Biotane Updates

12/02/03: Energy Bill Postponed Until January

The Senate has postponed final consideration of the The Senate has postponed final consideration of the Energy Bill until January. The Energy Bill contains the first ever biodiesel tax incentive.

“We’re disappointed that the measure won’t be completed this year,” said American Soybean Association (ASA) President and NBB Director Ron Heck. “But our efforts to approve a biodiesel tax incentive will continue. In fact, our campaign will only intensify over the days and weeks ahead as congressional leaders and the White House look to forge a compromise on the Energy bill.”

The decision to delay final consideration of the Energy Bill until next year was made because supporters of the measure were still two votes shy of the 60 needed to end debate in the Senate, which would clear the way for final passage of the Energy Bill. With time winding down on the first session of the 108th Congress, Energy Bill supporters determined it was necessary to wait until next year to finish the bill.

“Biodiesel is good for the country, it’s good for the environment, and it’s good for farmers. I call on our leaders in Washington to demonstrate their commitment to soybean farmers and all Americans by approving an Energy Bill that contains strong biodiesel provisions immediately after Congress reconvenes in January,” said NBB Chairman and ASA Vice President Bob Metz.

Securing passage of a biodiesel tax incentive is the top legislative priority of ASA and NBB. Due in large part to the efforts of U.S. Senators Chuck Grassley (R-IA), Blanche Lincoln (D-AR), and others, a biodiesel tax incentive was included in the final Energy Bill. It amounts to one penny per percentage point of biodiesel blended with petroleum diesel. The tax incentive will be available to diesel excise taxpayers and other fuel distributors who purchase biodiesel and blend it into diesel fuel. The incentives are intended to reduce the cost of biodiesel to the end consumer in both taxable and tax exempt markets.

“Senators are returning home, and soybean farmers should take advantage of this opportunity to thank our congressional supporters and ask for their continued support,” Heck said.

11/20/03: Contact you Senators!

The Senate just voted on cloture (motion to end debate) on the energy bill, which would have stopped the fillibuster. The cloture vote failed by a vote of 57-40, short of the 60 needed. Thus, the fillibuster will continue for now. The original vote was 58-39, but Majority Leader Bill Frist changed his vote to "no" so that he would be allowed to refile the motion for cloture. Procedurally, only someone from the prevailing side, may move to reconsider a vote. Thus, we were only two votes short of ending debate so that the energy bill could be voted on and passed. Senators Kerry (D-MA), Edwards (D-NC), and Hollings (D-SC) were absent. Senator Frist stated that the Senate would reconsider this issue before the Thanksgiving recess next week. If, and when, the Majority Leader is able to muster 60 votes for cloture, he will renew his motion to reconsider cloture.

To see how individual Senators voted click here.

If your senator(s) did not vote for cloture, please call them today and ask for their support on the energy bill.

The Capitol Switchboard (202-225-3121) can connect you with your senators' offices. Ask for the staffer who handles energy issues.

As Senator Grassley emphasized to our biodiesel leaders in the press conference in Washington on Wednesday, the actions we take now to get this energy bill passed out of the Senate, will be as critical as the 3 years of backbreaking work that it has taken us to get it this far.

Joe Jobe
Executive Director
National Biodiesel Board

10/10/03: Biodiesel Earns High Marks at 2003 Michelin Challenge Bibendum

SONOMA, Calif. – A vehicle fueled by biodiesel captured an impressive array of performance honors at the 2003 Michelin Challenge Bibendum, held at Infineon Raceway in Sonoma, Calif. A 2001 Volkswagen Jetta TDI running on B100 captured more top ratings than any other production class vehicle, earning an ‘A’ in six categories including energy efficiency, carbon dioxide and range.

Michelin bills the Challenge Bibendum as the largest environmental vehicle event in the world. It is a performance event displaying the advancements in vehicle technologies, sustainable mobility and “environmentally positive transportation.”

“Overall, the progress towards sustainable mobility by all of the participating technologies and energy sources is very impressive,” said Patrick Oliva, director, Challenge Bibendum. “There is no single choice, no one path alone to achieving our ultimate goal of environmentally-positive road transportation that is enjoyable to drive and safe for drivers and passengers. Each year, the variety of technologies and creative innovations displayed offer proof that sustainable mobility is within our grasp.”

Entrants in the Challenge were rated with A, B, C, and D letters. Eleven performance categories had Gold Awards for ‘A’ ratings and Silver Awards for ‘B’ ratings. The Volkswagen Jetta, entered by American Biofuels, attained the Gold Award in energy efficiency by achieving more than 60 miles per gallon on the Infineon Raceway while clocking some of the fastest lap times in the fuel efficiency event.

