Wow. I hope this'll be enough to get the automakers to all start warrantying b20. Article here.
Minnesota Passes Statewide B20 Mandate
Fuel quality and alternative feedstocks fostered in legislation
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo.–
Minnesota has taken another step towards promoting domestic energy
security and reducing the state's carbon footprint. Today, Gov. Tim
Pawlenty signed a bill that will increase the current 2 percent
biodiesel mandate to 20 percent by 2015.
According to the legislation, the current 2 percent biodiesel mandate
will increase to 5 percent on May 1, 2009; to 10 percent on May 1,
2012; and to 20 percent on May 1, 2015.
"Implementation of the legislation starting in May of 2009 is timely
and workable," said Chuck Neece, Chairman of the Minnesota Biodiesel
Council, which championed the legislation. "The supply from the current
biodiesel production capacity in Minnesota already exceeds 64 million
gallons, more than enough to meet the five percent requirement, which
would be 40 million gallons."
The increases are not automatic, however. There is built-in
flexibility, including an approval process before moving to higher
blends. This will allow the legislature, biodiesel producers and other
stakeholders to gauge supply and demand impacts before moving to a
higher blend.
Ed Hegland, Chairman of the National Biodiesel Board and a Minnesota
farmer, praised the legislation's commitment to fuel quality. "The
legislation includes quality assurance and national ASTM fuel
specifications," he said. "We will continue to work with state leaders
and stakeholders impacted by this legislation to ensure only quality
fuel continues to enter the marketplace."
The legislation fosters the use of non-traditional feedstocks to
fulfill the mandate by requiring that 5 percent of the feedstock come
from non-traditional state agricultural resources. That includes algae,
waste oils, and tallow, as well as other future feedstocks being
researched in the state, such as cuphea (an oilseed plant that can grow
on marginal soils) and industrial hazelnuts.
In addition, as members of the National Biodiesel Board, Minnesota's
biodiesel producers have joined with other biodiesel producers across
the U.S. to assure that biodiesel is produced in a sustainable manner.
To that end, the NBB has established a Sustainability Task Force. The
task force's mission is to guide and support the U.S. biodiesel
industry's ongoing efforts to assess and improve business practices
related to environmentally, economically, and socially responsible
biodiesel production.
"This legislation establishes a plan to constantly look to the future
for new technologies and the processing of agricultural-based fuels,"
Hegland said. "I'm proud to live in Minnesota, a state that leads in
energy innovations like biodiesel."
The 500 million gallons of biodiesel produced in the U.S. in 2007
displaced 20 million barrels of petroleum, and increased production and
use of biodiesel will further displace foreign oil. Biodiesel is an
extremely efficient fuel that creates 3.5 units of energy for every
unit of fuel that is required to produce the fuel.
Based in Jefferson City, the NBB is the national trade association of
the biodiesel industry and is the coordinating body for biodiesel
research and development in the U.S. The Minnesota Biodiesel Council is
made up of biodiesel stakeholders, producers, feedstock suppliers and
others. Its mission is to promote the use and understanding of
biodiesel, educate consumers and biodiesel industry partners, and to
advance the use and acceptance of biodiesel as an alternative to
petroleum-based diesel fuel.
