Legislators, Blunt seek biodiesel mandate

Missouri's biodiesel producers may soon get a guaranteed market for their product.

Under a proposal similar to the state's 10 percent ethanol mandate that took effect Jan. 1, Gov. Matt Blunt and some legislators are pushing for a biodiesel standard.

In his State of the State address Tuesday night, Blunt lent his support to the creation of a 5 percent statewide biodiesel standard. And a bill being heard by the Missouri Senate Agriculture, Conservation, Parks and Natural Resources Committee would require all diesel fuel terminals in the state to seek a 5 percent biodiesel blend by 2010. The bill, sponsored by Sen. Bill Stouffer, sponsored by Sen. Bill Stouffer, R-Napton, isn't based on Blunt's recommendations, said Blunt spokeswoman Jessica Robinson.

But the bill shares the same 5 percent standard Blunt is seeking.

The proposed law would also tighten regulation of biodiesel by developing standards to improve the fuel's cold-weather performance and requiring state biodiesel producers to get national accreditation from the National Biodiesel Accreditation Program.

Provisions for making sure biodiesel won't gel in cold weather are important to any discussion of a biodiesel standard, said Jim Hope, manager of the Co-Op Service Center in Jackson, an area diesel distributor.

Biodiesel gels at a higher temperature than standard diesel. But Adam Buckalew, spokesman for the Missouri Soybean Association, said standard fuel additives already used to prevent conventional diesel from gelling can be used with similar results in biodiesel and biodiesel blends.

The center currently sells diesel with a 2 percent biodiesel blend in the summer.

"We already have a 10 percent ethanol standard, and that's not causing a problem," Hope said.

Tim Hutchcraft, plant manager at Global Fuels LLC in Dexter, Mo., said his company has no difficulty selling its biodiesel product right now, but the standard would provide more economic security by providing a guaranteed market.

Since opening last April, Global Fuels has produced about 2 million gallons of biodiesel.

"Not being in business for very long, it takes awhile to see what the market's going to do," Hutchcraft said of the benefit of having a guaranteed market.

Global Fuels is in the process of receiving its accreditation, a process that requires more extensive sampling and testing of the plant's product and extensive documentation of those results.

Hutchcraft said the accreditation process does take time but not so much as to cause an extreme burden on producers.

Biodiesel currently produced in the state already meets international standards for quality, said Ronald Hayes, manager of the fuel quality program for the Missouri Department of Agriculture. Those fuels are tested regularly through surprise inspections and self-submitted samples sent to the state for testing.

Missouri Soybean Association spokesman Adam Buckalew said the implementation of a biodiesel standard will create a guaranteed market for 60 million gallons of biodiesel in the state. Biodiesel production in Missouri is expected to reach at least 125 million gallons by 2008, according to the association.

The association's executive director, Dale Ludwig, said under the current market climate, some oil companies have policies that biodiesel can't be sold at stations selling their fuel, limiting the places where biodiesel and blends are available.

Another aspect of the Senate bill and of Blunt's recommendations is that distributors wouldn't have to sell biodiesel blends if their price goes higher than that of conventional diesel.

msanders@semissourian.com

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