The New Imperium: A Major Player in Biodiesel 1.5 Aims for Biofuels 2.0

BioRefineries/Renewable Fuel Production, Business News/Analysis, California, Canada, Federal Agency, Federal Legislation, International, Opinions, Policy

August 3, 2010

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by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) Back in 2008 the death watch began on Imperium Renewables.

Though its 100 Mgy multi-feedstock plant in Grays Harbor was, at the time, the largest and most modern biodiesel facility in the US, the company lost its CEO, withdrew a planned IPO, and was forced to cancel a potentially lucrative Hawaiian development project that would have supplied biodiesel to Hawaiian Electric (HECO).

…Today, what was expected to become one of the first major casualties of the biodiesel crisis of 2008-10 has emerged as one of its leading survivors, and John Plaza, then as now, remains one of the biofuels industries most outspoken and astute observers.

…“The Low Carbon Fuel Standard is the biggest issue,”Plaza comments, “and we need sustainabiliuty criteria, and we need to understand what we are truly measuring against. We have to have a frame of reference that looks at the marginal production of fossil fuels, which we obtain from Canadian tar sands, and we need a fair standard based on fair data. ”

… “The California Air Resources Board (CARB) got it all wrong. It’s a complete and utter disaster, with utopian requirements to meet standards that will just kill off first generation fuels in California and you never get to the second generation.” READ MORE

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