The team also received a Gold Award for carbon dioxide performance. “American Biofuels entered the Michelin challenge this year to specifically capture the CO2 awards that relate to reducing global warming gases and providing a renewable and sustainable transportation industry,” said Joseph LaStella, president of Green Star Products and a director of American Biofuels. The vehicle attained an ‘A’ in all three CO2 performance categories.

A joint U.S. Department of Energy/U.S. Department of Agriculture lifecycle study of biodiesel found that it reduces carbon dioxide over its lifecycle by 78 percent compared to petroleum diesel. Other emissions it significantly reduces include particulate matter, carbon monoxide. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recently released a comprehensive technical report of biodiesel emissions data that shows the exhaust emissions of particulate matter from pure biodiesel are about 47 percent lower than overall particulate matter emissions from diesel. Breathing particulate has been shown to be a human health hazard. Biodiesel emissions also reduce by 80 to 90 percent potential cancer causing compounds called Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAH) and nitrated PAH. Biodiesel also reduces emissions of total unburned hydrocarbons, a contributing factor to smog and ozone, by about 68 percent. Carbon monoxide is reduced by about 48 percent.

Biodiesel has similar horsepower, torque and BTU content compared to petroleum diesel. It offers excellent lubricity and higher cetane than diesel fuel. Biodiesel is registered with the EPA as a fuel and fuel additive, and has achieved a national standard by the American Society of Testing and Materials (D 6751). About 350 major fleets currently use biodiesel nationwide.

09/29/03: 133 Members of House Urge Conferees To Strip ANWR Provision From Energy Bill, jeopardizing biodiesel tax incentives.

A letter signed by 133 House members was delivered to energy bill conferees Sept. 26 urging them not to include language that would allow drilling for oil and gas in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) in northern Alaska. The letter argued that such a provision would "overturn a 35-year history of refuge protection dating back to the 1966 National Wildlife Refuge System Administration Act." The House-Senate conference committee is expected to finish work on the energy bill within the next week.

Two of the signatories were Reps. Edward Markey (D-Mass.) and Nancy Johnson (R-Conn.). Markey is one of the House conferees and is also a member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee and House Resources Committee. Johnson is a member of the House Ways and Means Committee. Sen. Pete Domenici (R-N.M.), chairman of the conference committee, has given no indication whether he will include language to open the arctic refuge in the committee's final version of the bill. This means that a Senate filibuster will be possible.

Rather, he has said he would only add ANWR language to the committee's final bill if he believes it can surmount a Democratic filibuster, a spokesman for the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee said. The letter said the "Senate has made clear that there will be no energy bill if it allows development of the Arctic Refuge" and that the "House only narrowly defeated an amendment to prevent drilling."

On March 19, the Senate passed an amendment authored by Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) to strike language from the fiscal year 2004 budget resolution that would have led to legislation opening ANWR to exploration.

The House voted April 10 to adopt an amendment to the energy bill offered by Rep. Heather Wilson (R-N.M.) to limit development in ANWR to 2,000 acres in a vote of 226-202. The House rejected an amendment offered by Markey to strip the ANWR provision from the bill in a vote of 197-228. There have been no leases issued in refuges since 1966.

The letter from the House members also pointed out that a General Accounting Office report confirmed that "not a single non-drainage oil or gas lease has been issued for federally owned mineral rights in a national wildlife refuge since the passage" of the 1966 act. The letter argued that even "the major oil companies are moving away from any new development in the North Slope, citing their doubts that any new fields would be big enough to justify their investment."

The letter noted that BP closed its Badami Field in August due "to poor performance. The field, approximately 25 miles west of the Arctic Refuge border, produced just 5 percent of what was predicted."

The letter also argued that the "Arctic Refuge is the only intact mountain-to-sea ecosystem left in America and should be protected, not exploited. We urge you to preserve this treasure for generations to come by omitting any language that would allow development in the Arctic Refuge from the conference report."

The House energy bill asserts, however, that the majority of representatives favor environmentally safe exploration, pointing out that "total acreage of ANWR is 19.6 million acres" and "energy exploration and production would occur on 2,000 acres of the coastal
plain." That equals about 0.01 percent of the total ANWR acreage, according to documents of the House resource committee.

