There are government
fleets and businesses with
sustainability and emissions
goals, biodiesel can help
The biodiesel industry passed
a major milestone on May
1, 2018 when fuel retailers
throughout Minnesota began
dispensing B20.
Minnesota’s statewide standard,
which calls for B5 in the winter months
and B20 in the summer, is the fruit of
nearly two decades of labor
by the Minnesota Soybean
Growers Association and its
allied confederation of farmers,
lawmakers and associations.
The journey began in the
1990s with the sale of packaged
biodiesel fuel additives and
progressed through many stages,
with plenty of hard-fought battles
along the way.
Of the many biodiesel
advocates in the fray, one
Minnesotan has worked
steadfastly year after year since
1999. Mike Youngerberg, Senior
Director of Product Development
and Commercialization for the
Minnesota Soybean Growers
Association, was at the front
lines when the first requirement
was proposed in 2002, and he
remains a driving force as B20 becomes
Minnesota’s standard summer fuel. The
National Biodiesel Board (NBB) this year
honored Youngerberg with its Eye on
Biodiesel Impact award.
The “Minnesota miracle” was
conceived during a dark era for soybean
farmers in the years surrounding the
Millennium. Farmers were already
struggling to sell oil when the U.S. Food
and Drug Administration (FDA) began
its campaign against hydrogenated oils
and other “transfats.” Suddenly, the
market for soy frying oil dried up, and the
soybean growers were left to search for
a new, high-volume market. The National
Soy Diesel Development Board, which
was the predecessor of the NBB, saw
a major opportunity in diesel fuel and
began researching opportunities.
In Minnesota, the first fuel-related
success was the creation of a packaged
biodiesel fuel additive. “You could sell it
in a small jug. It was mostly soy methyl
ester and some additive that you could
just dump into your pickup tank or tractor
tank, and it would treat about 50 gallons
of fuel,” Youngerberg explained. “We
started with that product and it was
a huge success. We promoted the
heck out of, ‘Put some soy additive in
your fuel. It’s good for lubricity.’ Then
one of the petroleum companies in
Minnesota said, ‘Hey, that’s such a
great deal, how about we just start
adding that automatically to the fuel,
and we can sell that like crazy,’ and
they did.”
That modest success led some
farmers to float a far more radical
idea: a state biodiesel mandate. The
NBB had already worked with ASTM
to create a biodiesel specification,
and supply seemed strong enough, so
Youngerberg found some legislators
willing to sponsor a bill and got the
ball rolling. “Little did we know how
long and arduous an effort that was
going to be,” he said.
The legislative journey began with a
string of hearings, where Youngerberg
and association lobbyist Jerry Schoenfeld
quickly learned what they were up
against. “The opposition came out of
Industry Leadership Group
Mike Youngerberg
Sr. Director of Product Development
& Commercialization
Minnesota Soybean Growers Association
16 Biodiesel Success Stories