In The Media - Second biodiesel plant proposed for Albany, NY

Location: Blogs

Posted by: Community Fuels

11/17/2005

The Times Union, Albany, New York. Port facility would bring 12 jobs, produce 50 million gallons of fuel a year, coexist with similar plant

A second biodiesel plant has been proposed for the Port of Albany, joining a proposal made in September. The new plant, to be developed by NextGen Fuel Inc., would produce 50 million gallons of biodiesel fuel annually, create about a dozen jobs, and occupy about one acre of land at the port.

The earlier proposal called for a $25 million plant that would occupy 10 acres and produce 30 million gallons annually. That proposal came from a company calling itself New York Biodiesel LLC. The two plants, which would produce biodiesel from soybean and other plant oils, could coexist at the port, officials said.

New York Biodiesel and NextGen both have talked with a tenant at the port, Cibro Petroleum, which has an unused refinery and a number of tanks that could be used for storage. The companies would sublease from Cibro. Both also are talking with the port about directly leasing land. Jeff DeWeese, NextGen's president and chief executive, declined to put a price tag on his company's proposal.

He spoke Wednesday before the Albany Port District Commission, accompanied by Carl T. Ferrentino, a founder of and counsel to Homeland Energy Inc., which would serve as developer for the project. Ferrentino said the project already has financing lined up.

NextGen has a biodiesel plant at the former Miller Brewing Co. site in Fulton, Oswego County, that will begin commercial production next month. The centerpiece of the $157 million redevelopment of the Miller site by Northeast Biofuels is a plant that will produce up to 100 million gallons of ethanol a year, using 41 million bushels of corn - much of it from New York farmers.

Northeast Biofuels received $4 million in state funding, while NextGen is benefiting from about $350,000 in public funding. The ethanol can be blended with gasoline to produce a cleaner-burning fuel. Some vehicles can run on fuel that is up to 85 percent ethanol.

Biodiesel, meanwhile, can be blended with petroleum-based diesel or used by itself in diesel engines. Biodiesel also is cleaner-burning. NextGen's Fulton plant will produce 5 million gallons of biodiesel annually, one-tenth the capacity of the proposed Port of Albany plant.

The National Biodiesel Board, an industry trade group based in Jefferson City, Mo., estimates 75 million gallons of biodiesel will be produced nationwide this year, triple the 25 million gallons produced in 2004. By comparison, the two plants proposed in Albany together would produce 80 million gallons. Still, biodiesel makes up a minuscule portion of overall diesel fuel consumption. According to Denver-based Blue Sun Biodiesel, a marketing and production firm, the nation uses about 56 billion gallons of diesel fuel a year.

DeWeese also suggested to the port commission that the Port of Albany could become a "green" port, running its cranes, trucks and even its railroad locomotives on biodiesel, thus reducing emissions. DeWeese said the plant's output would be marketed in a 100-mile radius. The Fulton plant already has buyers for its entire output, he said. NextGen's plant will take up far less space than the one proposed by New York Biodiesel because it uses a continuous production system developed at Clarkson University, DeWeese said.

New York Biodiesel is believed to use a batch process that involves greater storage requirements. A spokesman for New York Biodiesel couldn't be reached Wednesday for comment. Ferrentino said that once a lease was signed, the NextGen plant could be operating in about nine months.

Eric Anderson can be reached at 454-5323 or by e-mail at eanderson@timesunion.com.

Eric Anderson

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