3个生物柴油公司如何无视一个具有挑战性的行业的赔率
While biodiesel companies across the United States await government decisions on updates to the Renewable Fuel Standard andBlender’s Tax Credit, the Western Sustainability and Pollution Prevention Network checked in with three West Coast biodiesel companies for an insider’s look at the state of the industry. Of the 297 biofuels companies currently operating in the U.S., we chose three — Pacific Biodiesel, Bently Biofuels and SeQuential Pacific Biodiesel — because they share a feedstock of used cooking oil and a passion for protecting the environment.
此外，他们每个人都在不确定的时期坚强，幸存的条件迫使许多其他生物柴油公司倒闭。本文将简要介绍每个公司，他们面临的挑战，成功的秘诀，为什么生物柴油行业生存至关重要，以及我们可以采取的措施来帮助生物燃料行业成功。
How three biodiesel companies got into the biofuels industry
太平洋生物柴油的创始人，奔放的生物燃料和顺序的太平洋生物柴油都出于不同的原因进入了生物柴油行业，但最终得出了相同的结论：从二手食用油中创建燃料有助于环境，减少了我们对化石燃料的依赖，并使良好的企业意识到。
太平洋生物柴油, located in Kahului, Hawaii, is the oldest biodiesel company in the United States. For founders Kelly and Robert King, the impetus for entering the industry was a desire to put a waste product to work by recycling used cooking oil into a fuel source and keeping it out of the Central Maui Landfill. At the time, little was known about the possibilities for biodiesel, so the Kings worked with researchers from the University of Idaho to develop methods for converting used cooking oil into fuel.
他们于1995年在毛伊岛中部垃圾填埋场现场建造了第一家生物柴油厂，此后一直成功地将食用油从垃圾填埋场转移。凯利·金（Kelly King）说：“去年，我们经历了弄清楚多少雾（脂肪，油和油脂）的过程。”“大约是2200万加仑。对于一个小岛来说，这很大。”
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在过去的二十年中，Pacific Biodiesel帮助设计和建造了其他十二个生物柴油设施，包括美国大陆在美国大陆的生物燃料和顺序生物柴油的植物。
弯曲生物燃料出于对石油燃料价格上涨的关注，位于内华达州明登市的明登，由唐·贝利（Don Benly）于2002年成立。“唐·贝利（Don）在2002年有了远见，说石油将达到每桶100美元，”贝利企业公司业务发展总监卡洛·卢里（Carlo Luri）说。“那时石油的交易价格约为每桶25美元。那是历史悠久的高潮，因此在他们的正确思想中没有人会预测或预测石油的价格可能会达到三倍。这只花了五年时间才能实现。”
企业家兼工业家巴利（Berthe）于2005年在他的家庭牧场上开设了一家生物柴油生产工厂。2006年，他开始在加利福尼亚州销售和销售该产品。如今，贝利生物燃料的九人团队将生物柴油销售给内华达州北部和加利福尼亚州的客户，并通过Minden，Reno，Reno，Berkeley和San Francisco的加油站出售生物柴油。
顺序太平洋生物柴油，目前在塞勒姆（Salem）或在尤金（Eugene）或1998年以尤金Biosource（Eugene Biosource）的身份开始生产。泰森·凯弗（Tyson Keever）是序列的三个联合创始人之一，最初被生物燃料生产的“动手动手”性质所吸引。“您可以在车库中在家中做到这一点，” Keever说。“这只是非常有能力和切实的。”
2002年，Eugene Biosource成为顺序的生物燃料。2005年，他们与Pacific Biodiesel合作，形成了一个称为顺序Pacific Biodiesel的合资企业。如今，序列太平洋生物柴油每年在其位于塞勒姆的工厂生产超过600万加仑的生物柴油，并从俄勒冈州和华盛顿州的30多个零售地点出售燃料。迄今为止，该公司已经流离该公司10,250,000加仑的石油，抵消了189,700,664磅的二氧化碳2emissions.
当今生物燃料行业面临的挑战
As gasoline prices increase, so does the appeal of alternative fuels; and like gasoline, alternative fuel prices can fluctuate based on a variety of political and economic factors.
