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PrintMissouri’s biodiesel discussion will move on to the Senate floor after the Agriculture, Conservation, Parks and Natural Resources Committee voted 7-1 Tuesday in favor of a bill that would require all biodiesel fuel sold in Missouri after Jan. 1, 2009, to contain at least 5 percent biodiesel.
Sen. Bill Stouffer, R-Marshall, sponsored the bill for the renewable fuel source, which is similar to ethanol and blends soybean oil and diesel fuel.
Robert Diederich of Hartsburg is among those who would benefit from the bill. A soybean farmer who has invested in a new biodiesel plant, he said the bill is a win-win situation.
“Anything to stimulate farm economy and help the environment is a good thing,” he said.
Distributors also are looking to the new legislation to benefit sales. MFA Oil, a Boone County farm cooperative, is distributing biodiesel and has done so for four years. Tom May, MFA’s marketing director, said sales have grown at a good percentage each year.
“Biodiesel is a good thing for Missouri’s economy, and those dollars that people pay at the pumps here in Columbia stay within a 45-mile radius of their homes,” May said.
He said MFA Oil and farmers are investing in biodiesel plants like Mid-America Biofuels in Mexico, Mo. Those plants are turning out a product that consumers in mid-Missouri will buy, May said.
May also said the 5 percent standard is the best and that’s the standard that MFA Oil strives for at their retail pumps, including Break Time gas stations.
“The key is to maintain the reputation and quality (of biodiesel),” Stouffer said.
The quality of the biodiesel produced will play an important role in the discussions ahead. The bill states that there will be a penalty for producers who sell biodiesel but do not meet the requirement set.
The National Biodiesel Accreditation Commission has developed a fuel standard program, known as BQ9000, that will set the quality standards for the bill, said Aaron Baker, spokesman for Stouffer’s office. The program is a combination of standards including, “storage, sampling, testing, blending, shipping, distribution and fuel management practices,” according to the National Biodiesel Board.
Proponents of the bill hope the combination will help ensure Missouri offers a quality product. Dale Ludwig, executive director of the Missouri Soybean Association, said, “everybody that’s involved with this bill is totally for delivering a quality product.”
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