In the midst of the global food crisis, biofuels have been named as a probable culprit in driving the cost of food high up out of the reach of the world’s poor. New laws have just come into force in the United Kingdom requiring that all petrol and diesel be at least 2.5 per cent biofuel.
That target is expected to increase to five per cent by 2010 as part of efforts to make transport fuels more environmentally friendly. United States has just surpassed Brazil as the world’s largest producer of ethanol fuel.
The increased demand for biofuels from the world’s richer nations is being partly blamed for the skyrocketing food prices. Farmland that was once used to grow crops to feed people is now growing fuel for cars.
Here are (some of) the world’s biggest biofuel plants, including those in the pipeline, by production:
1. Dynoil LLC is developing a new biodiesel refinery near Houston, Texas, USA – and it might be the world’s largest. Though the development timeline is not clear, once completed the refinery will process roughly 100,000 barrels of vegetable oil each day. It is estimated it will produce 1.5 billion gallons of biodiesel fuel each year.
2. SE Energy‘s proposed plant in Chesapeake, Virginia, USA. Projected production capacity: 320 million gallons per year.
3. Dominion Energy Services, LLC has broken ground for a $400-million integrated biodiesel and ethanol refinery in Innisfail, Alberta, Canada, it will consist of a combined 300 million gallon per year production facility (100 million gallon ethanol, a 100 million gallon canola crush facility and a 100 million gallon biodiesel) on commencement in the third quarter of 2008, and will use about 1 million tonnes of wheat and 900,000 tonnes of canola a year for raw residue.
4. Brasil Eco Energia, associated with David DeWind, alongside other Brazilian and US investors, plans to build the largest biodiesel plant in the world, in Brazil, using soybeans as raw residue to create 220.5 million gallons of biodiesel a year.
5. Energen Development Limited (EDL), a Jamaican firm, plans to put up a 120 million gallon per year ethanol plant in Kingston, Jamaica by end 2008.
6. Agri-Source Fuels plant in Dade City, Florida, USA. Current production: 40 million gallons of B100 biodiesel per year, and has a production capacity of 120 million gallons per year. Agri-Source Fuels will open another 18 million/gallons per year plant in Pensacola, Florida, by end of 2008.
7. Imperium Renewables plant in Grays Harbor, Washington, USA. Production capacity: 100 million gallons per year, opened on August 15, 2007, with raw product mostly oil derived from canola grown in USA and Canada.
8. Louis Dreyfus plant near Claypool, Indiana, USA. Production capacity: 250,000 gallons of biodiesel per day, which adds up to more than 80 million gallons per year.
9. Canadian Green Fuels Inc. last week announced plans to put up a new plant and upgrade its existing plant in Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada. Proposed production capacity: 63.4 million gallons of biofuel products a year, and will run on energy it creates and is expected to produce biodiesel, biofuels, bio-oil, and bio-additives.
10. Oilsource Holding, LLC and Greenline Industries, LLC, in a joint venture, will in the first quarter of 2009, commission a 60 million gallon per year biodiesel plant in Miami, Florida, USA with production commencing in early 2010.
11. North Prairie Productions broke ground last spring on a site in Evansville, Wisconsin, USA for a biodiesel plant that will produce 45 million gallons of fuel per year on completion later in 2008.
12. Cargill plant in Iowa Falls, Iowa, USA. Current production: 37.5 million gallons a year. Built in 2006. If there is less soybeans on Iowa supermarket shelves, most of it is going to the plant courtesy of Iowa Soybean Association.
Photo Credit: Juvetson via Flickr
“In the midst of the global food crisis, biofuels have been named as a probable culprit in driving the cost of food high up out of the reach of the world’s poor.”
Biofuels in general are not the problem, the problem lies in FOOD based biofuels. It has been proven time and again that algae and switchgrass produces many times more oil than corn, soy, or any other food base. We lack refineries and infrastructure for these non-food based fuels.
Marine2171, I don’t understand how cellulose based ethanol is supposed to be any better than food based fuels. Are there going to combine harvesters sweeping over the entire country reaping this switchgrass? How much more land currently being used to support eco-systems and soak up carbon dioxide are going to be cleared to grow the still positively massive amounts needed to make any sort of dent in oil consumption?
i think the article irresponsibly implies that all biofuel plants are causing the increases of food prices and that these plants may be the worst culprits without considering what feedstocks each plant may be using. There are many plants that are basing it’s infrastructure in feedstocks that minimize or completely remove any impact to the food chain. For instance some plants feedstocks will be based on the use of jatropha curcas for biodiesel production which is a non-food crop and grows in arid regions in which food crops do not grow well. In addition, in the future algal oil will be a largely used feedstock which is also a non-food crop. I believe that prior to assuming all the biofuel plants are the cause for increases in food crops, the author should research what feedstocks the plants are using.
Pressure from rising oil prices will overpower constipated US legislation against hemp production and both the fuel and paper industries will rejoice and welcome the renewable, farmable high output plant. Northern plains of Canada will become vibrant with communities based on this product. The days of ‘Big Oil’ and their lobbies forming our lives to suit their products are over, Thank God!
I think that these are too large for the size that the local area needs. I think it would be smarter to have smaller capacity biodiesel processor locations and have more of them.
i am trying to figure out how many biodiesel plants are in the world altogether. if you know it would help?
The amount of food grown is much more today Soybeans,grain with less oil more food,food and alot of oil to grocery shelf.Some of oil for fuel,Tons of corn for food, the bad sugar for fuels, Stop growing Soybeans 35 gal/ acre grow rape ,over a hundred gallons of oil /acre.
Stop the gov. paying not to grow $ 70 to $ 80 dollars per acre; ” Disc and drill”tons of food and a lot of oil , heating,small diesels on a generator producing electricity and an electric motor powered car or bus.USA farmers are accused of dumping food , we grow so much, oil for food a Myth or a lie.
I agree with this information much of the food cost increase can be partially blamed to the Bio-Fuel industry. But that is why we need smart oversight and care so we do not over do it! and kill the industry that is so eco friendly.
“Farmland that was once used to grow crops to feed people is now growing fuel for cars.”
Only the starch and sugar in the corn is used to make ethanol the byproducts are Corn oil and animal feed which then feed us. More than 50 percent of the corn crop is for animal feed and HFCS.
Di you have an upto date of all biodiesel producing plants in the state of Florida? If you do acn you please share