Domestic Fuel

The opening of the 5-million-gallon-a-year Sequential Pacific Biodiesel refinery in Salem, Oregon today is attracting celebrities and kicking in a new biodiesel mandate.

The Eugene (OR) Register-Guard reports not only is country music legend and biodiesel backer Willie Nelson expected at the opening, but Oregon’s new biodiesel mandate will start:

Once the plant is producing at the 5-million-gallon capacity, that will trigger the state’s renewable fuel standards for diesel, requiring that all diesel sold in Oregon include at least 2 percent biodiesel. Hitting that threshold should help Sequential and the biodiesel industry because it guarantees that a certain amount of biodiesel will be consumed in Oregon, company co-founder Ian Hill said. The new standard will double demand for biodiesel to about 20 million gallons per year, Hill said.

To fight some of the food-versus-fuel debate, the folks at Sequential are using used cooking oil for about 90 percent of their feedstock.