Last year about 150 million gallons of biodiesel were produced in America. Imperium Renewables plans on opening a single plant that will create 100 million gallons a year. This tells us two things about the biodiesel sector. One its very small if the opening of a single plant can nearly double the output, and two its set to start growing like mad. We have talked a lot the last couple of days about the pros and cons of biofuels. This plant opening is only going to further that discussion.

Much more below the fold.

From their press release. (pdf)

• Increased demand for Eastern Washington agricultural products (raw materials):
  Imperium Grays Harbor will use oil from canola grown in Washington state. The company hopes to become the single largest purchaser of canola oil in the state once the plant is
  up and running.
• New local jobs (production): The project is expected to create up to 350 jobs during the construction phase and then 50 long term jobs upon completion.
• Increased revenue to local firms (distribution): Imperium sells its fuels to a number of local distributors and retailers, displacing fuel dollars that would have gone to overseas companies. About $3 billion is spent annually on diesel fuel in the state – replacing even
  10 percent of that with alternate fuel would put hundreds of millions back into stateowned
  companies. As it stands, the new facility will have the capacity to replace up to 10
  percent of the state’s diesel supply.
• Lower costs for individuals and business users (consumption): It is expected that
  biodiesel produced at the plant will retail at or significantly below the cost of petroleum based
  diesel fuel. The price, combined with the fact that biodiesel is more fuel efficient
  than its petroleum counterpart, means consumers will save money.
• Environmental impact of biodiesel will be felt around the globe In addition to being produced from 100 percent renewable resources, the positive impact of biodiesel on the environment is well documented.
• The smog forming potential of biodiesel hydrocarbons is 50 percent less than that
  measured for petroleum diesel
• The exhaust emissions of sulfur oxides and sulfates (major components of acid rain) are essentially eliminated compared to petroleum diesel
• There is a substantial reduction of unburned hydrocarbons, carbon monoxide and
  particulate matter, while only a slight (if at all) increase in nitrogen oxide

This plant is going to be huge. It will single handedly be able to supply 10% of the states diesel needs, at a price comparable to fossil diesel. That means there is no reason why the state of Washington couldn’t begin mandating low blends, perhaps b2-b5 Currently Americans use about 65 billion gallons of fossil diesel a year. So even at 250 million gallons its only a small percentage. But if ten or twenty more 100 million gallon plants start popping up we could quickly find ourselves asking all sorts of questions that we had not before…

For instance will these plants compete with food oils for product? What will this do to the price of french fries? Will we quickly transition to non-food oil crops such as algae or switch grass for our biofuel needs. Will we buy the feed stocks from other nations at the expense of their local environment? Biofuels have a lot of unanswered questions. Its almost easier to stick with solar and wind and invent electric cars. But while we have an installed base of millions of fuel burnign automobiles biofuels will be a feature of the near future renewable energy debate.