energy.agwired.com

GreenHunter Biofuels has announced that its Houston biodiesel refinery has hit 50 percent of its 105 million gallon per year capacity at the nation’s largest biodiesel refinery.

This company press release says the plant uses mostly animal fats, primarily poultry fat and beef tallow to make the green fuel:

GreenHunter BioFuels is currently contracting for sale its first 4000 metric ton parcel of B100, or 100% biodiesel, to a purchaser with an anticipated ultimate delivery into the international markets.

Commenting on GreenHunter BioFuels’ recent operational achievements, Bruce Baughman, Senior Vice President of Engineering and Technology, stated, “Successfully achieving 50% of nameplate capacity at such a highly technical refinery is a testimony not only to the quality of this unique asset, but to the outstanding work conducted by our plant personnel during this start-up period. By designing a refinery that has the ability to take a multitude of different feedstocks, GreenHunter has the ability to source and procure the least expensive raw materials possible around the world. This allows our Company to achieve the greatest possible operating margins within the business today. We believe the distilled, ‘water-white’ quality performance of the GreenHunter Biofuels facility will contribute to a new quality standard in the global biodiesel marketplace.”

GreenHunter Biofuels is a subsidiary of GreenHunter Energy, a company focused on renewable energy sources, such as wind, hydro, geothermal, solar, biofuels, and biomass power plants. It has plans for wind energy projects in Montana, New Mexico, Wyoming, California, Texas, and China.

A new study from Purdue University shows that buses that have been running 10 percent biodiesel are reducing pollution without any loss of fuel economy.

This press release from the school says the report, prepared by Gregory Shaver, an assistant professor of mechanical engineering, doctoral student Dave Snyder and undergraduate Chris Satkoski, found that upping that mix to 20 percent would have even greater results:

The university’s Technical Assistance Program at the Purdue Research Park arranged for the engineers to prepare the study for IndyGo Public Transportation Corp., which provides mass transit in Indianapolis. The report was presented to Indianapolis Mayor Greg Ballard earlier this month at Purdue’s Ray W. Herrick Laboratories in a visit organized by the university’s Energy Center.

“In our assessment, we would recommend going to B20,” Shaver said. “We also saw a significant benefit to using the diesel-electric hybrid buses, so we would recommend increasing the number of hybrids in the fleet. The best bang for your buck might be running B20 in hybrid buses, depending on the initial cost of hybrids compared to standard buses.”

The researchers say switching to B20 could save Indianapolis 360,000 gallons a year, while significantly reducing its carbon footprint.

The National Biodiesel Board has teamed up with two companies to launch a pilot program to show how much lower emissions are using biodiesel. NBB, along with Chicago-based Indigenous Energy, LLC, developers of emissions tracking systems, and Los Angeles-based States Logistics, a fleet and logistics company using clean technology, to put together the six-month over-the-road test.

This press release from the NBB says when they are finished, they’ll put together a report that quantifies States Logistics’ emissions and carbon dioxide (CO2) reduction from using biodiesel:

So far, results for May and June showed a 16.5 ton reduction in CO2 emissions.

States Logistics uses B5 and B99 in seven 2007 trucks, running on average approximately 27,000 miles a month. The pilot program takes into account several areas to measure carbon footprint including vehicle type, distance traveled, number of gallons used, percentage of biodiesel used and biodiesel feedstock type, such as soybean oil. The end result is a report on total CO2 emitted from both the petroleum diesel and biodiesel, CO2 reduction from using biodiesel and the quantifiable cost to offset petroleum CO2. The results will be presented at the Mid-America Trucking Show in March.

Eventually, the information can be used by companies to sell carbon offsets. But for now, States Logistics is using it to demonstrate to its customers why it uses biodiesel and how it is good for the Earth… a goal the NBB has in mind:

“When we announced the BioTrucker Fuel Card last year at GATS, we thought about next steps for providing value to cardholders,” said Tom Verry, Director of Outreach and Development for NBB. “This CO2 reduction reporting could become a value-add report for fleets to use as a publicity tool for their customers.”