Old Newark refinery now redefined, Old facility is now devoted to the manufacture of biodiesel fuel

star ledger ^ | 09.25.08 | Tom Johnson

[Coleus]

For those who lament the demise of American manufacturing, Innovation Fuels offers a glimmer of optimism. The privately held Newark company converted a 120-year-old former Standard Oil terminal on the banks of the Passaic River into a "refinery" that produces up to 950,000 barrels of biodiesel a year, with approximately 80 percent of it exported to Europe. "There's not a whole lot of companies doing that these days, and it's something we're really proud of," Chuck Weinberg, senior vice president, said of the conversion of a five-acre "brownfield" site into a manufacturing hub.

Biodiesel, one of the fastest-growing alternative fuels, is made from vegetable oil and animal fats, with some manufacturers, including Innovation Fuels, blending the finished product with diesel fuel. It can be used to power diesel engines or to heat homes. With the price of regular diesel fuel rising -- it now costs $4.10 per gallon on average, according to the AAA Daily Fuel Gauge Report -- biodiesel has become more competitive on a cost basis. Innovation Fuels' chief executive, John Fox, said the company makes biodiesel for less than what home heating oil has been selling at, though he declined to provide specific numbers. He said biodiesel has the added advantage of producing up to 60 percent less greenhouse gases than diesel.

Use of biodiesel is expected to continue to accelerate, considering the recent run-up in oil prices. Another factor in biodiesel's favor: new mandates by the U.S. government and the European Union requiring the alternative fuel make up a larger share of overall fuel production. In 2003, there were 14 million gallons of biodiesel produced in the United States; by 2007, the number had grown to nearly 500 million gallons, according to the Energy Information Administration.

[Coleus]

John Fox, chief executive of Innovation Fuels, leads a tour through the
 company's facility in Newark.

The company makes biodiesel fuel.

[ASOC]

What do they do with the ‘waste’ glycerin? Any additional data from other local sources?

thx

[Mike Darancette]

The privately held Newark company converted a 120-year-old former Standard Oil terminal on the banks of the Passaic River into a "refinery" that produces up to 950,000 barrels of biodiesel a year, with approximately 80 percent of it exported to Europe.

This shows the insanity of it all we make biofuel for EUrope so they can cut their CO2 emissions. Biofuels which we can't properly utilize because of laws against efficient diesel engines in automobiles. BTW how much fuel is used in shipping to EUrope.

[Cobra64]

BMW is selling diesel cars in the USA.

[MediaMole]

Just don’t use this stuff in the Winter. It turns into jelly at low temperatures — much worse than regular diesel.

[Mike Darancette]

And US automakers should be doing the same.

[Cobra64]

No argeument from me. That’s about all you see in Europe.

[element92]

why is Bush

anti-Diesel?

[The Great RJ]

Note school buses in a Minneapolis suburb, mandated to run on bio-diesel have been grounded by the recent cold snap. Seems bio-diesel turns to jelly in Minnesota winter temperatures.