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U.S. Senator Charles Grassley (R-IA) was among those attending a a grand opening and open house this week at Magellan Midstream Partners’ biodiesel blending facility in Mason City, Iowa.

This article in the Mason City Globe Gazette says the new facility is the first biodiesel blending system located inside a petroleum terminal in Iowa:

“This is a perfect example of cooperation between energy companies — of companies working arm in arm instead of in competition with one another to solve a problem,” said Grassley.

Magellan plays a significant role in Iowa’s biodiesel infrastructure as the majority of diesel in Iowa flows through its system, and this terminal to blend biodiesel is a big part of that.

Don Wellendorf, president and chief executive officer of Magellan, says the Clear Lake facility is part of the “critical infrastructure in the local, state and regional economy.”

“Our investment in biodiesel blending infrastructure at the Clear Lake terminal is underpinned by customer demand and the renewable fuel policy requirements passed by Congress and the state legislatures in Iowa and Minnesota,” he said.

Chicago-based biodiesel refinery builder Benefuel, Inc. will build the world’s first industrial-scale biodiesel refinery that uses a novel solid catalyst to convert low-grade fats and vegetable oils into biodiesel. The 10-million-gallon plant is to be built in Seymour, Indiana in conjunction with Seymour Biofuels.

This company press release says the plant will eliminate the need for water in the refining process and produces a market-ready glycerin by-product:

The catalyst, developed in collaboration with leading chemical engineers from India’s prestigious National Chemical Laboratory, can turn virtually any vegetable oil or high free fatty acid (FFA) animal fat directly into biodiesel without the need for costly pre-processing.

Thanks to the unique nature of the Benefuel catalyst, the operators of the new Seymour plant will realize significant production savings through the purchase of the lowest-cost feedstock. As an added economic benefit, the glycerin by-product of the Seymour refinery will have an initial purity of more than 98%, making it market-ready for use in other applications.

Production is expected to start later in 2008.

Pennsylvania has opened a 45-million-gallon-a-year biodiesel plant on the shores of Lake Erie… hence the company name Lake Erie Biofuels.

This press release from the State of Pennsylvania’s Department of Environmental Protection says the plant will help the state shed its $30-billion-a-year foreign energy dependence while putting more people to work:

“The opening of this facility also shows that companies are eager to invest and grow in Pennsylvania. With our commitment to renewable energy technologies, more and more investors and developers are looking to Pennsylvania. We’ve become a leading destination for alternative and renewable energy projects, and with Governor Rendell’s Energy Independence Strategy, we’ll see an additional $3.5 billion in new economic growth and 13,000 new jobs,” [said Department of Environmental Protection Regional Director Kelly Burch].

Rendell’s PennSecurity Fuels Initiative requires the state to make and use nearly 1 billion gallons of biofuels when certain production capacities are met. It includes a 10 percent ethanol and 2 percent mandates with the biodiesel mandates going up to 20 percent when a 300-million-gallon annual biodiesel production level is attained. The Energy Independence Strategy also invests $850 million toward developments in Pennsylvania’s alternative and renewable energy industries.

A bi-partisan piece of legislation has been introduced that will dedicate some of the nation’s diesel supply to biodiesel. The Biodiesel Promotion and Quality Assurance Act of 2007, sponsored by U.S. Representatives Baron Hill (D-IN), John Shimkus (R-IL), Nydia Velazquez (D-NY), Kenny Hulshof (R-MO), Stephanie Herseth-Sandlin (D-SD) and Sam Graves (R-MO), puts aside some of the 60 billion gallons of diesel produced in the U.S. each year for biodiesel and other biobased replacement diesel fuels.

This press release from the National Biodiesel Board says it recognizes biodiesel’s contribution as a blend component to diesel fuel as well as creating a minimum usage requirement for biodiesel and “biobased replacement diesel” that increases from 450 million gallon in 2008 to 1.25 billion gallons in 2012:

“It is critical that we move America away from foreign fuels and become energy independent,” said Representative Hill. “Biodiesel and other biobased diesel replacements offer a domestic fuel source that can be used right now to displace foreign oil. It is important for our country to move forward in an economically and environmentally responsible way, and this legislation does just that.”

The legislation has gained the praise of the NBB:

“This legislation is good for America’s energy security, economic growth and the environment because it would set a floor for biodiesel demand,” said Joe Jobe, NBB CEO. “The young U.S. biodiesel industry can do more to expand America’s domestic refining capacity if this legislation is enacted. The biodiesel industry looks forward to working with Congress to pass a renewable requirement in the nation’s diesel pool as part of any effort to expand the Renewable Fuels Standard.”