BQ-9000 Biodiesel Quality Program Reaches One-third of U.S. Production
ADM, Caljet of America and Freedom Fuels LLC are the latest companies to join quality assurance program

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo.– The BQ-9000 biodiesel quality assurance program has welcomed two biodiesel producers and one marketer to its ranks including an 85 million gallon biodiesel plant operated by ADM in Velva, N.D. Freedom Fuels of Mason City, Iowa joined ADM as the latest BQ-9000 Producer, and Caljet of America located in Phoenix, Az. became a BQ-9000 Marketer. With these additional facilities, the program has reached more than 40 companies and accounts for about 33 percent of the biodiesel production capacity in the U.S.

The Archer Daniels Midland plant is located adjacent to its canola crushing facility and produces biodiesel made from canola oil. It is ADM's first biodiesel plant.

Freedom Fuels operates its 30 million gallon capacity biodiesel plant using locally grown agricultural products. The company was formed by local soybean producers and others interested in manufacturing renewable, domestically produced fuel. The plant produces biodiesel and glycerine, and it can receive crude soybean oil for refining.

"Quality is our ultimate goal," said Freedom Fuels laboratory manager Stacy Staudt. "Everyone works toward that goal from ensuring we receive quality raw materials to performing truck inspections before loading operations begin. Our reputation is based on the quality product we produce and on our commitment to meeting and exceeding the BQ-9000 requirements."

Caljet of America, LLC, the Southwest's largest independent motor fuel terminal operator, is making a substantial commitment to biodiesel. Caljet is expanding its terminal in Phoenix to 1,000,000 barrels of storage capacity and will include 25,000 barrels of biodiesel storage capacity, allowing for blending a wide variety of biodiesel blends across nine loading racks. Caljet is also heavily involved in the development of biodiesel as a lubricity additive at low levels in Ultra Low Sulfur Diesel fuel.

"We are extremely proud of our BQ-9000 certification," said Caljet Business Development and Quality Control Manager Mark Ellery. "We take ensuring the quality of our fuels very seriously, and we wouldn't have it any other way."

BQ-9000 is a voluntary fuel quality assurance program, overseen by the National Biodiesel Accreditation Commission (NBAC) and adopted by the National Biodiesel Board and the Canadian Renewable Fuels Association. It couples the foundations of universally accepted quality management systems with the product specification ASTM D 6751, and has become the premier quality designation in the industry. The program covers storage, sampling, testing, blending, shipping, distribution and fuel management practices. Both producers and marketers are eligible to become either a BQ-9000 Producer or BQ-9000 Marketer.

"Achieving the ASTM standard on every batch of biodiesel is critical to protect consumers and maintain the reputation of biodiesel as a high quality, high performance fuel," said Leland Tong, NBAC Chair.

A national biodiesel fuel quality study by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory released earlier this year showed that plants certified under the BQ-9000 program consistently met the parameters for ASTM D 6751, the national standard for biodiesel. Overall, samples representing more than 90 percent of biodiesel produced in the U.S. last year met the specification.

There are currently 28 biodiesel production facilities certified as producers under the program, and 13 as marketers of biodiesel.

The NBAC is offering upcoming seminars for companies interested in becoming a BQ-9000 producer or marketer; visit www.bq-9000.org for information.

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