Iowa Biodiesel Company to Build 12 Plants - 8/17/06 - BioDiesel

A dozen new biodiesel refineries are to be built by a western Iowa corporation by the year 2010 increasing jobs by approximately 500.

Renewable Energy Group Inc stated Monday that it has come up with $100 million that will boost its biodiesel production to 640 million gallons annually.

Locations and total cost have not been set, however five of these plants will be in Iowa.  This company will own, build, and manage plants.

This development will include unions with many other companies helping to increase new jobs. 

The refineries will boost the market for soybean farmers in Iowa by using soybean and animal fat to create the biodiesel.  These new plants will have a workload of 30 to 60 million gallons per year

The governor of Iowa stated that this is also momentous for our nation by beginning to break the dependence on foreign oil and energy supplies.

“So, this investment isn’t just about dollars and cents, it’s not just profits and jobs, it’s also about American security,” says Gov. Tom Vilsack.

Last year alone, our country only made use of 75 million gallons of biodiesel compared to 62 billion that was used in diesel fuel.  Although a minuscule fraction of the diesel fuel burned, that has increased greatly from 1999, where only 500,000 gallons of the soybean-based fuel was burned.

The use of this biodiesel blend will produce lower emissions from diesel engines, something the federal government is starting to regulate.  So far it is only available at approximately 600 pumps nationwide.

Three plants already produce 72 million gallons of biodiesel for REG.  Trying to obtain a capacity of 120 million gallons annually, three other plants are in the process of being built and three are fundraising right now to begin financing of these plants.

There are signed agreements for new plants with the St. Louis-based Bunge North America.  They are the top oilseed supplier that handles soybeans required to produce the biodiesel.  Roughly about 400 million bushels of soybeans are required to formulate 640 million gallons of biodiesel a year.

Transportation of this biodiesel will include the rail transportation networks and maybe the pipeline distribution that are already in place.   ED & F Man Holdings LTd., an international trading company, is another partner in this endeavor.  Together with Bunge they have supplied a segment of the $100 million raised for the project.

Pitt, D. (2006, Aug)   Iowa Biodiesel Co. to Build 12 Plants
[Online].  Available http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/fn/4118462.html

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