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Primafuel Inc. has gotten the green light from the Port of Sacramento, California to build a 60-million-gallon-a-year biodiesel plant. Check out this story in the Sacramento Bee:

Planned for 14 acres of port land along Industrial Boulevard in West Sacramento, the $60 million to $90 million facility would have nearly 10 times the production capacity of the largest existing biodiesel plant in California.

The plan still must pass through state and local environmental reviews, which have frequently delayed biofuel projects elsewhere in the state. Permitting is expected to take at least six months, followed by up to 18 months for construction. The plant is expected to eventually employ 70 workers.

The biorefinery’s opening could come at the right time. It would put it just upstream from a burgeoning market in the San Francisco Bay area. Check out my previous posts “Biodiesel for Frisco Buses” and “Greening the Gas Pumps.”

The National Biodiesel Board is expanding its presence in the nation’s capital. According to a press release on the NBB web site, the board is making its Washington, D.C. a full-service bureau with the addition of some key staff to work on legislative and regulatory issues:

Manning Feraci has accepted the position of Vice President of Federal Affairs and will direct the NBB’s Washington office. Feraci most recently served as the Chief of Staff to Congressman Kenny Hulshof (R-MO), who has been one of the primary champions of biodiesel in the U.S. House of Representatives. Feraci has more than 14 years of experience working for members of the U.S. House Ways and Means Committee, which has jurisdiction over tax and trade matters.

The NBB is also pleased to welcome Larry Schafer of Diamond Group, LLC, to its legislative and regulatory team as Senior Adviser. Schafer previously served as Vice President for both the Renewable Fuels Association and the National Council of Farmer Cooperatives, and performed various legal and legislative counsel roles for Congressman Earl Pomeroy (D-ND). He has significant expertise and background on policy matters relating to renewable fuels, and was instrumental in crafting and implementing both the Renewable Fuels Standard (RFS) and the Volumetric Ethanol Excise Tax Credit (VEETC).

Tom Hance, Janet Kopenhaver, and John Gordley of Gordley Associates will round out the legislative team working on biodiesel provisions in the 2007 Farm Bill. Tim Urban and Tara Bradshaw of Washington Council Ernst and Young, will specialize in tax and trade issues. Karen Edwards of KCE Public Affairs will provides public affairs and media relations support in Washington. Andrew Brandt will serves as a policy support analyst.

Meanwhile, NBB Director of Governmental Affairs Scott Hughes will move out of the DC office to the board’s headquarters in Missouri, where he will provide a greater focus on the organization’s state regulatory issues.

Detroit might have built its business on the gasoline engine, but biodiesel has gained an important foothold there.

This story in the Detroit News says Biodiesel Industries, Inc broke ground on a 20,000 square foot research, development, and production plant… the sixth one the California-based company’s has built in the country and its first one in Michigan:

The Detroit facility is scheduled to open by the end of fall and will employ 40 workers, from delivery truck drivers to sales people to researchers and engineers. Ten million gallons of biodiesel will be produced at the plant each year.

If that’s not green enough for you, Biodiesel Industries is working with NextEnergy, Chrysler and Michigan State University to acquire some Brownfield sites (areas contaminated with toxins) in the Metro Detroit area to put in crops that will eventually be turned into biodiesel. A site in Oakland County is already being tested.