May 15, 2013
BY Ron Kotrba
As alluded to in Renewable Energy Group’s first quarter earnings report, the mega U.S. biodiesel producer has signed a contract manufacturing agreement with Washington, Iowa-based Iowa Renewable Energy LLC. Under the 12-month contract, which went in to effect in March, REG is purchasing raw materials for the 30 MMgy multifeedstock plant and marketing biodiesel produced at IRE’s facility.
“We are pleased REG has chosen to work with Iowa Renewable Energy,” said Ron Lutovsky, IRE’s chief operations officer and chief financial officer. “Our focus on fuel specifications and our BQ-9000 processes are aligned with REG’s commitment to biodiesel quality.”
Advertisement
Advertisement
Biodiesel from the IRE facility will be used to meet growing national and regional demand according to Gary Haer, REG’s vice president of sales and marketing. “We are working closely with the IRE team to include their gallons with biodiesel from our existing REG plant network to fulfill new and existing contracts.”
“IRE’s processing technology allows REG to expand our diverse raw material procurement strategy as well as our transportation and logistics programs to meet our growing customer demand,” said Dave Elsenbast, REG’s vice president of supply chain management.
Advertisement
Advertisement
REG served as the general contractor and technology provider for the construction of the IRE facility, which began production in July 2007.
Iowa Renewable Energy LLC is owned by more than 500 individual investors represented by a board of directors. The plant runs 24 hours a day, seven days a week and employs 26 people. It utilizes a patented continuous flow technology.
The facility includes a pretreatment area for oils and fats, the production area where those oils and fats are turned into biodiesel, a tank farm for raw material and finished product storage; a load out and receiving area where trucks and railcars are loaded and unloaded; and an administration building that includes a board room, scale room and offices. Situated on the east side of Washington, Iowa, the site sits on the Canadian Pacific Railroad and is located approximately 25 miles from U.S. Interstate 80. The site is approximately 27 acres with additional acreage available to allow for possible future expansion.
Broco Energy on July 17 announced a new partnership with the Massachusetts Port Authority (Massport) to deliver and transition Massport's fuel tanks to renewable diesel across its various facilities.
Shell Aviation, Accenture, and Amex GBT on July 10 announced Avelia is in the process of evolving to an industry solution with independent data hosting and a multi-supplier model helping users access the GHG benefits of SAF.
The U.S EPA on July 17 released data showing more than 1.9 billion RINs were generated under the RFS during June, down 11% when compared to the same month of last year. Total RIN generation for the first half of 2025 reached 11.17 billion.
The U.S. EPA on July 17 published updated small refinery exemption (SRE) data, reporting that six new SRE petitions have been filed under the RFS during the past month. A total of 195 SRE petitions are now pending.
European biodiesel producer Greenergy on July 10 confirmed plans to shut down its biodiesel plant in Immingham, Lincolnshire, U.K. The company temporarily suspended operations at the facility earlier this year.