Plant to add biodiesel refinery

At Central

Bi-Products,

N. Redwood

By FRITZ BUSCH

Journal Staff Writer

REDWOOD FALLS -- The Farmers Union Marketing and Processing Association, (FUMPA) plans to operate a biodiesel refinery early next month at its Central Bi-Products rendering plant in North Redwood.

Redwood County Commissioner Gene Short of Belview will make the formal announcement of the FUMPA Biofuels, Inc. facility at 2 p.m., Thursday, Oct. 28 at the Central Bi-Products facility.

The recently-resurrected Minnesota Prairie Line, which links Hanley Falls and Norwood, along State Highway 19, will announce that it is the first railroad in the country to use biodiesel fuel, at the event, according to Short.

"If shippers are good enough to ship soybeans on the railroad, it should be good enough to use their products," Short said. "Congratulations to the railroad for becoming the first to use the new fuel."

The refinery will use virgin and refined vegetable oil to produce 2.8 million gallons of biodiesel per year.

Other fats and oils from the firm's rendering operation will be used after the system is refined, according to Chuck Neece, Central Bi-Products research and development director.

The company will meet about one-third of the in-state production required by Minnesota's biodiesel mandate.

Catalysts for Central Bi-Product's biodiesel venture included Congress' passage of federal tax incentive bill that is expected to give a much-needed boost to Minnesota's biodiesel industry and aids implementation of the state's two percent biodiesel requirement that goes in effect next summer.

Minnesota benefits from the bill include:

* A tax credit of one penny per percent of biodiesel blended with petroleum diesel, expected to make biodiesel cost-competitive with petroleum diesel.

* Tax incentives could increase the market price per bushel by 17 cents for soybean farmers due to increased soybean oil demand, from which biodiesel is made.

* Renewable energy provisions, including wind energy tax incentives that will help grow wind energy projects.

* Language that will increase state highway funding by 81 percent.

* An improved ethanol producers tax credit to make farmer-owned plants more competitive.

Biodiesel is an alternative to petroleum diesel fuel that can be made from soybean oil. It reduces harmful emissions of sulphur dioxide and other pollutants in petroleum diesel fuel.

Other Minnesota biodiesel production plants will soon open in Brewster and Albert Lea.

Farmers Union Marketing and Processing Association includes Central Bi-Products, processing and marketing of animal and poultry by-products; Northland Choice, which manufactures feed and pet food ingredients; and Midwest Grease, which collects and recycles restaurant grease and fat.

Central Bi-Products in Redwood Falls includes a rendering plant capable of processing multi-species raw materials, a feather processing plant, and a protein-blending plant.

Biodiesel is a biodegradable, renewable, non-toxic fuel created from animal oils and plant oilseeds that works in all diesel engines.

It is produced by any fat or oil, like soybean oil, by a refinery process called transesterification. The process is a reaction of the oil with an alcohol to remove the glycerin, which is a by-product of biodiesel production.

Other National Biodiesel Board points:

* It is the only alternative fuel that fully completed health effects testing requirements of the 1990 Clean Air Act Amendments.

* Raw vegetable oil does not meet biodiesel fuel specifications. It is not registered with the Environmental Protection Agency, and is not a legal motor fuel, according to the National Biodiesel Board.

* It can be used as a pure fuel or blended with petroleum at any percentage. B20, a blend of 20 percent by volume biodiesel with 80 percent by volume petroleum diesel, has demonstrated significant environmental benefits with a minimum cost increase for fleet operations and other consumers.

* It has a solvent effect that may release deposits from previous diesel fuel storage accumulated on tank walls and pipes. The deposits may initially clog filters and precautions should be taken.

(Fritz Busch can be e-mailed at fbusch@nujournal.com).