HERO BX has worked to change the
way its customers think about biodiesel
feedstocks. While the fuel standards in
Europe necessitate a virgin vegetable
oil product, the U.S. market relies on
ASTM specifications that can be achieved
with a variety of feedstocks. HERO BX
places the focus on the quality of the
end product with its proprietary HBX-
3000 standard, which is a fats and grease
blend with a cloud point maximum
of 9º C and a high cetane value. The
company also offers HBX-1000, which
is generally accepted as a winter blend
transportation fuel to be used where
colder ambient temperatures are
prevalent, or where the product will be
blended with a higher-cloud diesel fuel.
HERO BX achieves consistent fuel quality
as a BQ-9000 producer and encourages
buyers to choose the product with the
specification that matches their needs.
“Our plant runs on a multitude of
feedstocks, which affords us the choice of
purchasing the most economical products
and creating fuel that is discounted
against Soy Methyl Ester (SME),” Black
said. “HBX-3000 has a higher cloud point
than HBX-1000, but it makes a great
blend stock for heating oil. In blends up
to B10, it makes perfect bio-blends in all
conditions.”
HERO BX buys feedstocks in a daily
spot market. “There are 15 different bio-feedstocks
in the U.S., including used
cooking oil, soybean oil, chicken fat and
beef tallow. We use a mix, based on the
specification of the fuel that the customer
wants to buy.”
Black believes in the social benefits
of biodiesel. “We are making fuel out
of byproducts that would otherwise be
dumped in a landfill or poured down
a drain,” he said. In addition, biodiesel
or biodiesel blends burn cleaner than
straight petroleum diesel, and the
biodiesel industry supports 64,000
workers nationwide while indirectly
supporting contractors, logistics providers,
and others. HERO BX itself employs about
100 people in Pennsylvania and Alabama
and is establishing a biodiesel research
facility on the Erie campus of Penn State.
Black has been so impressed with the
industry that he recently turned author
and produced The Biodiesel Solution:
How Biodiesel Is Making a Difference for
our Future. “This industry is only 25 years
old,” he noted. “They struggled a lot in
the early years, and I wanted to capture
the story of the early pioneers and tell
the story of what they went through to
create this. The biodiesel industry has
made some large strides already, such as
having the City Council of New York create
a biodiesel requirement for heating oil.”
The accomplishments are notable,
but Black says the industry has just
scratched the surface. “The sky is
the limit for biodiesel. Obviously, we
can use more domestically, starting
with the airline industry, which has
not yet dealt with the pollution from
their vehicles.”
With their strong focus on solar
and wind power, many green energy
advocates are overlooking the great
opportunity available by displacing
petroleum diesel with cleaner-burning
biodiesel. “There is a whole different
model that could be in play,” he said.
“Considering how much diesel is
produced in the U.S. each year, if we
could just get up to 20 percent of the
market, that would be a huge jump from
where we are now.”
He believes growth has been stunted
by stop-and-go renewable energy policy
that creates uncertainty and discourages
investors. The biodiesel blender’s tax
credit has expired four times in eight
years, and there have been repeated
delays in U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency’s announcement of the annual
Renewable Volume Obligation (RVO).
“The biodiesel industry is made up of
entrepreneurs and innovators,” Black
said. “We just need to have clarity on
whatever the rules are so that we can
run our businesses. Attracting outside
capital for increased growth is extremely
difficult, as banks and equity partners
are not completely understanding of the
2003 the term
“Bioheat®” comes into existence
risks associated with lapsing credits and
unknown mandates.”
Policy makers could make a big
difference. “A multi-year credit program
would be enormously helpful in attracting
new investment to spur expansion in the
industry. The clarity provided by a multi-year
package would allow financial folks
to model returns more accurately, based
on a level and known playing field. This
would, in turn, give EPA the necessary
information to predict and postulate
future RVO levels on a timelier basis.”
There are obstacles, to be sure, but
Black is undeterred. “If there are no
challenges in life, you don’t get anywhere.
Biodiesel offers important benefits that
are worth pursuing as a nation.”
Biodiesel Success Stories 33