By Anne Steckel
Vice President of Federal Affairs for the National Biodiesel Board

With oil prices hovering around $4 per gallon and oil profits soaring, it’s hardly surprising that petroleum refiners are criticizing domestically produced renewable fuels and pushing to maintain the status quo. It’s also not surprising that the American public disagrees with them. According to a recent Gallup poll, roughly two-thirds of Americans – including majorities of Democrats and Republicans – support continued incentives for developing American-made alternative fuels such as biodiesel.

The American public understands that we need diversity in our energy supplies and that continuing to rely solely on petroleum puts us at the mercy of global oil markets driven by OPEC that spike year after year with devastating consequences for our economy and, potentially, our national security. In fact, the transportation fuel market is not a free market at all because it is dominated by petroleum, a global commodity with a price determined by international markets based on factors that have little to do with supply and demand. For evidence, look no further than the fact that U.S. gasoline prices are as high as ever even as our nation is in the middle of an oil boom.

Americans also understand that every successful U.S. energy sector up to now, from nuclear plants to deep-sea oil drilling, has been helped in its early years by federal support. In some cases, that continues today. The oil industry, for example, enjoys some $4 billion in federal incentives aimed at stimulating domestic production.

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A website is often the first impression someone has of a product or an organization, and the biodiesel website is no exception. A well-organized and user-friendly site is critical to the National Biodiesel Board’s outreach and communications efforts. As a membership organization, all of NBB’s efforts are focused to support our members. With this in mind, we began the task last fall of transforming biodiesel.org.

You know biodiesel as a mainstream, state-of-the-art advanced biofuel, and now the website dedicated to sharing biodiesel with the world has the same characteristics. The revised biodiesel.org was developed to serve as a location for information about biodiesel while the newly launched nbb.org becomes the home page for the National Biodiesel Board as an organization.

The biodiesel.org site serves to inform the general public, the press, and the biodiesel industry about the benefits of the fuel. It includes handling and use guides; OEM information; frequently asked questions; biodiesel retailer, distributor, and plant maps; and the most comprehensive database of biodiesel reports within the industry. The biodiesel.org site remains the No. 1 source for public information on biodiesel with more than a quarter of a million unique visits each year.

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The oil heating industry is making major changes for the first time in its history, and now its future has a name: Bioheat.

That’s what the industry is calling oil blends for home heating that contain at least 2 percent renewable, crop-based biofuel and are expected soon to be up to one-fifth biofuel.

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Paul Nazzaro, liaison to the petroleum industry for the North Andover, Mass.-based, National Biodiesel Board, said the industrywide change is unprecedented.

“In a nutshell, oil heating hasn’t evolved since we shifted from coal to heating with oil,” said Nazzaro, who is leading the Bioheat team at the three-day expo that concludes today.

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Biodiesel will be showcased at the 2012 Living Green Expo May 5-6 at the Minnesota State Fairgrounds. During the expo, the Minnesota Soybean Research and Promotion Council (MSRPC) is sponsoring the Biodiesel Lounge, located in the Education Building. The exhibit will showcase how biodiesel supports local economies, cleaner air, engine life and energy security.

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“Increasing the amount of biodiesel in our fuel allows us to take advantage of a renewable fuel made right here in Minnesota. I’m proud to live in a state that is leading energy innovations and taking part in valuable solutions like biodiesel,” said Ed Hegland, Minnesota soybean farmer and past chairman of the National Biodiesel Board.

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Research that shows how glycerol – a syrupy and sweet-tasting chemical by-product – can be used as a sustainable solvent in industrial cleaning applications is being honored with the 2012 Glycerine Innovation Award.

The yearly honor is sponsored by the American Cleaning Institute (ACI, formerly The Soap and Detergent Association) and the National Biodiesel Board (NBB) and is presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Oil Chemists’ Society (AOCS).

The 2012 Award recipients are Professors Dorith Tavor and Adi Wolfson from the Green Processes Center at Israel’s Sami Shamoon College of Engineering. The ACI/NBB Glycerine Innovation Award recognizes outstanding achievement for research into new applications for glycerine, with particular emphasis on commercial viability.

