Biodiesel maker Nova Biosource Fuels has agreed to purchase 50% of the biodiesel produced from a Greenville, Mississippi plant that is a joint ventire between Nova and Scott Petroleum.
In a company press release, Nova says the plant will be capable of producing 20 million gallons of biodiesel a year when it is finished this summer:
“We selected Nova’s technology based upon our confidence in the technology and the entire Nova team,” said Solon Scott, President of Scott Petroleum. “Nova’s ability to utilize multiple feedstocks, produced right here in the Delta, and its ability to generate outstanding fuel quality gave us the confidence to invest and become a producer in the emerging biodiesel industry. This tolling and off-take agreement is an extension of our continuing partnership with Nova, and we are very pleased to embark on this new opportunity.”
“Our relationship with Solon and Scott Petroleum has continued to evolve largely in part because of Solon’s vision to vertically integrate from the farm to fuel,” said Kenneth T. Hern, Nova’s Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. “Scott Petroleum has demonstrated leadership with an outstanding and successful track record as a petroleum distributor in the Delta for many years. We are very pleased to see that the continued benefits of our long-term alliance with Scott Petroleum will produce biodiesel utilizing our proprietary technology while granting us 50 percent of all production from the plant.”
The plant will use catfish oil, poultry fat and other rendered products from the area.
Nova is building three to four biodiesel refineries able to produce 160 to 240 million gallons of biodiesel fuel each year. In the next few years, Nova intends to have seven 20-60 million-gallon-a-year refineries up and running.
“Senator Lincoln is again blazing trails for biodiesel to boost America’s energy security, economy and the environment, including climate change,” said NBB Chief Executive Officer Joe Jobe who was in Washington, D.C. for the bill’s introduction. “Extending the tax incentive gives confidence for continued biodiesel industry growth.” 
Despite a 100 percent increase in corn prices due to higher ethanol demand, the overall impact on food prices is expected to be minimal, according to an agriculture department economist.
Senators Tom Harkin (D-IA) and Richard Lugar (R-IN) have introduced legislation that would direct the U.S. Department of Energy to study the feasibility of transporting ethanol by pipeline from the Midwest to the East and West coasts.
Meanwhile, 
Wisconsin already has an aggressive plan for renewable energy. Governor Jim Doyle wants to replace 25% of the energy used in the state with energy from renewable sources, such as biodiesel and ethanol, by the year 2025 (
Senator John Thune (R-SD) is asking federal officials to approve the use of a 20 percent blend of ethanol in vehicles.
Last year I covered what was then known as the 
“We have an opportunity to really bring about an economic renaissance to rural Illinois by the increased use of ethanol and biodiesel,” Boland said. “We know there are a number of new (ethanol and biodiesel) plants that are being constructed around the state. … What this does is, it brings hundreds of construction workers to small towns … and a permanent work force of anywhere from 35 to 75 workers.” 
Those are the words of Will Steger, famed Arctic explorer, now on a four-month-long, 1200-mile expedition across the Canadian Arctic’s Baffin Island. 
So what is Steger trying to prove as today he and his sleddog team approach Iqaluit, Canada through -50 degree wind chills? Ironically enough, global warming. 
The ethanol industry, through the