National Average Price Between |
||
Fuel |
价格 |
|
Biodiesel (B20) |
$4.01/gallon |
|
生物柴油（B99-B100） |
$ 4.23/加仑 |
|
电 |
$0.12/kWh |
|
Ethanol (E85) |
$3.41/gallon |
|
天然气（CNG） |
$ 2.15/gge |
|
丙烷 |
$ 3.31/加仑 |
|
Gasoline |
$ 3.65/加仑 |
|
Diesel |
$3.97/gallon |
|
表1.清洁城市的替代燃料报告为生物柴油，压缩天然气，乙醇，氢，丙烷，汽油和柴油提供了区域性替代和常规燃料价格。看所有价格报告。Source:Alternative Fuel Price Report, April 2014（PDF）。
Biodiesel is currently more expensive per gallon than gasoline and other alternative fuels. One reason for this discrepancy is that the other fuels are better subsidized. The Blender’s Tax Credit, which is a fixed $1-per-gallon tax credit given to the first fuel blender of a volume of biodiesel that contains at least one-tenth of one percent petroleum-based diesel fuel, has been inconsistent. Every two years, the Blender’s Tax Credit expires and has to be re-authorized by Congress. At the end of 2013, it had not been reauthorized for 2014, according to Carlo Luri of Bently.
“If we don’t get that $1 tax credit, it’s basically a dollar out of somebody’s pocket,” said Luri. “Either the customer has to pay $1 more or we have to make due with $1 less. Trying to run a biofuel business with $1 less per gallon for revenue means that most biodiesel companies are operating in the red.”
如果对2014年重新授权搅拌机税收抵免，则可以追溯付款。Luri解释说，过去发生了多次，但不能保证它会再次发生。这种不确定性使许多生物柴油公司很难与石油行业竞争。
太平洋的凯利·金说：“石油补贴已嵌入联邦法规中，因此他们不必每两年回去一次要求它们。”“所有可再生燃料补贴和激励措施都是短期的。他们必须每两到四年对他们进行一次投票，这不利于创建一个行业，在这种行业中，投资者希望知道他们未来五年的投资回报率将是多少。”
卢里还描述了生物柴油生产商面临的另一个障碍：黄色油脂的价格（二手食用油的另一个名称）在2013年至2014年初下降了近40％。“从财务上讲，这对试图回收油的公司非常有害，因为您有固定的合同以一定的价格从餐厅购买石油。” Luri解释说。“您的收款成本或多或少是固定的，因为您要支付薪水，保险，燃料，卡车折旧，同时您可以将这种石油出售给市场的价格下跌了40％。”
据《太平洋生物柴油》的泰森·基弗（Tyson Keever）表示，有限的原料是生物燃料行业面临的另一个重大挑战。原料价格急剧波动，使生物燃料公司难以维持可持续的业务运营模式。Keever说：“追溯到五年，全国大部分行业都从大豆油中生产生物柴油。”“如今，许多新的原料来源都将上市。玉米石油已经取得了重大的市场地位，更多的脂肪，油脂，再生食用油和牛脂正在上市。”
All three companies think that it is unlikely that biofuels would ever replace petroleum because there aren’t enough soybeans, corn, or used cooking oil to meet our country’s demand for fuel.
美国EPA的提议减少2014年全国燃料供应中融合或出售的生物燃料的强制性量是另一种政策变化，预计对生物燃料行业产生不利影响。每年需要EPA设定标准可再生燃料标准计划and determine the national volume of biodiesel that will be required. If the EPA were to减少来年所需的生物柴油量，这将是自2007年RFS计划开始以来，该机构首次缩减其雄心壮志。
国家政策的变化也影响生物柴油公司，但生物柴油行业正在获得法院的一些支持。“石油行业，食品工业和其他炼油厂统一了对生物燃料的攻击，其中大多数是通过攻击激励生物燃料的计划来集中的，”贝洛·卢里（Carlo Luri）说。“在加利福尼亚，Low Carbon Fuel Standard受到攻击，在联邦一级是可再生燃料标准。在过去的8或10个月中，从上诉法院作出了许多裁决，这些裁决支持可再生燃料。因此，攻击就存在，它们确实有影响，并且往往会减慢事物的速度，并使事情失速，有时会影响价格。”
留在本地
To remain in business during these tumultuous times, each of the three companies shared a common strategy: stay local.
