GREENFIELD,
Mass. --A
Masschusetts-based biodiesel company announced plans
Wednesday
that could make the alternative fuel more available and cost-efficient
across
the Northeast.
Northeast
Biodiesel president Lawrence Union said 75 percent of the biodiesel
his
company plans to start making will be sold to Biofuel Brokers, a Michigan
company
that will distribute the fuel to nearby refineries and wholesale
suppliers.
"The
mission here is to have biodiesel available on every street corner," Union
said.
But
that goal isn't about to happen overnight.
Northeast
Biodiesel still needs to build its production facility, which is
scheduled
to open in a Greenfield industrial park next spring. And by the end of
2006,
Union said the company will be ready to make about 5 million gallons of
biodiesel
a year from the recycled vegetable oil it's been buying from a New
York-based
business.
Biodiesel,
which can be used on its own or blended with petroleum-based diesel
fuel,
can be used as home heating oil and can power cars, trucks and farm
equipment
with diesel engines. It can be made from recycled vegetable oils or
soybeans.
Its
popularity has been growing since 1992 when Congress passed the Energy
Policy
Act to reduce the nation's dependency on foreign oil. It has since been
approved
by the federal Environmental Protection Agency as an alternative fuel.
Since
1999, biodiesel use nationwide has grown from 500,000 gallons to 25
million
gallons in 2004, according to Jenna Higgins, a spokeswoman for the
National
Biodiesel Board. There are 45 biodiesel production plants operating
across
the country, and 54 -- including Northeast Biodiesel -- that are planning
to
go online.
Currently,
only one company -- Bean Commercial Grease, in Belgrade, Maine -- is
making
biodiesel in New England.
That
means most of the biodiesel used in the Northeast is being imported from
other
states where the fuel is produced, a fact that drives up costs and reduces
regional
supplies.
By
distributing a locally produced product within the Northeast, the fuel's cost
and
availability should be more accessible, said Michael Cooper, president of
Biofuel
Brokers.
"This
region is getting most of its biodiesel from the Midwest," Cooper said.
"Regional
production and distribution is what's going to make this work." He
said
some biodiesel prices are now close to $3 a gallon in New England.
The
national average price of B-20 -- a diesel blend that contains 20 percent
biodiesel
-- is $2.38, about 17 cents higher than a gallon of petroleum-based
diesel,
Higgins said.
But
those in the biodiesel business don't see the higher cost as a stumbling
block
to the fuel's success. Reducing reliance on foreign oil and using a
cleaner
burning fuel are biodiesel's big selling points, they said.
"Biodiesel
demand is growing very rapidly in the Northeast and across the
country,"
Higgins said. "One of its strongest promises for use is in home
heating
oil. People see the prices of conventional oil going up, and they're
willing
to look at alternative fuels."
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Original link to
article: http://www.boston.com/news/local/rhode_island/articles/2005/09/28/biodiesel_producer_plans_to_make_alternative_fuel_more_available/