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Minnesota biodiesel demand getting warmer

slunecka

Representatives of the East Coast home heating fuel market are begging for biodiesel produced in Minnesota.

The state Soybean Growers Association and Research and Promotion Council are hosting a group from states including New York, New Jersey and Massachusetts interested in using bioheat. Executive director Tom Slunecka  says there is no doubt the demand for biodiesel is there.

“For someone who’s worked in biofuels my entire career, to have a group of customers coming and begging for our product is really just so refreshing to hear.”

As the bioheat industry looks to expand using more biodiesel produced in Minnesota, Slunecka tells Brownfield transportation issues need to be resolved.

“We produce a lot of biofuels and biodiesel specific here in Minnesota and the upper Midwest and getting it to the East Coast in a cost-effective fashion is something that’s going to take a lot of strategy to work out.”

Trucking, rail and even over water from the port of Duluth to the western shores of New York are viable options.

He says investment in the biodiesel industry will also be important moving forward.

“For two major reasons: first, in 2018 we’ll be moving to a 20 percent blend for road fuel.  In order for that to happen, we’ve got to have just a little bit more production than we have today.  That, coupled with this huge demand potential on the East Coast, should drive investment in the industry.”

Slunecka says investment can come through ethanol plants adding a bolt-on biodiesel facility using corn oil, and points out that biodiesel plants are cheaper to build than ethanol plants if electing to start from scratch.

 

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