The National Biodiesel Board, the foremost advocate for the biodiesel industry in the U.S., has brought together some of the nation’s leaders to work on sustainable solutions for this country’s energy challenges.
A symposium in St. Louis this week featured the NBB’s Sustainability Task Force, a group put together last February at the National Biodiesel Conference & Expo in Orlando, Florida. This NBB press release says the meeting featured discussions of critical issues related to the promise of biofuels, including greenhouse gas emission models, biodiesel’s positive energy balance, and the development of next generation feedstocks:
“As America searches for solutions to our energy challenges, U.S. biodiesel is delivering with a cleaner and sustainable renewable fuel source,” said Emily Landsburg, Chair of the NBB’s Sustainability Task Force. “Biodiesel is already helping the nation make important strides toward energy independence and we will continue to explore new and promising practices.”
This week’s symposium included representatives from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, the American Soybean Association, the World Initiative for Soy in Human Health (WISHH) and the U.S. Department of Energy Clean Cities.
This week at the NBB’s fall board meeting, the board adopted several resolutions addressing sustainability. The resolutions pledge to continue to develop internal policies and support practices which promote the use of sustainable feedstocks and biodiesel production methods, and to actively engage in forums addressing global sustainability standards.
The NBB is also trying to counter what it calls “unsound and incomplete science which distorts the effects of biofuels” by providing accurate information about biodiesel to educate the public, elected leaders and the media. To that end, the board has launched a new web site, www.biodieselsustainability.com. Check it out!