An Illinois biodiesel company has bought a biodiesel refinery that had been mothballed. Blackhawk Biofuels, LLC, with $19.8 million in financial backing from the state of Illinois, has bought the 45-million-gallon-a-year biodiesel plant at Danville, Illinois.
This press release from Blackhawk’s web site says the company will upgrade the facility to accept a wider range of feedstocks in hopes of making it economically viable:
The improvements to the biodiesel plant, managed by Renewable Energy Group (REG), will enable it to produce biodiesel from animal fats as well as soybean oil, making it one of only a handful of plants nationwide with this capability. This ability will help ensure the plant’s profitability, create 15 new jobs and secure more than a hundred jobs at the Danville facility and the adjacent soy crushing plant, as well as approximately 75 construction jobs.
Blackhawk Biofuels will partner with Renewable Energy Group to operate the facility. REG, a leading biodiesel producer and marketer, will operate the Danville facility and market the plant’s biodiesel. Biodiesel production is expected to begin as early as this fall.
“We expect this plant will become a premier facility within the REG network,” said Renewable Energy Group Chief Operating Officer Daniel Oh. The plant has a secure raw material source, a skilled and motivated workforce, and an efficient distribution network. The planned upgrades will further enhance its market advantages.
The $19.8 million comes from the Illinois Finance Authority (IFA). Another $4.8 million in Opportunity Returns grants to construct the new plant have been made available through the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity (DCEO) and the Illinois Department of Transportation.
“As a business, we have always done everything we can to positively impact our customers and our economy,” stated Chris Barstow, president of Favorite Foods. “Now, we are taking steps to positively impact our environment. By investing in initiatives like a Biodiesel program, energy efficiencies in our new warehouse, and an expanded recycling program that will allow us to reduce waste exponentially, Favorite Foods can give back in a whole new way.”
A coalition of business, environmental and energy policy organizations advocating aggressive development of renewable energy will team up with members of Congress for the the 11th Annual Congressional Renewable Energy & Energy Efficiency EXPO + Forum, July 31st in Washington, DC.
“Rapid determination of EYP of corn can be a valuable step in improving ethanol plant efficiency,” said Dennis Thompson, ICIA chief executive officer. “ICIA recognizes the need for rapid measurement tools based on standardized reference lab methods. Our initial validation procedures have shown a strong correlation between the Pioneer EYP calibration and our laboratory method.”
“Fueling Revolution” is the theme for the 2008 Ethanol Conference and Trade Show being held August 12-14 at the Qwest Center in Omaha, Nebraska.
According to the company, Primafuel Solutions will deliver next-generation, market-ready technology solutions to the biofuels industry. By taking Primafuel’s advanced technology platforms to market, Primafuel Solutions is working with customers to facilitate the transition to more sustainable bio-refineries. The team’s initial offering is SMAART™Oil, a down-stream system that extracts more food and fuel from the same bushel of corn.
“Removing the tariff would not lower food prices,” said RFA president Bob Dinneen. “Such an action would halt development of new ethanol technologies and take the jobs and economic opportunity being generated by the domestic ethanol industry to foreign countries. I strongly encourage President Bush to recognize that skyrocketing oil prices play a far greater role in the complex issue of food prices than does ethanol and reject the efforts to remove the secondary tariff.”
Biofuels groups from the US, Canada, Brazil and Europe put aside their differences this past week to present a united front to world leaders meeting in Japan.
Nearly three years after Hurricane Katrina slammed into New Orleans, destroying a large portion of the city and trashing more than half of its 370 buses, the city is getting some public transportation fueled by biodiesel.