Blue Sun reinvests biodiesel tax credit revenue into technology
Photo: Steve Bond, Blue Sun Biodiesel
January 3, 2013
BY Ron Kotrba
With passage of the retroactive $1 per gallon biodiesel tax credit in the fiscal cliff legislation, the payout can provide critical capital to producer-blenders seeking to optimize production facilities or improve process technologies.
Blue Sun Biodiesel CEO Leigh Freeman said his company will immediately invest payments from credits earned in 2012 to advance its next-generation biofuel technologies. “We’ll use this opportunity to meet the intent of incentive programs such as the biodiesel tax credit and fully commercialize our emerging technologies to better the industry,” Freeman said.
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Specifically, Blue Sun is investing in a new enzymatic processing technology at its 30 MMgy biodiesel refinery in St. Joseph, Mo., which, according to the company, will reduce net production costs by more than 90 cents per gallon and will allow the plant to process a wide range of nonfood feedstocks. Blue Sun was not ready to provide any more details on the technology yet, although a company representative told Biodiesel Magazine that more information on the technology would be released in coming weeks.
“Blue Sun thanks Congress for including such important legislation in the bill,” Freeman said. “Supporting new and growing industries like alternative energy is a key role our government can play in keeping the U.S. the dominant player in business and technology worldwide. This support provides stability, which in turn creates certainty for our investors current and future.”
The company also noted that federal support like the biodiesel blenders tax credit works efficiently with private alternative energy investment in the commercialization of advanced technologies.
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Blue Sun has created more than 30 new jobs and employs 50 people, with the majority supporting the new technology implementation at the St. Joe biodiesel production facility.
Blue Sun is a technology commercialization company specializing in acquiring and proving promising research breakthroughs in the field of liquid transportation fuels and bringing them to commercial production. The current focus of Blue Sun is in the application and commercialization of advanced technologies in the alternative fuels industry to build near and long-term competitive advantage with a target of producing low-cost, consistently high-quality fuel from nonfood feed stocks. Blue Sun’s ultimate goal is to reduce production costs to allow commercial production without government support. Current projects in this area include renewable diesel technology development; military biojet fuels; plant technology upgrades at the Blue Sun St. Joe Refinery; and the acquisition of first-generation biodiesel facilities to upgrade using advanced Blue Sun technology.
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