Northern Biodiesel in the News

Schumer: Biodiesel Plant At Risk WROC-TV/Rochester Homepage.net

"The dollar tax incentive assures us that we are competitive with regular diesel fuel right now. The federal government subsidizes the petroleum industry as well, so if we lose our incentive, we lose our competitive advantage over the regular fuel," said Schumer. ...more

Biodiesel, in Subsidy Drought, Finds Few Friends BNET

Woe is biodiesel. After a vital $1 per gallon tax credit to biodiesel producers expired on January 1st thanks to political neglect (likely a side-effect of the health care fight), the only incentives the industry enjoyed were vague promises by lawmakers to get a retroactive credit re-enacted.

Now biodiesel has been caught in a political crossfire between two Republicans, Sen. Max Baucus and Charles Grassley, and Sen. Majority Leader Harry Reid. The Republicans placed the subsidy in a larger, $85 billion jobs bill, which was quickly whittled down to $15 billion by Reid, who seems to be trying to score points for thriftiness.

It’s been two months since the credit vanished for biodiesel, but with Reid’s move, the forecast for renewal has gone from “sometime soon” to “some undetermined point in the future”, at least according to the National Biodiesel Board, which is tracking the issue.

The problem for producers is that once enough time passes, a retroactive credit may be useless. The industry had a rough year in 2009, with many plants barely operating as the price for standard diesel fell below the cost to make biodiesel. Many companies are already on the ropes, and could go bankrupt or shut down soon, at which point the credit will be moot.

Despite the partisan sniping, biodiesel does in fact enjoy bipartisan support; for instance, Sen. Charles Schumer of New York is trying to save Northern Biodiesel, the only plant operator in his district, and agriculture secretary and Obama appointee Tom Vilsack is now urging that the credit be renewed....more

Schumer Fights for Biodiesel Producers YNN Rochester

The federal tax credit that made biodiesel an affordable alternative fuel expired on January 1, in effect paralyzing what was a growing industry throughout the country.

U.S. Senator Chuck Schumer (D) was in Ontario, Wayne County Thursday reassuring New York's only commercial biodiesel producer that he is fighting to get that dollar per gallon subsidy reenacted by the end of next month.

"We'd be at full production right now if it wasn't for the incentive. I don't want to blame it on the incentive, but many of our customers did cancel because of it," John Vavalo, Northern Biodiesel Senior Vice President said.

Vavalo said the plant produces no by-product or waste, but has created seven jobs at the plant and several spinoff jobs in the rail and trucking companies that transport the biodiesel, and on the local farms that grow necessary ingredients.

"It's made here. It’s sold here. All of our feedstock comes from here and all of the money that my employees and that we make here we put back into the local economy," Vavalo said.

Vavalo said Northern Biodiesel has the capability to produce one million gallons of biodiesel a month for diesel engines, generators or heating oil. ...more

Schumer urges renewal of biodiesel tax credit Rochester Business Journal

A tax credit for biodiesel manufacturers that expired at the end of 2009 must be renewed to ensure the future of Wayne County-based Northern Biodiesel Inc. and other biodiesel plants, Sen. Charles Schumer said Thursday.

Northern Biodiesel, located in the town of Ontario, is the only fully functioning maker of the fuel in New York, said Schumer, D-N.Y., during an appearance there.

The biodiesel tax credit was introduced and passed in 2004. Extending it will cost the government $13 billion but will produce more dollars than that in jobs and economic activity, Schumer said. The biodiesel industry employs 23,000 worldwide, he said. ...more

Northern Biodiesel Hopes for Greener Future YNN Rochester

"Five-hundred thousand gallons would displace about six million tons of CO2," he said.

Biodiesel is considered a safe and biodegradable product that reduces air pollutants.

Northern Biodiesel is working toward using locally farmed canola and grapeseed to produce biodiesel. ...more

Keith Urban's Green Powered Tour YNN Rochester

When country music star Keith Urban rolled into Rochester for a Sunday night concert, he traveled with a crew of 75 in dozens of vehicles. Most of those vehicles are green powered, and were filled up by a local company.

Urban made the conversion to biodiesel about three years ago.

"It's a good idea to help the environment,” said Dan Fisher, Urban’s lead truck driver. “It was his thought and he wanted to do it. It was easy enough to set up and we're finding more and more fuel and it's easier to get now. It's working out good for us."

And it works out well for local companies such as Northern Biodiesel of Ontario. The Wayne County based firm got the fueling contract for Urban's Rochester stop. Teaming with Samson Fuel, Northern Biodiesel provided 2,500 gallons to refuel Urban's fleet.

"This is the type of thing we really need,” said John Vavalo, vice president of sales and marketing for Northern Biodiesel. “We want to get publicity out there. I'd say the majority of Rochester doesn't even know that the only biodiesel production facility in New York State is pretty much in Rochester, New York. So that's a good thing for us." ...more

Northern Biodiesel is a sponsor for "Race for Hearing"

Northern Biodiesel is sponsoring a car in the 1400-mile car race called the “Targa Newfoundland”. The race will be September 12-19, 2009 and the course will be around the island of Newfoundland.  One of the main goals is to bring awareness of hearing loss and raise money for two organizations- Hearing Loss Association of America (HLAA) and The Finger Lakes Region Lions Hearing Foundation- that help hearing-impaired individuals.

