Scotsman.com Business - Food, Drink & Agriculture - Green light for biodiesel plant

Scotsman.com Business - Food, Drink & Agriculture - Green light for biodiesel plant: "Green light for biodiesel plant
FORDYCE MAXWELL

PLANNING approval has been given for a biodiesel factory at Rosyth, with an annual potential to handle 250,000 tonnes of oilseed rape.
That is more than double Scotland's present oilseed production, 120,000 tonnes from this harvest.
But John Forbes of East Coast Viners, is one of the main partners in the proposed development, said of planning approval by Fife Council: 'This is another welcome part of the jigsaw, but there is no precise timetable to build the plant.'
He did not think that the recent dramatic fall in world oil prices had made biodiesel production a less attractive proposition.
Government, he said, had made it clear that biodiesel from crops was still an important part of its renewable energy policy: 'They will still want biodiesel.'
Estimated cost of the new plant, not confirmed by Forbes, is about £47 million and it could employ up to 50 staff. "

Cleaner biodiesel powering city's vehicles | www.tucsoncitizen.com ®

Cleaner biodiesel powering city's vehicles | www.tucsoncitizen.com ®: "The city has begun a program to reduce the choking fumes of diesel vehicles, all the while saving money.
A new federal regulation dramatically limiting the amount of sulfur allowed in diesel fuel goes into effect Sunday. It is intended to further help rid the air of harmful tailpipe emissions.
After months of testing, Tucson's City Fleet Services Division started last week to convert to a blend of 80 percent petroleum diesel fuel and 20 percent vegetable oil, usually soy oil, said Colleen Crowninshield, manager of the Clean Cities program for the Pima Association of Governments.
That's good for the environment because it is cleaner burning, and the blend, called B-20, is a cheaper alternative to 100 percent petroleum, she added. B-20 costs about a nickel a gallon less than pure petroleum.
Changing to B-20 will not affect warranties on the vehicles, Crowninshield said. The vegetable oil contains no sulfur.
There is another important saving in using B-20. It reduces the nation's dependence on foreign oil, she said. Initial estimates indicated the change will allow Tucson to use 200,000 fewer gallons of foreign oil per year.
Sunday is the federally mandated deadline for switching to diesel fuels with ultra-low sulfur content, Crowninshield said. The new fuel contains only 3 percent of the sulfur levels of diesel fuels sold in the past.
The old allowable level of sulfur in fuel was 500 parts per million. The new mandate is 15 ppm.
In addition to using ultra-low-sulphur fuels, new large trucks in the model year 2007 and beyond must have tailpipe filters before they can be licensed.
According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the cleaner fuel and filter systems should reduce air pollution from large trucks by 90 percent, Crownin"

DesMoinesRegister.com

DesMoinesRegister.com: "The idea that vegetable oil could be used as an engine fuel has been around for more than a century. But it wasn't until the 1990s that commercial production of biodiesel began in the United States. Production has skyrocketed from under 1 million gallons in 1999 to 91 million gallons last year.

Biodiesel can be produced from palm, canola, cottonseed and other vegetable oils or from animal fats, including beef, pork or poultry. Research has even explored using algae. But the primary feedstock in America has been soybean oil. Iowa led the nation in soybean production four of the past five years, topping Illinois in all but 2003. Likewise, Iowa leads the nation in biodiesel production capacity, edging Texas, according to a September compilation from the National Biodiesel Board.

Diesel engines have long been attractive as a more powerful, fuel-efficient alternative to similar-sized gasoline engines - delivering 30 percent to 35 percent greater fuel efficiency. But the soot and smell were turnoffs for most American drivers. Today's diesel fuel has cleaned up its act. Petroleum-based diesel meets the same emissions standards as gasoline. And biodiesel, while slightly less fuel efficient than petrodiesel, reduces emissions of several greenhouse gases."

Business Times

Business Times: "Lower oil price not stopping biodiesel investments
By Ooi Tee Ching
bt@nstp.com.my


October 16 2006


THE recent slide in crude oil prices is not putting the brakes on Malaysia's biodiesel investments, says Plantation Industries and Commodities Minister Datuk Peter Chin Fah Kui.




'Based on the August biodiesel export figures, this industry can reap RM100 million in exports by the end of the year,' he told Business Times in an interview.

He was commenting on market talk that biodiesel investments might fizzle out after crude oil prices tumbled off their highs in the last three months.

Last Friday, New York's main contract, light sweet crude for delivery in November, closed 71 cents higher at US$58.57 per barrel. "