Two New Biodiesel Projects Scale Up

Biodiesel technology firm Benefuel has attracted two industry partners to scale up its catalytic process for refining inedible waste fats into renewable fuels. Flint Hills Resources Renewables, a subsidiary of Koch Industries, will use Benefuel’s process at a retrofitted 50 million-gal-per-year facility in Beatrice, Neb. Japan’s Itochu, a shareholder in Benefuel, has invested an undisclosed amount in the facility. Benefuel says its process can consume feedstocks with high amounts of free fatty acids without costly purification and refining steps. Separately, Alternative Fuels Americas says it has completed a five-year Jatropha plant growing trial in Costa Rica that met yield and cost targets. The firm now plans to transition to commercial-scale growing of the plant as a source of oil for making biodiesel.