Northern Biodiesel is sponsoring a Porsche 356sc. It will be running solely on biodiesel fuel and will be the first vehicle ever to compete in the Targa using Biodiesel.  Even though our car will be fire engine red with white racing stripes, we will be greenest vehicle competing.  Northern Biodiesel will be providing the biodiesel for the race. 

If you are interested in donating, checks can be made out to either Hearing Loss Association of America or Finger Lakes Region Lions Hearing Foundation and can be mailed to:

Hart Hearing Centers
468 Titus Ave.
Rochester, NY 14617 

Green revolution fuel created in Ontario
By Jason Schultz – Wayne County Mail- March 26, 2009

..."John Vavalo, vice president of Sales and Marketing for Northern Biodiesel, led a tour for the crowd of about 50 individuals interested in the modern-day alchemy taking place in Ontario’s backyard. Vavalo explained how the plant is able to turn used cooking oil from local businesses – as well as canola oil grown specifically for this purpose – into usable diesel fuel, which the company then sells to fleets of diesel-powered vehicles.

Vavalo said the product, besides environmentally-friendly, also allows Northern biodiesel to be competitive with fossil-fuel suppliers.

“Right now, we’re able to produce biodiesel for a little over $2 per gallon,” Vavalo said. “Regular diesel wholesale is around a dollar-seventy, but since normal diesel is taxed at 60 cents per gallon and ours isn’t, we can sell it at the same price or lower as regular diesel, which is a huge advantage for us.”

Bob Bechtold, owner of Harbec Plastics, said the facility can produce as much as 22 million gallons of biodiesel fuel per year, and sees it being a big part of the plans for the Wayne County Industrial Sustainability Park (WISP). Bechtold and Vavalo explained that part of the plan for WISP involves greater cooperation and sharing of resources between members of the industrial park. For example, Vavalo said there are plans to utilize the electricity and hot water produced at Harbec as by-products of its industrial processes to help produce biodiesel, a symbiotic process he said would allow both companies to prosper while reducing their environmental impact as well.

Bechtold said changes in government policy will help alternative energy companies to become much more mainstream.

“The important thing for us is that we finally have a government that is talking about and recognizing the importance of green and alternative energy,” he said. “Another change that will be big for our industry in a carbon cap and trade system, which will factor in the (environmental) cost of fossil fuels and give an advantage to alternative energy.”...
Click here to see full article.

Biodiesel in the News

25x'25 Commends Reps. Peterson, Lucas for Bill Protecting U.S. Biofuel Industry
25x'25 Resource Blog- May 15th, 2009

The 25x’25 Alliance commends House Agriculture Committee Chairman Collin Peterson (D-MN) and Ranking Member Frank Lucas (D-OK), along with a bipartisan group of 40 other House members, for their introduction of a bill that could lead to a Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) that will unleash the full potential for clean, homegrown renewable biofuels to meet the nation’s energy needs.

The Renewable Fuel Standard Improvement Act (H.R. 2409) reverses language added at the last minute without debate to the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 (EISA) that requires biofuels producers to meet an unfair standard for lifecycle greenhouse gas emissions and restricts the availability of new feedstocks for biofuels. The RFS was established to expand the use of clean, renewable biofuels that can be produced in the United States and to reduce our dependence on foreign oil. However, as the authors of the legislation point out, the restrictions included in EISA make it impossible to meet the RFS mandates.

The bill would eliminate a requirement that the EPA consider indirect land use when calculating the greenhouse gas emissions associated with advanced biofuels. Peterson and Lucas say there is currently no reliable method to predict accurately how biofuel production will affect land use in the United States or internationally.

The measure would also strike the restrictive definition of renewable biomass included in EISA and replace it with a much more inclusive definition found in the 2008 Farm Bill. The bill’s sponsors note that the Farm Bill definition of renewable biomass was developed in consultation with appropriate Federal agencies and other congressional committees, and was discussed and debated in a transparent manner, unlike the EISA provisions, which were never openly discussed or debated in Congress.

Some Mainstream Media Continue to Get It Wrong on Biofuels Industry
25x'25 Resource Blog- May 14th, 2009

Once again, a mainstream media outlet is touting a biofuels industry story that is rife with inaccuracies. Time magazine this week carried an article, “Stress-Testing Biofuels: How the Game Was Rigged,” by Michael Grunwald, that appears to be more about demonizing a U.S. renewable energy industry rather than objectively examining any issues related to the fledgling biofuels market. Click here for full article.

Lung Associations Urge More Biodiesel Use to Improve Air Quality
Renewable, Clean Biodiesel Reduces Regulated Emissions, Air Toxins
National Biodiesel Board's press release- April 30, 2009

JEFFERSON CITY, MO. – State and local lung association groups are recommending
biodiesel use in response to findings in the State of the Air Report 2009 produced by their
national organization. During the American Lung Association of the District of Columbia's
recent (ALADC) news conference, Professor of Environmental and Occupational Medicine at
the Howard University College of Medicine and Vice Chairman-Elect of ALADC Dr. Bailus
Walker, Jr. stressed the extensive research that supports biodiesel’s benefits for human health. Click here for full article.

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