Bill hypes biodiesel market
Plants in Brunswick and Sandersville are under construction
By WALTER C. JONES, The Times-Union
ATLANTA -- A pair of biodiesel plants under construction in Brunswick and Sandersville could make Georgia the No. 1 producer for the vegetable-based fuel when they begin operations at the end of next year.
A lobbyist representing the joint venture behind the plants made the announcement Wednesday during a meeting of the Senate Transportation Committee as it was considering a measure, Senate Bill 453, which would require all government fleets in the state to use at least 2 percent biodiesel by 2010.
The joint venture that owns the plants, ABI/NewGen, has been intentionally quiet about its doings to minimize calls from salesmen.
"Our company's philosophy is to do, not to tell," said Scott Smith, chief technical officer.
Even before President Bush announced his initiative for increased production of bio-fuels during his State of the Union address Tuesday night, a pair of Georgia senators had prepared a bill they hope will stimulate the biodiesel industry.
Plants in Brunswick and Sandersville are already under construction -- and a plant in Rome is being expanded. Their completion could make Georgia the No. 1 producing state of the plant-based fuel, according to Pamela Davidson, lobbyist for ABI/NewGen.
The bill, by Sens. Brian Kemp, R-Athens, and Tommie Williams, R-Lyons, would require government fleets in the state to use at least 2 percent biodiesel fuel by 2010, coinciding with Bush's target date. Williams already burns 20 percent biodiesel in the 15 trucks his company operates hauling pine straw.
"I want to make my own contribution to cleaner air," said Williams, the Senate majority leader. "The price is right, and it helps the farming community."
Kemp, a candidate for agriculture commissioner, said his main reason for sponsoring Senate Bill 453 was to increase demand for the fuel, which would drive up the need for the farm products used to make it, such as chicken fat, soybeans, peanuts and canola.
"This is basically designed to get into the bigger [petroleum] distributors," Kemp said. "This is not really to get more pumps at the convenience store."
Georgia is already among the top 10 producers of the alternative fuel, but much of it is shipped to other states.
Already in operation is U.S. Biofuels Inc., which is quadrupling the size of its 2-year-old plant in Rome. It's the state's largest biodiesel producer, said Thomas McGurk, company vice president and general counsel.
"If the state does implement [SB 453], production will increase," he told the Senate Transportation Committee, which voted Wednesday to recommend passage of the bill to the full Senate.
The Rome plant could get some competition for the top title with the completion late next year of the plants in Sandersville and Brunswick being built by a joint venture between Advanced Biofuels Inc. and NewGen Technology, both headquartered in Madison. The plants are projected to use $1 billion in raw material in their first five years to crank out 60 million gallons each per year, with only 45 workers between them.
Combining all of the soybeans and peanuts grown in Georgia in a year would only meet a fraction of the raw material need of the ABI/NewGen plants, according to Smith. The plant locations were picked to provide easy access to the Port of Brunswick for the importation of canola from Asia.
Georgia farmers could supply some of that raw material, though, stimulating the economy of the rural part of the state, according to Davidson.
"The significant thing about biodiesel is the tremendous agricultural infrastructure it requires," she told the Senate panel.
The biodiesel industry recognizes there is no way it can replace all of the petroleum-based diesel consumed in the United States. Without federal subsidies, it would not even be an affordable additive in most market conditions.
Bush wasn't specific during his speech, only announcing a goal to increase use of alternative fuels.
Several other states have mandated minimums for government fleets, such as California and Minnesota. Supporters say that even blending in as little as 2 percent biodiesel to conventional diesel, pollution drops significantly.
The vegetable-based fuel also serves as a supplement when conventional diesel supplies run low, typically in the fall when farmers have trouble getting fuel for tractors needed in harvesting, said Roger Lane, a lobbyist with the Georgia Oilmens Association.
"There's a good market for it now," he said.
Lane and other representatives of the petroleum-distribution industry told the Senate committee the costs of complying with the bill would not be great. Lane even suggested the bill might not be ambitious enough.
Williams and Kemp said they were encouraged by those comments to consider expanding the bill to include consumer vehicles statewide as well.
The bill would apply to state and local governments, including school systems. They wouldn't have to use any biodiesel during times when the price of vegetable fuel is more than 5 percent higher than the price of conventional diesel.
