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Just as Imperium Renewables is set to open the nation’s biggest biodiesel refinery with a 100-million-gallon-a-year plant in Washington state, there could be a contender out there that will produce three times as much annually.

This story on Inside Greentech.com says California-based SE-Energy has announced plans to build a 320-million-gallon-a-year biodiesel refinery at Chesapeake, Virginia:

To be situated on the southern branch of the Elizabeth River and operate around the clock, the Virginia Point Biodiesel facility planned by SE (“Smiling Earth”) Energy [ed.: a company with the most unusual logo we’ve seen in a long time] is expected to cost $532 million, all of which has already been financed, the company claims.

Proximity to major military bases was a main draw for locating in Chesapeake, as the company hopes to count the military among its future customers. But SE says it already has off-take agreements for its entire production.

SE Energy officials say their process doesn’t produce wastewater or any air emissions.

Groundbreaking is planned for this summer with completion in early 2008.

Biodiesel giant Imperium Renewables is on schedule to open a 100-million-gallon-a-year biodiesel refinery next month at Gray’s Harbor in Washington state… although there’s been some rumors there might be delays .

This article in the Seattle Post-Intelligencer explains the mixup seems to be a matter of when the party to celebrate the opening will be:

Imperium spokesman John Williams said the company has decided to hold its grand opening celebration in August in order to accommodate the schedules of politicians and other dignitaries. But he said the plant itself is “on course” to open in July.

Imperium is planning a big event for the ribbon cutting on the $73 million facility, which the company is calling the largest biodiesel plant in the U.S.

In fact, the article hints that they might be saving time for President Bush to attend.

A report from the Korean Energy Economics Institute (KEEI) says, as early as 2011, biodiesel will cost less than its petroleum counterpart.

This story from the English-language version of Dong-A.com says the report is titled “Prospects on the Economic Feasibility of Biodiesel and Improving the Support System.” Right now in Korea, biodiesel costs about $.87 per liter to produce… compared to light oil at about $.64 per liter. But that is about to change:

It is estimated that the production cost of biodiesel will drop to ($.73) per liter by 2011, providing greater economic feasibility than light oil – the production cost of which will be ($.77). This prospect is based on the preposition that the price of oil will continue to rise, and that the amount of biodiesel supplied will increase from the current 0.5% of light oil consumption to 5.5% gradually by 2017.

“Biodiesel will become economically feasible between 2011 and 2015,” says Bae Jeong-hwan, a researcher at KEEI. “It is necessary to maintain its exemption from transportation taxes until 2010, and then begin lifting it gradually from 2011.”

Another report by KEEI says that ethanol won’t stay economically feasible if the price of a barrell of oil drops below $50.

Iowa-based Renewable Energy Group has broken ground on what will be a 60-million-gallon-a-year biodiesel plant in Emporia, Kansas.

This story is from the Emporia Gazette:

Actual construction work will begin in about two weeks, according to Chief Executive Officer Jeff Stroburg. The company expects to have the $70 million plant up and running by September or October of 2008. Once completed, it will be capable of making 60 million gallons of biodiesel fuel a year, using soybean oil supplied by Bunge.

“You can name just about any state in the union and biodiesel from this plant will probably find its way there eventually,” Stroburg told an audience of around 60 people at the ceremony.

This is the second announcement in two weeks for REG, as company officials said last week they were starting construction of another 60 MGY plant near New Orleans.

The world’s first biodiesel plant using algae as its feedstock is set to open within a year at a location in Alabama.

This story on Checkbiotech.org says the CEO of energy company PetroSun, Inc. has been working for some time to build the plant fueled with pond scum:

Gordon M. LeBlanc Jr., CEO of PetroSun Inc., believes America’s energy future lies not beneath the sands of the Middle East, but on top of ponds across Alabama and the Southeast.

The Phoenix (Arizona)-based company has spent years and hundreds of thousands of dollars, some of it in Lee County, trying to perfect the technology of drawing oil from pond algae to produce biodiesel fuel.

LeBlanc, 55, said his considerable investment and work will pay off when the Alabama plant starts making 30 million gallons of biodiesel fuel a year. LeBlanc, a geologist, said plans call for similar facilities to be built in Arizona and Australia.

While he didn’t name a site where he might put the Alabama plant, a hint may be found in that much of the groundwork for the PetroSun algae initiative has been done on a farm just outside of Opelika, near Phenix City (Alabama).

Those close to the project say biodiesel is a better source for energy than ethanol, and algae is easier to grow than just about any other feedstock.

The first 50,000 gallons of biodiesel has rolled off the line at the new Momentum Biofuels, Inc. refinery at LaPorte, Texas.

This story posted on Grainnet.com says it cost less than 25 cents/gallon to build the facility, not including the costs for the building and land:

Management believes this CAPEX is significantly lower than what is typical in the industry and could permit the Company to achieve a higher than average return on investment.

“Having proven our technology, combined with the strength of our new management team, we are now ready for full-scale commercial production.”

Full scale production is expected to begin later this summer.

Meat-producing giant Tyson is making a bid to be a player in the burgeoning biodiesel market.

This story posted on the Meatingplace.com says Tyson has announced a joint venture with Syntroleum Corp., a Tulsa-based synthetic fuels technology company:

The move creates Dynamic Fuels LLC, which will produce synthetic fuels targeting the renewable diesel, jet and military fuel markets.

The first facility, expected to start construction in 2008 at a yet-to-be-determined site in the south central United States, will produce about 75 million gallons of synthetic fuel annually using a process patented by Syntroleum, with production set to begin in 2010.

The $150 million project adds to Tyson’s growing biodiesel ventures. You might remember last April, Tyson announced a partnership with ConocoPhillips to produce biodiesel. That partnership has drawn the ire of the National Biodiesel Board and some lawmakers who say the companies are trying to take advantage of a tax credit intended for up-and-coming biodiesel producers, not big oil companies (see my posts on April 18th and April 20th).