Hi Olivier >"This is big business. There's a lot of money involved."
"Small is beautifuel," said Pagandai. Big is agrofuel, not beautifuel. "I have a niggling feeling that 10 years from now, the environmentalists will be fighting the ethanol industry tooth and nail. Anything can be done badly, and I expect the ADM's of the world will be successful in turning a clean renewable resource into a dirty unsustainable one," said Steve Spence seven years ago (Biofuel list, 26 Jul 2001). Indeed - same goes for biodiesel. Maybe we should call it agrodiesel instead. Note that in the past the industrial guys have accused backyarders of "sewering" the by-product, based on sheer prejudice and no evidence. Best Keith >http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/11/us/11biofuel.html?pagewanted=all > >March 11, 2008 >Pollution Is Called a Byproduct of a 'Clean' Fuel >By BRENDA GOODMAN > >MOUNDVILLE, Ala. - After residents of the Riverbend Farms >subdivision noticed that an oily, fetid substance had begun fouling >the Black Warrior River, which runs through their backyards, Mark >Storey, a retired petroleum plant worker, hopped into his boat to >follow it upstream to its source. > >It turned out to be an old chemical factory that had been converted >into Alabama's first biodiesel plant, a refinery that intended to >turn soybean oil into earth-friendly fuel. > >"I'm all for the plant," Mr. Storey said. "But I was really amazed >that a plant like that would produce anything that could get into >the river without taking the necessary precautions." > >But the oily sheen on the water returned again and again, and a >laboratory analysis of a sample taken in March 2007 revealed that >the ribbon of oil and grease being released by the plant - it >resembled Italian salad dressing - was 450 times higher than permit >levels typically allow, and that it had drifted at least two miles >downstream. > >The spills, at the Alabama Biodiesel Corporation plant outside this >city about 17 miles from Tuscaloosa, are similar to others that have >come from biofuel plants in the Midwest. The discharges, which can >be hazardous to birds and fish, have many people scratching their >heads over the seeming incongruity of pollution from an industry >that sells products with the promise of blue skies and clear streams. > >"Ironic, isn't it?" said Barbara Lynch, who supervises environmental >compliance inspectors for the Iowa Department of Natural Resources. >"This is big business. There's a lot of money involved." > >Iowa leads the nation in biofuel production, with 42 ethanol and >biodiesel refineries in production and 18 more plants under >construction, according to the Renewable Fuels Association. In the >summer of 2006, a Cargill biodiesel plant in Iowa Falls improperly >disposed of 135,000 gallons of liquid oil and grease, which ran into >a stream killing hundreds of fish. > >According to the National Biodiesel Board, a trade group, biodiesel >is nontoxic, biodegradable and suitable for sensitive environments, >but scientists say that position understates its potential >environmental impact. > >"They're really considered nontoxic, as you would expect," said >Bruce P. Hollebone, a researcher with Environment Canada in Ottawa >and one of the world's leading experts on the environmental impact >of vegetable oil and glycerin spills. > >"You can eat the stuff, after all," Mr. Hollebone said. "But as with >most organic materials, oil and glycerin deplete the oxygen content >of water very quickly, and that will suffocate fish and other >organisms. And for birds, a vegetable oil spill is just as deadly as >a crude oil spill." > >Other states have also felt the impact. > >Leanne Tippett Mosby, a deputy division director of environmental >quality for the Missouri Department of Natural Resources, said she >was warned a year ago by colleagues in other states that biodiesel >producers were dumping glycerin, the main byproduct of biodiesel >production, contaminated with methanol, another waste product that >is classified as hazardous. > >Glycerin, an alcohol that is normally nontoxic, can be sold for >secondary uses, but it must be cleaned first, a process that is >expensive and complicated. Expanded production of biodiesel has >flooded the market with excess glycerin, making it less >cost-effective to clean and sell. > >Ms. Tippett Mosby did not have to wait long to see the problem. In >October, an anonymous caller reported that a tanker truck was >dumping milky white goop into Belle Fountain Ditch, one of the many >man-made channels that drain Missouri's Bootheel region. That >substance turned out to be glycerin from a biodiesel plant. > >In January, a grand jury indicted a Missouri businessman in the >discharge, which killed at least 25,000 fish and wiped out the >population of fat pocketbook mussels, an endangered species. > >Back in Alabama, Nelson Brooke of Black Warrior Riverkeeper, a >nonprofit organization dedicated to protecting and restoring the >Black Warrior River and its tributaries, received a report in >September 2006 of a fish kill that stretched 20 miles downstream >from Moundville. Even though Mr. Brooke said he found oil in the >water around the dead fish, the state Department of Environmental >Management determined that natural, seasonal changes in oxygen >levels in the water could have been the culprit. The agency did not >charge Alabama Biodiesel. > >In August, Black Warrior Riverkeeper, in a complaint filed in >Federal District Court, documented at least 24 occasions when oil >was spotted in the water near the plant. > >Richard Campo, vice president of Alabama Biodiesel, did not respond >to requests for an interview, but Clay A. Tindal, a Tuscaloosa >lawyer representing the refinery, called the suit's claims "sheer >speculation, conjecture, and unsupported bald allegations." Mr. >Tindal said that "for various reasons," the plant was not now >producing fuel. > >The company has filed a motion to dismiss the complaint on the >ground that it has entered into a settlement agreement with state >officials that requires it to pay a $12,370 fine and to obtain >proper discharge permits. > >Don Scott, an engineer for the National Biodiesel Board, >acknowledges that some producers have had problems complying with >environmental rules but says those violations have been infrequent >in an industry that nearly doubled in size in one year, to 160 >plants in the United States at the end of 2007 from 90 plants at the >end of 2006. > >Mr. Scott said that the board had been working with state and >environmental agencies to educate member companies and that the >troubles were "growing pains." > >Ms. Lynch said some of the violations were the result of an industry >that was inexperienced in the manufacturing process and its wastes. >But in other instances, she said, companies are skirting the permit >process to get their plants up and running faster. > >"Our fines are only so high," Ms. Lynch said. "It's build first, >permit second." > >In October 2005, the Alabama Department of Environmental Management >informed Alabama Biodiesel that it would need an individual >pollution discharge permit to operate, but the company never applied >for one. The company operated for more than a year without a permit >and without facing any penalties from state regulators, though >inspectors documented unpermitted discharges on two occasions. > >For some, the troubles of the industry seem to outweigh its benefits. > >"They're environmental Jimmy Swaggarts, in my opinion," said >Representative Brian P. Bilbray, Republican of California, who spoke >out against the $18 billion energy package recently passed by >Congress that provides tax credits for biofuels. "What is being sold >as green fuel just doesn't pencil out." _______________________________________________ Biofuel mailing list Biofuel@sustainablelists.org http://sustainablelists.org/mailman/listinfo/sustainablelorgbiofuel Biofuel at Journey to Forever: http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html Search the combined Biofuel and Biofuels-biz list archives (70,000 messages): http://www.mail-archive.com/biofuel@sustainablelists.org/
