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Owensboro Grain is the latest company to join the ranks of biodiesel producers with the opening of its 50-million-gallon-a-year biodiesel plant.

This article on Grainnet.com says the biodiesel operation is a natural progression for the 101-year-old company that started out as a small grain merchant:

The company started out shipping corn on barges, according to John Wright, vice president of strategic planning and development, and a fourth-generation family operator of Owensboro Grain.

“I believe my great-grandfather and grandfather would be extremely proud.”

The company produces 75 million gallons of soybean oil a year, so its feedstock supply seems to be in good shape right now.

The National Biodiesel Board says there are now 151 biodiesel plants across the country pumping $24 million into the U.S. economy.

A biodiesel start-up in Southern California is getting $8 million in low-cost funding from the State of California. American Biodiesel, Inc. started building a plant at the Port of Stockton in April and will be doing business as a company called Community Fuels.

This article in the Los Angeles Times says the biodiesel will be sold to wholesalers, including some that deal with retailers in Northern California:

State Treasurer Bill Lockyer lauded the state’s move to assist the renewable fuel company.

She expects annual production to double to 15 million gallons after the first year, with further expansion to follow if warranted.

Midwestern soybean oil will be used to start, and officials hope to go to a locally-grown source such as mustard seed oil or canola oil.

Most people would agree, one of the smartest places in the country (and on the Earth, for that matter) is the Massachusetts Institute of Technology… better known as MIT. Well, the school is more than just smart… it’s green!

A story in MIT’s online newspaper, The Tech, says the school is already running its shuttle buses on ultra-low sulfur diesel and is now looking at switching to biodiesel:

In April, the Biodiesel@MIT student group won a $25,000 grant through the Ecomagination Challenge sponsored my mtvU and GE, allowing them to purchase a biodiesel processor. The processor will convert used vegetable oil from dining halls into biodiesel fuel that eliminates sulfur dioxide emissions and produces 68 percent less carbon dioxide than petroleum-based alternatives, according to the group’s Ecomagination proposal.

According to Sara A. Barnowski ’10 who worked on the biodiesel project as part of a summer UROP, the program is trying to find space on campus for the fuel processor. “We’re still hoping to get the biodiesel processor installed by the end of IAP,” she said. The current MIT shuttles will not require any modifications to run on biodiesel, Barnowski said.

Organizers had hoped to have the filling station up and running by the beginning of this school year, but red tape has delayed it a bit. They expect it will become a reality in the near future.

The state of Alabama and the city of Montgomery (AL) have teamed up to produce biodiesel from used cooking oil for the city’s and the state agriculture department’s trucks.

This press release from the Alabama ag department says the announcement came during a joint press conference with Agriculture & Industries Commissioner Ron Sparks and Montgomery’s Mayor Bobby Bright:

“I can think of no better way to help clean our environment and fuel our trucks and heavy equipment at the same time,” said Sparks. “Our ability to make biodiesel right here in Montgomery is a significant step toward keeping our landfills and sewer systems free of used cooking oils and protecting our energy security.

“Commissioner Sparks contacted me and offered this great opportunity that was just too good to turn down,” said Bright. “This process is working in several other cities across the state and we are extremely pleased that we can put this into action for Montgomery’s citizens.”

Officials are turning the used cooking oil into the clean-burning B20 – 20 percent biodiesel and 80 percent conventional diesel. Not only is it god for emissions, it will keep that much used cooking oil out of area landfills.