My neck of the woods!!
Plants in Brunswick and Sandersville are under construction
By WALTER C. JONES, The Times-Union
ATLANTA -- A pair of biodiesel plants under construction in Brunswick and Sandersville could make Georgia the No. 1 producer for the vegetable-based fuel when they begin operations at the end of next year.
A lobbyist representing the joint venture behind the plants made the announcement Wednesday during a meeting of the Senate Transportation Committee as it was considering a measure, Senate Bill 453, which would require all government fleets in the state to use at least 2 percent biodiesel by 2010.
The joint venture that owns the plants, ABI/NewGen, has been intentionally quiet about its doings to minimize calls from salesmen.
"Our company's philosophy is to do, not to tell," said Scott Smith, chief technical officer.
Even before President Bush announced his initiative for increased production of bio-fuels during his State of the Union address Tuesday night, a pair of Georgia senators had prepared a bill they hope will stimulate the biodiesel industry.
Plants in Brunswick and Sandersville are already under construction -- and a plant in Rome is being expanded. Their completion could make Georgia the No. 1 producing state of the plant-based fuel, according to Pamela Davidson, lobbyist for ABI/NewGen.
The bill, by Sens. Brian Kemp, R-Athens, and Tommie Williams, R-Lyons, would require government fleets in the state to use at least 2 percent biodiesel fuel by 2010, coinciding with Bush's target date. Williams already burns 20 percent biodiesel in the 15 trucks his company operates hauling pine straw.
"I want to make my own contribution to cleaner air," said Williams, the Senate majority leader. "The price is right, and it helps the farming community."
Kemp, a candidate for agriculture commissioner, said his main reason for sponsoring Senate Bill 453 was to increase demand for the fuel, which would drive up the need for the farm products used to make it, such as chicken fat, soybeans, peanuts and canola.
"This is basically designed to get into the bigger [petroleum] distributors," Kemp said. "This is not really to get more pumps at the convenience store."
Georgia is already among the top 10 producers of the alternative fuel, but much of it is shipped to other states.
Already in operation is U.S. Biofuels Inc., which is quadrupling the size of its 2-year-old plant in Rome. It's the state's largest biodiesel producer, said Thomas McGurk, company vice president and general counsel.
"If the state does implement [SB 453], production will increase," he told the Senate Transportation Committee, which voted Wednesday to recommend passage of the bill to the full Senate.
The Rome plant could get some competition for the top title with the completion late next year of the plants in Sandersville and Brunswick being built by a joint venture between Advanced Biofuels Inc. and NewGen Technology, both headquartered in Madison. The plants are projected to use $1 billion in raw material in their first five years to crank out 60 million gallons each per year, with only 45 workers between them.
Combining all of the soybeans and peanuts grown in Georgia in a year would only meet a fraction of the raw material need of the ABI/NewGen plants, according to Smith. The plant locations were picked to provide easy access to the Port of Brunswick for the importation of canola from Asia.
Georgia farmers could supply some of that raw material, though, stimulating the economy of the rural part of the state, according to Davidson.
"The significant thing about biodiesel is the tremendous agricultural infrastructure it requires," she told the Senate panel.
The biodiesel industry recognizes there is no way it can replace all of the petroleum-based diesel consumed in the United States. Without federal subsidies, it would not even be an affordable additive in most market conditions.
Bush wasn't specific during his speech, only announcing a goal to increase use of alternative fuels.
Several other states have mandated minimums for government fleets, such as California and Minnesota. Supporters say that even blending in as little as 2 percent biodiesel to conventional diesel, pollution drops significantly.
The vegetable-based fuel also serves as a supplement when conventional diesel supplies run low, typically in the fall when farmers have trouble getting fuel for tractors needed in harvesting, said Roger Lane, a lobbyist with the Georgia Oilmens Association.
"There's a good market for it now," he said.
Lane and other representatives of the petroleum-distribution industry told the Senate committee the costs of complying with the bill would not be great. Lane even suggested the bill might not be ambitious enough.
Williams and Kemp said they were encouraged by those comments to consider expanding the bill to include consumer vehicles statewide as well.
The bill would apply to state and local governments, including school systems. They wouldn't have to use any biodiesel during times when the price of vegetable fuel is more than 5 percent higher than the price of conventional diesel.
My neck of the woods!!
