One of the priorities of the National Biodiesel Board is to represent biodiesel at industry events, and this fall was packed full of important meetings, conferences and trade shows. NBB staff continues to participate in events across the country including policy discussions, fleet conferences, regional U.S. DOE Clean Cities events, sustainability workshops and many others. These events offer opportunities to share information about NBB programs, to promote biodiesel to related industries, and to educate both the media and the general public.

The events cover a wide variety of audiences with a differing level of biodiesel knowledge. Discussions range from petroleum equipment compatibility in legacy equipment, to informing people where they can find biodiesel.

"Many of the questions we hear are either general information about biodiesel or very specific to some key issue," said NBB Communications and Member Specialist Kaleb Little, regarding recent events.

For example, at a fleet show in San Diego, attendees were very interested in California underground storage issues, while at a biotechnology conference in South Dakota people wanted to know about feedstock development and new production technologies.
Little attributed this difference to the specific audiences at each event, but emphasized the continued need for biodiesel outreach.

"We always get questions about cold flow properties, biodiesel handling, availability and sustainability topics, no matter where we are," Little added. "I think it confirms why we are out there talking to people about biodiesel."

Attending events and tradeshows is just one of the ways NBB represents the biodiesel industry and is a key part of an ongoing effort to educate fleet managers, decision makers and opinion leaders on the benefits of biodiesel.