Biodiesel giant Imperium Renewables is looking to get $345 million in investments in an initial public offering. You might remember Imperium from our previous posts about how the Seattle-based company is building a 100 million gallon a year refinery (Feb. 2nd) – one of the biggest in the nation – and how it secured a record $214 million investment (Feb. 21st) and how building the big refinery on the West Coast is helping that area’s economy (March 8th).
This story in the Seattle Times says the company is continuing to grow and will have more than 400 million gallons of production capacity by the end of next year:
In a regulatory filing today, Imperium also said it has a contractual commitment from one large industrial user to buy at least 18 million gallons of biodiesel annually for approximately five years. It said that is “the single largest long-term biodiesel sales contract to an end user in the U.S.”
Biodiesel consumption is growing rapidly in the U.S., but so is production capacity. Use increased from 500,000 gallons in 1999 to an estimated 250 million gallons last year, according to Imperium’s filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
The stock is going to be sold under the proposed ticker symbol IMPR. Morgan Stanley, Lehman Brothers, and UBS Investment Bank will underwrite the offerings.
It was an afternoon of dodging the drivers of cars, trucks and SUVs. All were eager to find their place at the pumps that offered E10 fuel for just $2.25. Finally, I bumped into IndyCar Driver Scott Sharp. He seemed just as enthusiastic as the consumers. Scott said he thinks the growing use of ethanol is exciting. He said the IndyCar Series deserves a lot of credit for being on the frontier of the ethanol industry. He pointed out that the transition to 100 percent ethanol was a big transformation for the series. Ultimately, Scott said ethanol offers more power in the cars’ engines and better fuel economy. He asked, if IndyCar Drivers can be out running 230 miles an hour on ethanol, “why can’t every car in America?” As Scott dished on the benefits of ethanol, he also freely doled out his autograph:
I made good time at the Gas America promotion and managed to keep a steady pace in tracking down the drivers. My chat with IndyCar Driver Sarah Fisher shed more light on what ethanol is doing for the 
In the consumer frenzy to get discounted ethanol gas at GasAmerica, I managed to flag down IndyCar Driver Jeff Simmons as he pumped fuel and passed out autographs. Jeff said a lot of motorists don’t know where to get ethanol blended fuel. He added that, often, consumers are putting an ethanol blend in their car and don’t even know it. He said EPIC is working to educate motorists about ethanol and where they can get the fuel:
On my first pit stop on the road with Chuck, I caught up with EPIC and IndyCar drivers Jeff Simmons, Scott Sharp, and Sarah Fisher at GasAmerica on LaFayette Road in Indianapolis. EPIC teamed up with GasAmerica and offered E10 fuel, a blend of 10 percent ethanol and 90 percent gasoline to consumers for $2.25 a gallon. They IndyCar drivers manned the pumps alongside EPIC personnel and scribbled autographs for consumers. The special rate was available from 11:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m, but motorists I talked to said they were lining up around the parking lot as early as 8:00 a.m. David Petros joked that he came out to celebrate his birthday. He said he figured he would save some money and fill up his tank. David added that ethanol is moving the fuel industry in the right direction. Click here to hear more:
Another consumer, Kristian Gibson, said she’s counting on ethanol to be more cost-effective and says she’s hoping that motorists will get a fairer price for fuel as the ethanol industry continues to grow. Kristian says her job requires a lot of travel around Marion County. For her, saving money on tank of gas is worth a couple hours for the wait. Hear what else she has to say about ethanol and its impact on the price of fuel:
It was a long day out at the 
Activities we’re covering here in Indianapolis got started with a pump promotion at 
I’d like to introduce you to Laura McNamara. She’s the newest contributing editor to Domestic Fuel and other ZimmComm New Media news blogs. Laura is with me here in Indianapolis this week helping with our coverage of the Indy 500 and all events related to ethanol.
It’s race week in Indianapolis and that means working with the 
“It’s more than 300,000 megawatts of good wind power. The problem is, as with certain things in life, the wind energy is not where the populations are,” he said.