High Plains Bioenergy (HPB) celebrated the grand opening of HPB – St. Joe Biodiesel this week in St. Joseph, Missouri. The plant, which was just purchased by the subsidiary of Seaboard Foods last month, will use vegetable oils as the primary feedstock to produce up to 28 million gallons of biodiesel annually.
The grand opening celebration marks High Plains Bioenergy’s second venture to produce biodiesel that is a renewable, clean-burning fuel produced from natural oils, such as vegetable oils, and can be used with petroleum-based diesel fuel in existing diesel engines with little or no modification. HPB is a subsidiary of Seaboard Foods.
“The addition of HPB – St. Joe Biodiesel further solidifies our dedication to finding alternative energy sources,” said Gary Louis, executive vice president of Seaboard Foods. “This plant will help us continue to maximize our marketing opportunities by offering a variety of product options to our current and future customer base by combining the St. Joseph plant’s production along with the production at the Guymon, Okla., biodiesel plant. The addition of HPB – St. Joe Biodiesel will offer customers a wider range of biodiesel products for different environmental conditions while expanding our distribution footprint.”
Total biodiesel production capacity will be approximately 60 million gallons annually. Limited production is underway in St. Joseph and product is currently available by truck and rail.