By Patrick Jackson
21-06-04
Jim Minner knows a thing or two about soybeans, diesel engines and soy diesel
fuel.
Minner, the Delaware Department of Transportation's fleet equipment manager and
a soybean farmer on the side, is all for passage of a bill that would require
the state's service stations to exclusively sell a soy diesel mix starting in
2006.
Senate Bill 321, which Gov. Ruth Ann Minner called for in her State of the
State address, is designed to help clean the air by reducing pollution from
diesel engines. The bill has been approved by the Senate and now is awaiting
consideration in the House. The legislation also would aid soybean farmers by
expanding the market for their crops, and comes as a company gets ready to build
an estimated $ 8.2 mm soy diesel production plant in Clayton. Jim Minner said he
and other farmers sell the bulk of their product to the poultry industry, where
beans are ground up for feed.
"That would be tremendous for all the farmers," he said. "It
would help us by letting us go out, compete and get the best price for our
product. As it stands now, we're kind of a captive business."
The bill would require service stations to sell only an 80-20 mix of soy
diesel. The fuel is made by blending diesel oil with a vegetable oil such as
soybean oil or animal fat. The material helps replace sulphur as a lubricant in
diesel fuel and reduces emissions of hydrocarbons, carbon monoxide and soot.
The bill, sponsored by Senate Majority Leader Harris B. McDowell III,
D-Wilmington North, arose from a task force that studied energy issues.
"It helps reduce our dependence on foreign oil, and it's a boost to our
farming industry," McDowell said. It would add about 2 cents a gallon to
the price of fuel, according to estimates provided to the Senate.
That bothered Sen. Colin Bonini, R-Dover South.
"I think the idea is good. I think we're all for helping farmers and a
clean environment," Bonini said. "But I think we need to be honest and
say we're putting a 2-cent-per-gallon tax on it, and that troubles me because I
think fuel prices are high enough without our help."
Gary Patterson, a lobbyist for the Delaware Petroleum Council, said his group
was concerned about whether there would be a sufficient supply of fuel, and
whether Delaware would be at a price disadvantage that might send motorists to
neighbouring states to fill up. McDowell said he thought supply would not be an
issue and the price would come down as more of the fuel comes into use.
Sussex County agri-businessman Martin Ross said his group, the Mid-Atlantic
Biodiesel Co., has won a conditional use permit to build the plant on a
five-acre site off School Lane in Clayton, next door to Clayton Elementary
School and the town's Southern States store. Ross said the plant would produce
up to 5 mm gallons of biodiesel annually.
Rep. Joe Di Pinto, R-Wilmington West, is shepherding the bill through the
House and said he is confident he can guide the bill to the governor's desk.
"When you look atwhat it can do by way of reducing pollution and helping
with energy independence, it can make a difference," Gov. Minner said.
"I hope the House will follow the Senate's lead and send this to me."
Di Pinto said he will amend the measure to push back its effective date from
January to July 2006.
"I am hopeful we will be able to address some of the technical concerns
about this and get it passed," he said.
Among those concerns are the fuel's shelf life in items such as generators,
which can sometimes go for extended periods without use. DelDOT has operated
diesel-powered equipment, including generators, on soy diesel on an experimental
basis since 1999. Jim Minner said it works well. He said the fuel is good for
engines because, in addition to being a natural lubricant, soy diesel cleans and
flushes impurities from engines.
"At some of the higher mixtures or with 100 % biodiesel fuel, there have
been problems with separation," he said. "But at the mix we use and
that the bill would require, it hasn't been a problem."
Source: Delaware Online