Soy-Based Fuel Debuts in Aiken

Another public fueling station offering soy-based biodiesel has opened in Aiken, SC. United Energy Distributors (UED) opened the first public alternative fueling station that gives consumers the opportunity to fill their tanks with soy-based biodiesel, E-85 (85% ethanol and 15% gasoline) or other alternative fuels. The soybean checkoff has funded most of the biodiesel research and promotion over the past decade.

"We're very excited about the opening of this new alternative fueling station in the Southeast," said United Soybean Board (USB) Domestic Marketing Committee Chair Jay Franklin, a soybean farmer from Vinita, OK. "The soybean checkoff has been very effective in market development activities for biodiesel fuel. We're committed to building momentum to increase utilization of soy-based biodiesel around the country."

The opening of the alternative fueling station in South Carolina is another step toward reaching the soybean checkoff's goal of increasing soybean use in the United States. The checkoff's goal is to increase domestic use from 1.2 billion bushels to more than 1.75 billion bushels by 2005.

In the coming year, the USB Domestic Marketing Committee plans to invest in activities designed to develop biodiesel markets, provide regulatory and technical information support to increase its usage, and facilitate the coordination of efforts to grow the biodiesel industry through the National Biodiesel Board.

One way in which the committee plans to accomplish these goals is through the checkoff-funded Biodiesel Industry Coordination and Education Project. This project is designed to support the commercialization of biodiesel through more efficient and effective prioritization and coordination of industry goals, and improved industry and commercial support for biodiesel.

"The fact that we now have biodiesel available in South Carolina is a direct result of the farmer-driven soybean checkoff program," said M.D. Floyd, president of the South Carolina Soybean Association and a soybean farmer from Scranton, SC. "In these trying times, it is very important for us as a country to reduce our dependency on foreign oil."

Soy-based biodiesel can be used as a pure fuel or blended with petroleum diesel in any percentage. Research has shown that the use of soy-based biodiesel in a conventional diesel engine results in a substantial reduction in unburned hydrocarbons, carbon monoxide and particulate matter compared with emissions from petroleum-based diesel fuel, according to USB.

According to a recent study by USDA, an average annual increase of the equivalent of 200 million gallons of soy-based biodiesel demand would increase total cash crop receipts by $5.2 billion by 2010. This could result in an average net farm income increase of $300 million per year. The price of a bushel of soybeans could rise an average of 17 cents annually during a ten-year period.