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Public Policy Center
 Audio/Video
Lifecycle of Commercial Biodiesel
(5 minutes: 22 seconds)
WMV (high speed video)
(5 minutes: 22 seconds)
 MP3 (audio
only)
Audio/Video Script:
Commercial grade biodiesel is a federally recognized non-toxic,
alternative transportation fuel that can be used as a replacement
for diesel. It is an energy efficient option for decreasing the
nation’s dependence on foreign oil while reducing harmful air
emissions. There are several processes a manufacturer must address
when making commercial grade biodiesel.
Feedstocks, on average, account for about 85 percent of a cost of
a gallon of biodiesel. There are a number of feedstocks that
biodiesel can be made from. Virgin vegetable oil such as soybean oil
or canola oil, corn oil. There are fats involved, animal fats
involved such as tallow, lard or poultry fat. And then of course
there are waste products, corn oil from say an ethanol production
facility or yellow grease, which is used cooking oils. So, biodiesel
can be made from any of those oils and can be made to meet all ASTM
specifications.
The facility that we run has been vetted to produce
biodiesel from anyone of eight different feedstocks. Those eight are
five vegetable oils or three fats. Corn oil, palm oil, soybean oil,
canola and cottonseed oil, as well as beef tallow, pork lard, and
poultry fat. Ultimately the feedstock that you choose, you choose
based on the economics at the time. Some oils cost more than others
at various times in the market place. Right now we’re making almost
everything out of tallow and we have plans in the very near future
to switch over to corn oil and yellow grease, and that’s based on
economics.
The production of commercial grade biodiesel, as I said before,
is not much different than the chemistry required even on the
simplest level. But what is required is a greater degree of
attention to detail and a greater focus on economy of scale. The
biodiesel is made through transesterification, being able to use any
kind of biodiesel may require you to do a number of steps on the
front end to pretreat your biodiesel, your feedstock, before you
actually take it into production. You can go through what’s called a
water-wash system, which is what we have chosen to do. And, by the
way, I think a water-wash provides a higher quality biodiesel on the
end of production. The water-wash basically water simply washes away
all the impurities leaving just the methyl-ester and, of course, you
do have to do something with the wastewater when you’re done. So, we
take that approach in our commercial grade and produce a biodiesel
that we think meets, certainly meets all ASTM and it’s a very high
quality product.
At present, our production capacity is about 59 million gallons
per year and we are running at rate. The biodiesel that we produce,
we have the ability to put in storage or sell directly to customers,
either by rail or by truck. Biodiesel blends are the percentage of
biodiesel relative to the ultra-low sulfur diesel present. It could
also be low-sulfur diesel but I think most low-sulfur is gone now
from the marketplace so let’s just focus on ultra-low.
B 100 is a 100 percent biodiesel, no diesel. B 99.9 is
essentially a 100 percent biodiesel with just a very small amount --
one gallon of ultra-low sulfur diesel per thousand gallons of
biodiesel – and that’s done for distribution of the tax credit, so
that it can go to the producer or the blender.
We have never recommended at Future Fuel using more than a B 20
blend. You get your best economics, you get your best engine
performance, and it’s accepted by a great many warranties, original
equipment manufacturer warranties, and it probably has the best
year-round characteristics. So B 20 is the most. But we have a great
many customers who use B 50. They use them in their irrigation pumps
in the rice fields, as well as customers, farmers who use B 99 and
they use in their tractors and heavy equipment combines what have
you and love it and have had no problems with it. We don’t recommend
that, but then again you don’t do that kind of farming in the winter
anyway. And as you well know there are always issues around
wintertime use, fitness for use with biodiesel, because of its cloud
point being higher than diesel fuel.
[Narrator] The following was brought to you by the Arkansas Energy Office, and the University of Arkansas Division of Agriculture Public Policy
Center. To learn more about sustainable, cutting edge and renewable energy
alternatives in Arkansas, go to
www.arkansasenergy.org or
www.ppc.uaex.edu.
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