Bob and Kelly King Founders Pacific Biodiesel, Inc. Photo from: http://www.biodiesel.com/index.php/company/about_pacific_biodiesel_inc
Pacific Biodiesel was planning a 5-million-gallon per year refinery on the Big Island, and even though owners Bob and Kelly King were bringing in their own money for half of it, the relatively small amount of additional money needed is not yet there.
Kelly King said: "Our Big Island Biodiesel plant has taken longer than expected to get fully funded. We are currently seeking the final 10 to 15 percent of funding before we can announce a groundbreaking."
This article will update you on the new bio-energy projects on what they call “the big island”, now being delayed by the economy, a suggestion is made about helping private green investors with federal funds.
Maui Electric electrician Aris Aceres services a breaker during recent maintenance work at Kahului Power Plant. The electric company has been using the lull in demand for electricity to do maintenance to have a more reliable system when demand rises again.
MECO is also striving to turn green by weaning its Maalaea generators off petroleum diesel fuel. It already uses some biodiesel at startup, in order to meet clean air emission standards; but it wants to experiment with running a major unit on biodiesel for a long period, four to six months. It has requested bids to supply a million gallons of biodiesel for this purpose and expects to have a contract early next year.
Diesel prices have been volatile, and at the moment, biodiesel is not competitive. Reinhardt said that if world oil prices were to rise to $80 or $90 a barrel, biodiesel could be competitive. Oil passed $70 last week.
MECO is still hoping to be able to buy biodiesel refined on Maui (at Waena) and supplied with raw oil from locally grown plants or, possibly, locally grown algae.
"The overall plan is to provide fuel derived from local crops with local farmers," Reinhardt said. "We cannot predict how prices will move, but we are working to be ready on the technical side."
Here is a major electric company ready, willing, and able to test biodiesel in their generators, but as of today, petroleum diesel is cheaper, but that is the short-sighted view. Electricity from biodiesel is coming.
Truckers and others heard about biodiesel on the XM-Sirius Radio Dave Nemo Show this week featuring National Biodiesel Board CEO Joe Jobe and singer/songwriter Michael Peterson for the live show on Friday in Nashville.
Jobe is at the CMA Music Festival in Nashville this week for the New Holland/Michael Peterson Celebrity Tractor Race and he gives New Holland a lot of credit for promoting biodiesel. “New Holland is actually the most supportive OEM of biodiesel in the world,” said Jobe.
Remember New Holland next time you buy a tractor. They support biodiesel, so let’s try to support them if we can. Good work, New Holland, please keep up the good work!
Biofuels Manufacturers of Illinois, known as BMI, is harvesting pennycress.
Pennycress is being hailed as an alternative fuel source.
The plant is technically a weed that is planted in the winter and harvested in spring.
Some experts say this weed can make twice as much oil for biodiesel as soybeans.
Yet another plant from which to make biodiesel, the most versatile biofuel in the world, biodiesel, an equal opportunity employer of oil-producing plants and algae from all around the globe.
RPC’s biodiesel plant is set to hit full capacity when B5 fuel becomes mandatory in 2011.
But he is concerned by Thailand's slow development in palm fruit cultivation. Thailand has a yield of only 2.65 tonnes per rai. Malaysia and Indonesia, the two largest palm oil exporters, have yields of 4-6 tonnes per rai.
"We will be a loser in the Asian region for palm oil since our production cost is highest among global exporters. The government should have started to allocate a budget for research and development to lift yields and breed new high-yield species a long time ago," he said.
Mandating B5 in 2011, Thailand can’t seem to grow enough palm oil for their future needs. Why can’t the USA become a huge exporter of biodiesel, or at least, the raw plant oil used in its production?