09/17/03: Energy Conference Update

Last week, energy conferees were named, conferees and staff began meeting, the White House gave direction to the conference, and differences of opinion began to arise between Republicans and Democrats as to whether there should be a comprehensive energy bill or an "energy-lite" bill that deals only with critical issues. It is too early to tell how this will play out but a few things are clear. The President and Congress' disagreement over budget issues, especially how to fund the continuing war in Iraq, are going to put at risk many of the incentives in the energy bill and the August blackouts in the Northeast have made electricity reliablity a top priority for all.

On September 10th, telling direction was given by the White House to energy conferees by Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham's letter to Chairman Domenici. The two top issues that affect biodiesel tax incentives are:

1.) The President wants significant cuts to the energy tax incentives provided in both the Senate and House bills, with the total tax incentive package not to exceed $8 billion.

2.) The President supports increased use of renewable fuels, like Biotane biodiesel, and the Senate renewable fuels standard.

Many Democrats are talking about an entirely different strategy where the energy bill is paired down to critical issues, like electricity reliability and the renewable fuels standard, and the rest of the issues are resolved on other legislative vehicles, such as the farm bill and the highway bill, later in this year. This "energy-lite" approach may have a fair chance of working, especially if the energy conference gets stalled again like it did last year. In this approach, issues like biodiesel tax incentives may be cut from the bill.

09/09/03: Feds back Suit against CA vehicle pollution

The federal government is backing a lawsuit before the U.S. Supreme Court that seeks to overturn a California clean-air agency's attempts to curb pollution from buses, taxi cabs, trash trucks and other fleet vehicles. The series of laws requires operators to buy clean-fueled models when they replace or add vehicles to their fleets. These laws have resulted in the replacement of hundreds of diesel trucks, buses and other fleet vehicles with cleaner running engines burning natural gas or other alternative fuels.

Two industry groups, the Western States Petroleum Association and the Engine Manufacturers Association sued the South Coast Air Quality Management (AQMD) in U.S. District Court. The clean air agency prevailed in the that court and in the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. The plaintiffs have now appealed to the Supreme Court which is expected to hear the case in December.

The Department of Justice's friend-of-the court brief argues that under the federal Clean Air Act, states and local jurisdictions cannot establish their own emission standards for new vehicles - as it and the plaintiffs argue the AQMD has done with the fleet rules. The brief also argues that the AQMD must petition the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for permission to adopt such such standards.

The AQMD maintains the rules do not set emissions standards. The 1100 Rules are mandates for the fuels that the AQMD has a bias towards. Instead, the rules ask fleet owners to choose from among the cleanest engine technologies available. The Engine Manufacturers Association has argued that the rules constitute a de facto ban on certain engines and vehicles.

08/11/03: RTC Grand Opening

RTC held its grand opening commencement ceremony Monday August 11th. Not only is it the world's first, most advanced and comprehensive showcase of alternative fuels and alternative fuel vehicles, it is also the first Biodiesel fueling station. Of course, the supplier of this fuel is none other than Biotane, derived from waste restaurant oils (Imperial Biotane). Biotane Fuels is proud to be the supplier of this landmark achievement in the promotion of Biodiesel.

Not only does RTC sell biodiesel, it also has an Education Center designed to educate middle and high school students about innovative technologies that will improve the environment, such as Biotane.
http://www.rtc4afv.com/rtchtml.htm

08/01/03: Laws puch California toward 'greener' future

California adopted the nation's most ambitious renewable energy goals when Gov. Gray Davis signed a bill requiring 20 percent of utilities' electricity be produced from renewable sources such as solar, wind, and geothermal by 2017. To put that in perspective, a measure pending in Congress proposes a national standard of 10 percent. Renewable energy providers have had problems finding a ready market. Although 20% by 2017 is ambitious, the state's two largest utilities - Pacific Gas and Electric, and Southern California Edison - will beat or come close to meeting the 20% goal by 2010.

07/18/03: RTC uses Biotane

Regional Transportation Center (RTC) has recently completed its unique fueling station in the City Heights area of San Diego, California. One of the most exciting venues San Diego has ever seen, this unique facility features a roster of "firsts" that will prove a landmark advance for the alternative fuels industry.

Among its alternative fuels selection, RTC will also offer customers Biotane B-20 biodiesel. Biotane Fuels is proud to supply the Biotane option to the San Diego area, providing another way that San Diego can keep its blue skies clean. San Diego leads the metropolitan cities of California with its attainment of air quality standards, meeting both the Federal Clean Air Act compliances and California State emissions control jurisdiction.
http://www.rtc4afv.com/rtchtml.htm