“我们的战略是专注于社区规模的模型，重点是能够在没有税收抵免的情况下竞争，” Pacific的Tyson Keever说。“我们有一家大型二手食用油收集公司，我们可以直接进入餐厅的后门。我们试图停留在生产设施500英里之内。我们尽可能地在本地出售大部分燃料，并尽可能地向最终用户出售燃油式燃料。”
Kelly King, operating from a small island in the mid-Pacific, concurred. “You’ve got to look at your local resources,” said King. “You don’t want to be shipping feedstock from the other side of the country, or from outside the country. We always focus on ‘local is better’, ‘smaller footprint is better.' It’s better for the environment, it’s better for the economy, and socially it’s better because people have jobs locally.”
他们认为，在自给自足的农业校长的贝利生物燃料中，他们认为本地生产的燃料为社区带来了巨大好处，包括清洁排放，适当处理废物，废物流离失所，石油和国内能源安全。我们可以在本地制造的燃料越多，我们从世界上不稳定的地区（例如中东）获得的燃料就越少。
Unexpected benefits of biodiesel
生物柴油的经济影响包括通过正确处理废物来帮助餐馆赚钱。
“We don’t often get credit for this, but restaurants have saved millions of dollars, maybe even billions if you look across the nation, from going from the model of paying haulers to pick up their used cooking oil and grease trap oil, to getting paid for it or getting it picked up for free,” said King. “Since 2010, we’ve saved the restaurants on Maui over $1,000,000 in fees. Restaurants are starting to see their waste oil as a commodity, rather than a waste”.
在夏威夷，资源（和垃圾填埋场空间）有限，生物柴油尤其重要，因为它提供了防止污染的机会，同时将废物充分利用。
许多生物柴油用户认为，随着客户积极寻求与环保公司开展业务，业务增加。
"Since 2006, we have been fueling with 100 percent biodiesel”, said Erik Stein, owner of Extended Horizons, Maui’s top green dive operator. “Customers seek us out because consumers are now looking for businesses that are actively protecting the ocean and earth. The benefits have flowed to our bottom line as biodiesel burns cleaner than petro-diesel, reducing our engine maintenance costs."
“Converting restaurants’ recycled fats, oils and grease (FOG) into biodiesel is a great way to divert waste, reduce pollution and support local businesses,” said Asia Yeary from U.S. EPA Region 9. “Communities in Hawaii and elsewhere also benefit from this renewable resource because it significantly reduces asthma-causing soot, sulfur dioxide and greenhouse gas emissions.”
太平洋生物柴油，顺序的太平洋生物柴油和卑鄙的生物燃料具有成功的商业模式来支持其社区，减少C02and greenhouse gas emissions, and keep fats, oils and grease (FOG) out of our sewers and landfills. Public awareness is the best way to keep these companies in businesses.
任何人都可以使用生物燃料
许多人将生物柴油与植物油混淆，并认为只有专业或“转换”的发动机才能使用生物柴油。实际上，如果选择了适当的混合物，则可以在任何柴油发动机中使用生物柴油。生物柴油可以单独用作“ B100”（100％生物柴油），也可以与石油柴油混合并混合成许多不同的浓度。
根据National Biodiesel Board, biodiesel blends of 20 percent and below will work in any diesel engine without engine modifications. If the blend has been properly treated by the biodiesel company, it will work year round, even in cold climates. B20 (a blend of 20 percent biodiesel, 80 percent petroleum diesel) provides similar horsepower, torque and mileage as diesel. Blends of 5 percent biodiesel and lower meet the ASTM standards for diesel fuel and don’t require any special considerations.
For gasoline-powered vehicles, a different type of biofuel — bioethanol — can be used. The E10 blend (10 percent bioethanol and 90 percent unleaded gasoline) can be used in any gasoline engine. Higher blends require a specialized engine.
Another myth is that using biodiesel will void a vehicle’s warranty. TheU.S. Department of Energy Handling and Use Guide（第37页）指出，联邦法律禁止仅仅因为使用了生物柴油，因此禁止保修。
Biodiesel should not cause engine problems.“自2006年以来，我们一直在使用B20，每年平均每年一百万英里，没有任何问题。”Kelvin Kohatsu, Fleet Administrator for Hawaiian Electric Light Company.
The best way to support the biofuels industry is to use biodiesel in your diesel-powered vehicles and bioethanol in your gasoline-powered vehicles. Use the U.S. Department of Energy’s替代加油站定位器找到美国各地的加油站清单
Top image byMejidori通过Wikipedia。
