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Officials say biofuels industry needs fostering Saturday, Jan 27, 2007 By Jason Wiest Arkansas News Bureau LITTLE ROCK - Called the potential Silicon Valley of biofuels by Gov. Mike Beebe, Arkansas will need the Legislature to foster the fledgling biodiesel industry or production could dry up, industry insiders told lawmakers Friday. "For this industry to survive, in my opinion, we need every diesel pump in this state to be a biodiesel pump," Keith Thompson, CEO of Green Way Bio Energy, told members of the House Committee on Agriculture, Forestry and Economic Development. Thompson's biodiesel company is scheduled to open a 10-million gallon production plant in June on the Arkansas River in the Little Rock Port Authority. Sen. Robert Thompson, D-Paragould, planned to file legislation next week that would require service stations to stop selling regular petroleum diesel and sell only biodiesel, said House Speaker Benny Petrus, D-Stuttgart, who is working with Thompson on a package of biodiesel incentives. An estimated 30 biodiesel pumps operate in the state, according to Steven Danforth, co-founder of Agri Process Innovations, which provides engineering and technical support for the agricultural industry. To boost biodiesel consumption, the product will have to be transformed from a specialty to a mainstream fuel, he said. The biodiesel production market has soured recently as soybean oil prices have increased and oil prices have decreased. Pricing biodiesel 5 cents lower than petroleum diesel and selling it at a loss still does not increase consumption, Danforth told the committee. But creating a market demand would reduce dependence on foreign oil and reduce green house gasses and global warming, he said. The biodiesel industry would also create jobs, rural development and an alternative energy economy, he said. "It's only going to, in my view, have that opportunity to grow and provide for half the building of the economy of this state in future years if the state gets in and invests on behalf of its citizens in the form of mandates," Jerry Lee Bogard, a member of the state Agriculture board, told the committee. About 650 million gallons of diesel are sold annually in Arkansas, Danforth said. Requiring all the state's service stations to pump a 2 percent blend would prompt a 20 million gallon demand annually, he said. Currently, 27 million gallons of biodiesel are produced in Arkansas. Another 115.5 million gallons of production is planned, Danforth said. About three jobs would be created for every million gallons of biodiesel production, Danforth said. At 143 million gallons, that's 429 manufacturing jobs, in addition to construction and support jobs, most in rural or farm areas, he said, estimating an annual payroll of $20 million and a $143 million investment. "If Arkansas misses the opportunity to get behind this industry, there's the possibility of those investment dollars leaving this state for other states and not coming back," Keith Thompson said. |
