SECTIONS

HomeArticlesPodcastsJobs

July 2007

Issue CoverView Full Print Edition

Business Briefs

Two Million Mile Haul surpasses 500,000 miles

By

Columns

Tom Bryan

Editor's Note

By Tom Bryan

NBB In Sight

By Joe Jobe

Featured

Although soybean oil stocks are at near-record highs, prices are increasing because the market is reacting to anticipated demand based on the number of biodiesel plants that are set to go on line.

A Hard Row to Hoe

By Jerry W. Kram

Despite near-record soybean stocks, biodiesel producers are being pinched by high feedstock prices while diesel fuel remains relatively affordable. Projected demand from the biodiesel industry is sending the cost of raw materials through the roof.

Recycling for Renewables

By Nicholas Zeman

Rendering is not a topic generally discussed around the dinner table or over cocktails, but the industry is an important component of animal processing, recycling billions of pounds of material that would otherwise have no home. It also has a growing role in supplying low-cost feedstocks for renewable fuels.

Russ Read

Clearly Biodiesel

By Susanne Retka Schill

Sanimax's double distillation technique reportedly produces a super-clean biodiesel. The feedstock-neutral process allows the company to use everything from soy oil to low-cost animal fat and restaurant grease.

As the early wave of small, independent biodiesel producers is eclipsed by a deluge of bigger plants, leaders in the biodiesel industry, insurance companies and other invested parties are working to bring safety concerns-in particular, concerns for the safe handling, transport, and storage of methanol-to the forefront.

Biodiesel is moving into the world of posh consumer sport utility vehicles thanks to diesel engine conversion specialist Jonathan Goodwin. His fuel economy- and horsepower-enhanced vehicles have been featured on MTV's Pimp My Ride, sold on eBay and have now caught the attention of some high-profile figures, including California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Refined from low-cost animal fats through thermal depolymerization, renewable diesel is said to possess superior fuel properties and logistical advantages over methyl esters. Large-scale production of renewable diesel will soon be run by Big Oil, its profitability ensured at least for now by a credit originally intended for biodiesel. These issues have producers lobbying hard to keep the blender's credit in the methyl ester realm.

Sign up for our e-newsletter!
BBI International Logo

@ Copyright 2024 - BBI International - All rights reserved.