.S. industry that has made tremendous strides in recent years. NBB CEO Joe Jobe argues this would create a “serious disincentive” for the U.S. industry.

European biodiesel producers say much of the biodiesel sent to Europe is made entirely from U.S. crops, and U.S. producers add a splash of petroleum to to qualify for the tax biodiesel blending tax credit.

The NBB is fighting a similar measure that is allowing biodiesel producers from Indonesia and Malaysia ship biodiesel to a U.S. port for a “splash” of petroleum, at which point the blenders’ tax credit is pocketed and the finished product dashes off to Europe. The Europeans aren’t happy about this practice, either, but see the American biodiesel as a bigger threat.

By-products of the biodiesel production process from Imperium Renewables’s Grays Harbor, WA refinery are going into some countertops.

This story in the Grays Harbor (WA) The Daily World says Paneltech International is using recycled paper with some kind of resin product from Imperium:

Paneltech president Roy Nott said the goal is to create a petroleum-free resin to produce its countertops and other materials.

Martin Tobias, Imperium’s chief executive officer, said he was “pleased that we have a way to put our process byproducts to good use — especially with a company that shares our ideals and is building products that are environmentally friendly.”

Both Imperium and Paneltech are part of the Grays Harbor sustainability plan.

Maryland’s State Highway Administration will be moving those white snowdrifts off the gray concrete of the state’s roads running on the green fuel of biodiesel.

This story on the Examiner.com web site says it’s part of the state’s annual gearing up for winter:

SHA’s fleet will use biodiesel fuel in all its trucks this year. Each tank will contain 5 percent of the mostly soybean-oil fuel, and officials hope to have a 20 percent concentration in the coming years.

Forecasters say this winter shouldn’t be too bad. Of course, you KNOW what that means… lots of snow. At least you can count on the biodiesel.