Berkshire Biodiesel Exec Touts Fuel's Benefits
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Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts has been hosting a Green Living Seminar series that explores ways in which area residents can conserve energy and use alternative methods that are friendlier to the environment.
This past Thursday, Lee Harrison, executive vice president of Berkshire Biodiesel LLC, discussed so-called "greener" fuel - what it is, how it's made, and how it will be more environment-friendly than the fuel we use today.
Biodiesel is a clean-burning alternative fuel that can be created from domestic oil seed crops, animal fats and yellow grease.
This new biodiesel contains no petroleum but can be blended at any level with "dino" diesel (a fossil fuel) and is biodegradable. Proponents say it reduces toxic emissions, as well as dependence on foreign oil.
Biodiesel is made through a chemical process called transesterification: the glycerin is separated from fatty acids contained in vegetable oil in the presence of an alcohol, which leaves behind glycerin and methyl esters, the compounds that provide the combustion.
According to Harrison, the Northeast consumes about 13 billion gallons of distillate fuels annually, not including the power market. Massachusetts, Conneticut, Maine and New York have laws mandating the use of biodiesel in state agencies and public authorities.
The $50 million biodiesel plant being developed Pittsfield will help most of the Northeast in terms of distribution, he said.
Biodiesel has major benefits that could contribute to the safety of the environment. Carbon-dioxide emissions would be reduced by 67 percent, carbon monoxide emissions by 48 percent and sulfate reductions by 100 percent, said Harrison.
Decreased levels of all aromatic hydrocarbons would remove some potential cancer-causing compounds and biodiesel use could also contribute to less asthma-disturbing bacteria in the air.
Aside from a healthier and less-polluted environment, the regional, and national, economy could profit from the Berkshire Biodiesel plant, claimed Harrison.
It would be an all-American product, "so the money stays here in the U.S. and circulates in the country," he said. The plant could support regional growth with renewable fuel, power, steam and a new rail facility.
The raw materials for biodiesel are also a potential new cash crop for Northeastern farmers.
The fuel can be used in big buses or any vehicle with a diesel engine, as home-heating fuel, for commuter and commercial rail, long-haul transport and power generation. About 100 million diesel engines are being used today, said Harrison.
As one of the first commercial-scale facilities in the Northeast, Berkshire Biodiesel will serve diesel, heating oil and power markets via trucks within a 150-mile radius of facility. This has all been made possible with broad state support, including a $3 million rail grant from the Executive Office of Transportation, a $30,000 grant from the Massachusetts Technology Collaborative to study on-site generation, and a $450,000 grant from MTC to engineer and build a co-generation plant.
All in all, Berkshire Biodiesel officials say it will be doing its part in bettering the environment by helping to lower greenhouse gas emissions, and lowering toxic emissions, which will lead to improved public health. Locally, they say the economy will improve through reduced oil imports, expanded investment in a local industrial base and through the creation of jobs.
For its part, MCLA is working to generate its own electricity, among other initiatives, which will further reduce its own carbon footprint.
