Integration of Biodiesel RIN Verification in the BQ-9000 Program
by Pete Moss (Biodiesel Magazine) BQ-9000 is the gold standard for quality control in the biodiesel industry. The accreditation program was developed by the National Biodiesel Board to ensure better quality in a rapidly growing market. A study completed in 2005-‘06 by the NBB and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory found that 50 percent of tested biodiesel samples failed at least one of the categories in ASTM D6751. At the time, very few biodiesel firms were BQ-9000-certified. Now, 44 biodiesel producers are BQ-9000-accredited, representing 80 percent of biodiesel production, according to the National Biodiesel Accreditation Commission. Quality issues are on the decline and BQ-9000 plants are generally held in higher regard.
RIN fraud is another area that has plagued the industry. Biodiesel RINs, created when biodiesel is produced from an approved pathway, have failed integrity trials at the national level.
…Fraud is committed when a producer knowingly generates invalid RINs, sometimes when no physical gallons are produced. Invalid RINs, however, can also be generated in ignorance by using unapproved feedstock, misrepresenting feedstock, separating RINs without meeting the EPA requirements, and neglecting temperature correction factors, to name a few.
…The EPA uses the term Quality Assurance Program to refer to a third-party validation program that checks for fraud and mistakes. One concept recently introduced by Frazier, Barnes & Associates is the integration of the BQ-9000 program with the QAP. READ MORE
