Renewable Energy Products plant begins production
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Renewable Energy Products LLC, a company formed by Energy Merchant Corp. two years ago to focus on biodiesel production and marketing, has its first facility on line.
Marking the company's first completed project, a 10 MMgy plant in Santa Fe Springs, Calif., is located on the former site of Powerine Oil Refinery. Renewable Energy Products has made multiple improvements, utilizes the existing infrastructure of large storage tanks and pipelines which remained after the sale and dismantling of the refinery components. The California EPA/California Air Resources Board awarded Renewable Energy Products a $630,000 grant under its Alternative Fuel Incentive Program (AFIP) to fund the project.
Renewable Energy Products Senior Vice President Frank Benson said the plant, which currently employs 18 people, will use animal fat as its primary feedstock. "During the winter months we may blend soybean oil in order to better the cold flow properties of the biodiesel," he added.
In the future, Renewable Energy Products plans to build similar multiple scalable biodiesel production facilities at sites with pre-existing structures throughout the United States. Benson said the company has received a harbor development permit to develop a 10 MMgy biodiesel plant at the Port of Long Beach, Calif., and are undergoing an environmental study for an additional biodiesel plant to be built in the Port of Redwood City, Calif., which is also known as South San Francisco Bay.
Renewable Energy Products, a full producing member of the National Biodiesel Board, plans to market its biodiesel and crude glycerin byproduct through its subsidiary, REP-LA1 LLC, to a variety of customers including downstream petroleum companies.
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