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Biodiesel plant manager on policy challenges

The manager of biodiesel plant in Missouri says policy challenges are the biggest obstacle to business, “With the RFS2, the blender’s tax credit, those kind of things kind of being in flux always present challenges to the industry.” Cliff Smith been with Mid America Biofuels in Mexico, Missouri since the plant opened in 2006, “It’s a struggle, you know, year to year, not knowing how those things are all going to play out. You’ll see ebbs and flows, especially in January and February when policy stuff is really up in the air. You start to see plants, in general, start to slow down a little bit. So, it’ makes it difficult running a business based on some of those challenges.”

The plant opened 11 years ago with a 30-million-gallon capacity. It now produces 50 Million gallons of biodiesel from soy oil each year. The EPA volumes for biodiesel are below what the industry wants and the biodiesel blenders tax credit expired at the end of last year. The National Biodiesel Board is lobbying to increase the RFS volumes for biodiesel and have Congress restore the blenders credit.

Brownfield interviewed Cliff Smith during the USB See for Yourself Tour on Tuesday~