Biodiesel has cleared an important hurdle as it passed a vote that will establish standards for the green fuel.
The Subcommittee E of ASTM International, a group that establishes standards for a variety of things including fuels, has voted to recommend the passage of finished specifications for biodiesel blends. This press release from the National Biodiesel Board (NBB) says this paves the way for an expected positive vote before the full ASTM D02 Main Committee later this week:
* Finished specifications to include up to 5% biodiesel (B5) in the conventional petrodiesel specification (ASTM D975)
* Changes to the existing B100 biodiesel blend stock specification (ASTM D6751)
* A new specification for blends of between 6 percent biodiesel (B6) to 20 percent biodiesel (B20) for on and off road diesel.
In particular, automakers and engine manufacturers have highly anticipated the B6-to-B20 specification for more than five years. All three proposals were balloted to the D02 Main Committee for consideration at the semi-annual ASTM International (formerly the American Society for Testing and Materials) meeting being held in Vancouver this week. The Main Committee members will render their final votes this Thursday evening, June 19th.
“While it’s not over until the last vote is cast at the main committee Thursday, passage of these ballots is a sort of ‘rite of passage’ that the auto and petroleum industries have said they need in order to more fully support and endorse B20 and lower blends,” said Steve Howell, Chairman of the ASTM Biodiesel Task Force. “It is quite remarkable that the big oil companies and engine makers on the committee have now joined forces with the biodiesel industry to help approve these standards.”
“We addressed the issues and concerns with solid, scientific research,” said Joe Jobe, CEO of the National Biodiesel Board. “Without the tremendous amount of scientific data provided by independent organizations like Southwest Research Institute (SwRI), the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), the Coordinating Research Council (CRC) and others, and the cooperation of the petroleum and engine communities, this would not have been possible.”
In April 2004, POET began full production at an ethanol plant in Ashton. Electricity is generated by a natural gas-fired turbine, which requires approximately 16 percent less fuel than typical on-site thermal generation and purchased electricity. Based on this comparison, the system reduces carbon dioxide emissions by an estimated 18,900 tons per year, which is equivalent to removing the annual emissions from 3,100 cars or planting 3,900 acres of forest.
The East Kansas Agri-Energy dry mill ethanol plant in Garnett, Kan., began production in 2005. The steam turbine system generates approximately one-third of the facility’s electrical demands. It requires approximately 23 percent less fuel than typical on-site thermal generation and purchased electricity. Based on this comparison, the plant reduces carbon dioxide emissions by an estimated 14,500 tons per year, which is equivalent to removing the annual emissions from 2,400 cars or planting 3,000 acres of forest.
According to Dr. Robert Zubrin, author of “
“In the beginning of February of this year, ethanol consumption surpassed that of gasoline,” Joel Velasco of the Brazilian Sugar Cane Industry Association said during an update on Brazil’s ethanol industry at the 2008 Fuel Ethanol Workshop in Nashville Tuesday. “My friends, that is a big victory. The oil company now is in a corner.”
“One, would be to take pen to paper and write your own op-ed to your local paper and let them know what ethanol means to your company and your local community and begin to fight back,” said 
The ethanol industry is mad and they’re not going to take it anymore. 
With a ribbon cutting by ethanol industry representatives from the United States and Russia, the 2008 International Fuel Ethanol Workshop officially opened Monday evening in Nashville.