Biodiesel is a fuel made mostly from crops with seeds that contain oil. Oilseed crops in the U.S. include soybeans and canola (called “rapeseed” in Europe). In tropical regions, palm and jatropha are promising oilseed crops. Palm trees are abundant oil producers, but, in some places, native forests have been cleared to allow their cultivation, raising environmental concerns. Jatropha bushes grow well under adverse conditions and are seen as a tool to fight desertification. Biodiesel can also be made from used cooking oil and animal fats.
Raw vegetable oil is turned into biodiesel through a chemical process called transesterification that separates out glycerin for use in soaps and other products and leaves behind methyl esters (the technical term for biodiesel). The process can also produce valuable by-products. For example, for each pound of soybean oil crushed out of the beans, more than four pounds of a high-protein animal feed called “meal” is created.
U.S. biodiesel production is growing rapidly, from 28 million gallons in 2004 to 91 million gallons in 2005. That is still only 0.15% of the U.S. diesel market and less than 10% of the 1 billion gallons produced in Europe, but production in 2006 was estimated at 245 billion gallons.
Pacific Biodiesel is a leading pioneer and advocate for the establishment of community-based biodiesel. We have over a decade of experience in constructing and operating biodiesel processing plants, as well as producing and marketing quality fuels, industry-leading accomplishments no other U.S. company can claim. Through our sister companies, Pacific Biodiesel Incorporated and Pacific Biodiesel Technologies, LLC we produce and sell quality fuels and design, build, and support biodiesel plants from Hawaii to Maryland.
Our advanced water-free processing technology capitalizes on our leadership in production flexibility. We build scalable plants designed to serve the demands of a local community using a variety of feedstocks produced by local suppliers.
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