Minnesota Passes Statewide B20 Mandate
Fuel quality and alternative feedstocks fostered in legislation

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo.– Minnesota has taken another step towards promoting domestic energy security and reducing the state's carbon footprint. Today, Gov. Tim Pawlenty signed a bill that will increase the current 2 percent biodiesel mandate to 20 percent by 2015.

According to the legislation, the current 2 percent biodiesel mandate will increase to 5 percent on May 1, 2009; to 10 percent on May 1, 2012; and to 20 percent on May 1, 2015.

"Implementation of the legislation starting in May of 2009 is timely and workable," said Chuck Neece, Chairman of the Minnesota Biodiesel Council, which championed the legislation. "The supply from the current biodiesel production capacity in Minnesota already exceeds 64 million gallons, more than enough to meet the five percent requirement, which would be 40 million gallons."

The increases are not automatic, however. There is built-in flexibility, including an approval process before moving to higher blends. This will allow the legislature, biodiesel producers and other stakeholders to gauge supply and demand impacts before moving to a higher blend.

Ed Hegland, Chairman of the National Biodiesel Board and a Minnesota farmer, praised the legislation's commitment to fuel quality. "The legislation includes quality assurance and national ASTM fuel specifications," he said. "We will continue to work with state leaders and stakeholders impacted by this legislation to ensure only quality fuel continues to enter the marketplace."

The legislation fosters the use of non-traditional feedstocks to fulfill the mandate by requiring that 5 percent of the feedstock come from non-traditional state agricultural resources. That includes algae, waste oils, and tallow, as well as other future feedstocks being researched in the state, such as cuphea (an oilseed plant that can grow on marginal soils) and industrial hazelnuts.

In addition, as members of the National Biodiesel Board, Minnesota's biodiesel producers have joined with other biodiesel producers across the U.S. to assure that biodiesel is produced in a sustainable manner. To that end, the NBB has established a Sustainability Task Force. The task force's mission is to guide and support the U.S. biodiesel industry's ongoing efforts to assess and improve business practices related to environmentally, economically, and socially responsible biodiesel production.

"This legislation establishes a plan to constantly look to the future for new technologies and the processing of agricultural-based fuels," Hegland said. "I'm proud to live in Minnesota, a state that leads in energy innovations like biodiesel."

The 500 million gallons of biodiesel produced in the U.S. in 2007 displaced 20 million barrels of petroleum, and increased production and use of biodiesel will further displace foreign oil. Biodiesel is an extremely efficient fuel that creates 3.5 units of energy for every unit of fuel that is required to produce the fuel.

Based in Jefferson City, the NBB is the national trade association of the biodiesel industry and is the coordinating body for biodiesel research and development in the U.S. The Minnesota Biodiesel Council is made up of biodiesel stakeholders, producers, feedstock suppliers and others. Its mission is to promote the use and understanding of biodiesel, educate consumers and biodiesel industry partners, and to advance the use and acceptance of biodiesel as an alternative to petroleum-based diesel fuel.

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