http://www.nwitimes.com/articles/2006/10/25/business/business/3737430fd00ff904862572110075b436.txt
Bless em if they find something replace the God of Gasoline! And a method of conversion for existing gas guzzling vehicles. Imagine world peace resting on a gallon of gas!
Bless em if they find something replace the God of Gasoline! And a method of conversion for existing gas guzzling vehicles. Imagine world peace resting on a gallon of gas!
Singing praises of soy-diesel fuel
Indiana's senior U.S. senator visits Hammond plant, lauds innovation
BY LOUISA MURZYN
Times Correspondent
This story ran on nwitimes.com on Wednesday, October 25, 2006 12:33 AM CDT
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HAMMOND | The crisp autumn air remained odorless and free from petroleum-based smoke as U.S. Sen. Dick Lugar, standing next to a Hammond school bus powered by locally produced soy-diesel fuel, praised the innovation.
Lugar, R-Ind., visited Evergreen Renewables on Tuesday as part of a statewide tour of companies that are developing alternative energy sources and lessening dependence on imported oil.
The facility located at Wolf Lake Terminals began making fuel from soybeans in May and was Indiana's first online biodiesel production plant. Today, it makes 120,000 gallons weekly and soon will process and ship the around the clock.
"There are people of great talent right here," Lugar said. "It's their confidence and cooperation and management of all these resources that make this a first-class product. The employees have enormous responsibility."
Lugar was given an operations overview, visited the one-room testing laboratory and walked through the outdoor production and storage tank facility. The well-informed senator was engaged, and he fired off a variety of questions throughout.
"We start with soybean oil just like you'd find in your kitchen," said Evergreen President Brian Engel. "They're Indiana-grown soybeans. It's not a real hot process or under pressure. It's like making soup. You slowly mix and cook it until the reactions take place."
Annual sales are $15 million, with projections of $105,000 million as capacity increases to 36 million gallons yearly. The Omaha-based company has doubled its base to 20 customers along the Interstate 80/94 corridor in Illinois, Indiana and Michigan.
Customers include retailers with truck stops, farming cooperatives, and vehicle fleet managers who buy 1,000 to 7,000 gallons of the pure soy fuel B100 blend.
Evergreen employs 10 workers and soon plans to hire five more.
Engel told Lugar the company's entry into the marketplace has been smooth because the Hammond location had an existing skilled labor force and infrastructure. Proximity to railroads and highways has been critical to growth, he added.
Engel also announced future plans, which include a higher quality fuel that has better winter characteristics and won't plug fuel filters.
Mark Happer, environmental compliance manager at U.S. Steel's Gary Works, said the steelmaker will begin using a 5-percent blend in January for two-thirds of its heavy mobile equipment fleet. The fuel has helped equipment idle and perform better as it lubricates, he said.
It will also begin testing trials for railroad locomotives, he added.
Evergreen also announced it will open a second Indiana biodiesel plant in Jeffersonville, where it expects to produce 60 million gallons per year.
Garland Middendorf, president of Wolf Lake Terminals, urged Lugar to support engine manufacturer warranties for biodiesel fuel blends of up to 20 percent.
"As consumers spend thousands of dollars on a new car or truck, they have to pay attention to warranties," Middendorf said, "and standing behind it would be a real push for the industry."