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The biofuels industry logs a victory in the fight to protect the renewable fuel standard (RFS2). The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit has granted motions to allow the Advanced Biofuels Association, the American Coalition for Ethanol, the Advanced Ethanol Council, the Biotechnology Industry Organization, Growth Energy, the National Biodiesel Board and the Renewable Fuels Association to intervene and address issues that will be raised during the lawsuit filed against the U.S. EPA by the American Petroleum Institute regarding the 2012 RFS2 volume requirements. The biofuels groups had petitioned the court for intervenor status on April 6.

In the petition to intervene, the groups asserted that their “members have investments in equipment, research and development, to supply the necessary renewable fuel.” In effect, the court has allowed the ABFA, ACE, AEC, BIO, Growth Energy, NBB and RFA to stand with the EPA and join the ongoing litigation. According to information released by the biofuels organizations, if API’s effort to reduce the 2012 RFS2 volume requirements is successful, companies that belong to the organizations would be deprived of the benefit of investments made in reliance on Congress’ policy choices.

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Minnesota made history in September 2005 when it became the first state in the nation to mandate the use of biodiesel. The state mandate was set to increase from a B5 blend to a B10 blend this spring—but it didn’t happen. A recommendation this past winter by the commissioners of the state’s Department of Commerce, Department of Agriculture and Pollution Control Agency means the move is likely delayed until 2013. While the delay is disappointing, Minnesota producers say it won’t impact their operations.

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Regarding the mention of the future fuel waivers for blends of biodiesel containing No. 1 diesel, Marczak notes that recommendation to delay implementation of the mandate is not a reflection of fuel performance. “The move to B10 applies only to the months of April through October, and returns to the 5 percent level in November through March,” she says. “A waiver remain[ed] in effect for biodiesel in No. 1 ULSD through this [past] winter, and we have not had any issues with biodiesel in cold weather since that waiver has been put into place. It will be one of the main issues that the task force considers this year. The National Biodiesel Board is working with the National Renewable Energy Laboratory to conduct testing at a national level to address issues with low aromatic fuels and biodiesel blends. The work will be valuable to us as we consider the waiver in the future.”

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According to the Diesel Technology Forum – higher fuel prices have led to increased demand in diesel vehicles. In the U.S. – sales of diesel vehicles increased by 35-percent in the first quarter of 2012 over the same period last year. DTF Executive Director Allen Schaeffer expects clean diesel auto sales will increase even more as new diesel cars are introduced in the next year.

Jennifer Weaver of the National Biodiesel Board says the growing availability of clean diesel vehicles in the U.S. is exciting. Even more encouraging – she says – is that automakers and consumers are realizing the benefits of using high quality biodiesel blends in those vehicles. All diesel vehicles sold in the U.S. market today are approved for use with at least a five-percent biodiesel blend and Weaver says the use of up to B20 biodiesel blends is approved by more than 65-percent of automakers.

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The B20 domino effect continues! Two more original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) have formally expressed approval for B20. Heavy-duty truck makers Volvo Trucks North America and Mack Trucks Inc. have confirmed their B20 approval and made their updated warranty statements available to the National Biodiesel Board, as well as to Volvo and Mack dealers and customers. With the addition of these two OEMs, now more than 65 percent of diesel vehicle manufacturers in the U.S. market support B20 or higher biodiesel blends.

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American Soybean Industry partner the National Biodiesel Board (NBB) called on Congress Thursday to reinstate the biodiesel tax incentive to avoid further disruption to an emerging American industry that is creating jobs across the country while diversifying U.S. energy supplies.

In written testimony submitted to the House Ways and Means Committee’s Subcommittee on Select Revenue Measures for a hearing on expiring tax provisions, NBB Vice-President Anne Steckel emphasized that the biodiesel industry achieved record production of nearly 1.1 billion gallons last year before the $1-per-gallon tax incentive expired on Dec. 31.

She urged lawmakers to pass an extension as quickly as possible to prevent a drop in production and potential layoffs.

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