The saga of Piedmont Biodiesel, from local co-op to contract producer for European markets
In North Carolina, the saga of Piedmont Biodiesel, which began as a biodiesel co-operative and ended up a contract biodiesel producer for European export, is chronicled in an entertaining profile at biofuels.coop. “The biodiesel business is simple,” it begins. The post chronicles their roller-coaster ride on soy prices, followed by a roller-coaster ride on chicken fat prices, followed by a sojourn in the world of yellow grease, before settling down as a contract producer, leaving feedstock and fuel prices to others to worry about.
The practice of producing biofuels in the US for export to Europe has been sharply criticized by the European Biodiesel Board, who have said that US exports of subsidized biodiesel threaten the existence of the global biodiesel industry. US exports surged to 80,000 tonnes per month last year from an average of 20,000 in 2006. The EBB has lodged an anti-dumping complaint with the European Commission. European mandates are expected to create a market of up to 28 million tonnes of biodiesel by 2020.
In response to EBB complaints, Manning Feraci, Vice President of Federal Affairs for the National Biodiesel Board (NBB), issued the following statement on behalf of the NBB:
“The U.S. and European biodiesel industries have a long-standing tradition of working together to promote the increased production and use of biofuels as a way to reduce petroleum consumption and address critical climate change issues. It is unfortunate that EBB is advocating a course of action that could hinder this progress, and in the interest of continued trans-Atlantic cooperation, we hope that cooler heads will prevail on this matter.
“The biodiesel industry – both in the U.S. and in Europe – is facing similar challenges. Dramatic increases in feedstock costs have created difficult market conditions for biodiesel producers. We believe that this, in tandem with policy changes in EU member states, are the main causes of the problems facing the European biodiesel industry.
“It is in the mutual interests of both the U.S. and European biodiesel industries to enhance global trade in biofuels. In fact, senior EU officials have publicly noted that if Europe is to meet its goal to increase biofuels use, the EU will have to import fuels such as biodiesel. U.S. produced biodiesel yields a 78% reduction in carbon lifecycle emissions and can play a constructive role in the global effort to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
“The U.S. biodiesel industry remains open to working with our counterparts in Europe to not only promote trade in biofuels, but to stop unintended abuses of existing biofuels incentives. For example, the NBB has strongly denounced so-called ‘splash and dash’ transactions where fuel produced outside the U.S. is transshipped through the U.S for the sole purpose of claiming the U.S. blenders excise tax credit before being sent for final use in Europe. We believe this practice may be more widespread than is being acknowledged by the EBB, and NBB is aggressively promoting efforts in Congress to end this practice. As has always been the case, we hope the EBB will recognize our genuine efforts to address this issue.
“Again, it remains the sincere desire of the NBB to constructively address these issues in a manner that does not harm the positive working relationship that has existed between the U.S. and European biodiesel industries.â€
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