energy.agwired.com

“When, in the course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the bands which have connected them through an ineffective national energy policy, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation. We hold these truths to be self-evident that all men are created equal, but all sources of access to energy are not,” reads the Declaration of American Energy Independence.

The Declaration was signed last week during several Energy Patriots events held in Fort McHenry in Baltimore, MD; York, PA; and Philadelphia, PA. The event was sponsored by AmeriGeen, a Manheim-based biofuel supplier.

Several Energy Patriots were on hand including Don Lingle, an instructor with the Lancaster County Career and Technology Center who rode his biobike to the event in York. Not only has he built his own custom motorcycle to use biodiesel, but last year he helped his students build a biobike using a four-cylinder Volkswagen turbo engine that ran on 100 percent biodiesel produced from the cafeteria’s used cooking oil.

Lingle said in an interview with the York Daily Record, “It smells like the fair – the York Fair. When people drive behind you, they want to know where that smell is coming from.”

Also participating in the event was Tom Washburn, the president of Aero Energy, who three years ago began selling only energy products produced in America. These products include BioHeat, a home heating product that is blended with biodiesel and gaining traction in the Northeastern region of the country.

Washburn noted that it won’t be long until more cars and motorcycles begin to use biodiesel and he believes torque and power will be even better. “People are just afraid right now. They don’t want it to mess up their motorcycle,” he concluded.

A new large biofuel blending terminal is now open in St. Paul. Opened by Rosemont Clean Energies, they believe the facility is the only one of its kind and scale in the Upper Midwest. The “green” built, non waste generating terminal offers biofuel injection blending, is located next to a large-scale rail spur and has nearly a half million barrels of storage capacity. It can receive and ship products by rail, cars, trucks, tanks, and pipeline.

“Biofuels are here to stay,” said Tim Yocum, one of the principles and chief manager of Rosemount Clean Energies. “Canada just announced a 2 percent biodiesel requirement. Minnesota is going to 10 percent next spring. This new terminal will allow greater distribution of biofuels right where crops are grown and biofuels are produced.”

“Combine this with our refineries’ ability to produce ultra-low sulfur diesel from North Dakota and Canadian crude, and we have opened a huge channel for energy independence through local supply,” he added.

Rosemount says another advantage they offer is the efficient mechanism to actually test biodiesel in the marketplace.

“Initially, the industry struggled with the roll-out of biodiesel.The ability of this terminal to customize products through injection blending ensures greater accuracy and a consistent product that takes the reliability question of fuel out of the equation,” said Yocum.

“Now,” assures Yocum, “we can perfect biodiesel and additive blending in a highly efficient manner, collaborate with all parties to find an efficient medium to deliver new products to the marketplace, and offer marketers and energy users a range of high-performance products specific to their applications and market demands.”