2008 Biodiesel Business Management for Producers, Making and Selling the Fuel of the Future, Financing, Making a Profit (Ringbound)

Here is your authoritative guide to the business aspects of biodiesel, from the Federal Government! This unique guide covers the background of biodiesel and the liquid fuels industry, with an introduction to biodiesel, review of diesel fuel properties and characteristics, and an introduction to the liquid fuels production, marketing, and regulatory system. Business start-up issues are covered, with information on business plan development, financing, identification and development of markets, equipment and process planning as related to feedstocks and processes, inventory and management issues, legal and regulatory issues, taxation, environmental requirements and permitting, EPA registration, workplace safety issues, government incentive programs, operational concerns, biodiesel transportation and storage, feedstock acquisition, alternative feedstocks, glycerol, product quality, and making a profit. Biodiesel is an alternative fuel for diesel engines that is gaining attention in the United States after reaching a considerable level of success in Europe. Its primary advantages are that it is one of the most renewable fuels currently available and it is also non-toxic and biodegradable. Contents include: basics of production, basic organic chemistry, specifications, properties, plant, equipment, chemical plant controls, pretreatment of feedstocks, patents, post-reaction processing, treatment and recovery of side streams, logistics, feedstock preparation and quality, plant safety, transportation and storage, product quality, and an evaluation of biodiesel fuel bio-deterioration susceptibility to microorganisms. BUSINESS MANAGEMENT FOR BIODIESEL PRODUCERS "The material contained in this book is intended to provide the reader with information about biodiesel in four basic areas: 1) Biodiesel and the liquid fuels industry 2) Biodiesel business start-up issues 3) Legal and regulatory issues 4) Operational concerns. Biodiesel is an alternative fuel for diesel engines that is receiving great attention around the world. Although it attracts the most attention because it is renewable, it can be used either pure or in blends with diesel fuel in unmodified diesel engines, and it reduces some exhaust pollutants. What is biodiesel? Biodiesel is defined as the mono-alkyl esters of fatty acids derived from vegetable oils or animal fats. In simple terms, biodiesel is the product you get when a vegetable oil or animal fat is chemically reacted with an alcohol to produce a new compound that is known as a fatty acid alkyl ester. A catalyst such as sodium or potassium hydroxide is required. Glycerol is produced as a byproduct. The approximate proportions of the reaction are: 100 lbs of oil plus 10 lbs of methanol equals 100 lbs of biodiesel and 10 lbs of glycerol Soybean oil is the most popular feedstock in the United States. Soybeans are a major U.S. crop and government subsidies may be available to make the fuel economically attractive to consumers who need or want to use a nonpetroleum-based fuel. Biodiesel from soybeans is sometimes called soydiesel, methyl soyate, or soy methyl esters (SME). In Europe, most biodiesel is made from rapeseed oil and methanol and it is known as rapeseed methyl esters (RME). The University of Idaho has done considerable work with rapeseed esters using ethanol, which produces rapeseed ethyl esters (REE). Biodiesel can also be made from other feedstocks: Other vegetable oils such as corn oil, canola (an edible variety of rapeseed) oil, cottonseed oil, mustard oil, palm oil, etc. * Restaurant waste oils such as frying oils * Animal fats such as beef tallow or pork lard * Trap grease (from restaurant grease traps), float grease (from waste water treatment plants), etc."