Jared Strong Iowa Capital Dispatch
The fat from animals such as pigs, cattle and chickens being used to make green jet fuel could end up being worse for the planet.
A biodiesel refinery in Crawfordsville that was capable of producing about 10 million gallons of the fuel each year has ceased operation.
“We would have loved to have kept it going, and we really tried — we just need more certainty,” said Roy Strom, chief executive of W2Fuel.
To keep the facility in operation would require investments in equipment that might not pay off, he said, depending on how federal policy changes toward the industry. Specifically, it’s unclear how long a $1-per-gallon federal tax credit for biodiesel production might be extended into future years and whether federal mandates for the use of biofuels will expand.
The facility is among 11 biodiesel refineries in the state that last year produced a total of about 349 million gallons of the fuel, according to the Iowa Renewable Fuels Association. That was a production increase of about 3% over the previous year but was less than the 365 million gallons produced in 2018.
That year, the per-gallon tax credit for biodiesel production lapsed. The Crawfordsville facility ceased production temporarily in September 2019, according to Iowa Department of Natural Resources records.
The W2Fuel biodiesel refinery in Crawfordsville struggled to restart its production after a shutdown in 2019. (Image via Google Earth)
However, later in 2019 the tax credit was reinstated and retroactively applied to the fuel produced in 2018 and 2019.
W2Fuel sought to restart the facility and eventually began production again in June 2021, DNR records show. Since then it had struggled to operate and failed to adequately test its air emissions for methanol and carbon.
“The facility has had numerous startup issues and (has) been unable to operate consistently since shutting down in September 2019,” the company’s audit and compliance manager wrote to the DNR in November 2021, as the department pressed for tests of the plant’s air emissions.
The company had anticipated testing its emissions at full production rates in the first half of this year, but in April it notified the DNR that production would cease by the end of May.
Strom said the plant began its shutdown process a couple of months ago and that it has almost concluded. W2Fuel has no immediate plans to sell the facility, and its future is unclear.
Strom estimated that the facility produced about 1 million gallons of biodiesel last year. W2Fuel continues to operate a biodiesel refinery in Michigan, where the company is based, he said.
Grant Kimberley, executive director of the Iowa Biodiesel Board, which advocates for the industry, said the closure is unlikely to have much of an effect on overall biodiesel production in Iowa because the other facilities have additional capacity. The uncertainty about federal policies will have a greater effect.
“That makes it hard to make investments in a facility that needs upgraded, needs more efficiencies, and the economy of scale put toward it,” Kimberley said, noting that the Crawfordsville plant has among the smallest production capacities in the state.
Strom said it was also a struggle to hire employees. There were five at the plant leading into the shutdown. Two of them are taking jobs at the Michigan facility, he said, and the other three have found other employment.
Biodiesel production increases demand for the state’s soybeans and is estimated to add about 13% of value to a bushel of soybeans, according to the Iowa Soybean Association.
About 71% of Iowa’s biodiesel is made with soybean oil, according to the IRFA. It’s also produced with animal fats, canola oil and used cooking oil.
Biodiesel is blended with oil-based diesel and sold for fuel, typically in concentrations as high as 20% biodiesel.
The fat from animals such as pigs, cattle and chickens being used to make green jet fuel could end up being worse for the planet.
A biodiesel refinery in Crawfordsville that was capable of producing about 10 million gallons of the fuel each year has ceased operation.
“We would have loved to have kept it going, and we really tried — we just need more certainty,” said Roy Strom, chief executive of W2Fuel.
To keep the facility in operation would require investments in equipment that might not pay off, he said, depending on how federal policy changes toward the industry. Specifically, it’s unclear how long a $1-per-gallon federal tax credit for biodiesel production might be extended into future years and whether federal mandates for the use of biofuels will expand.
The facility is among 11 biodiesel refineries in the state that last year produced a total of about 349 million gallons of the fuel, according to the Iowa Renewable Fuels Association. That was a production increase of about 3% over the previous year but was less than the 365 million gallons produced in 2018.
That year, the per-gallon tax credit for biodiesel production lapsed. The Crawfordsville facility ceased production temporarily in September 2019, according to Iowa Department of Natural Resources records.
The W2Fuel biodiesel refinery in Crawfordsville struggled to restart its production after a shutdown in 2019. (Image via Google Earth)
However, later in 2019 the tax credit was reinstated and retroactively applied to the fuel produced in 2018 and 2019.
W2Fuel sought to restart the facility and eventually began production again in June 2021, DNR records show. Since then it had struggled to operate and failed to adequately test its air emissions for methanol and carbon.
“The facility has had numerous startup issues and (has) been unable to operate consistently since shutting down in September 2019,” the company’s audit and compliance manager wrote to the DNR in November 2021, as the department pressed for tests of the plant’s air emissions.
The company had anticipated testing its emissions at full production rates in the first half of this year, but in April it notified the DNR that production would cease by the end of May.
Strom said the plant began its shutdown process a couple of months ago and that it has almost concluded. W2Fuel has no immediate plans to sell the facility, and its future is unclear.
Strom estimated that the facility produced about 1 million gallons of biodiesel last year. W2Fuel continues to operate a biodiesel refinery in Michigan, where the company is based, he said.
Grant Kimberley, executive director of the Iowa Biodiesel Board, which advocates for the industry, said the closure is unlikely to have much of an effect on overall biodiesel production in Iowa because the other facilities have additional capacity. The uncertainty about federal policies will have a greater effect.
“That makes it hard to make investments in a facility that needs upgraded, needs more efficiencies, and the economy of scale put toward it,” Kimberley said, noting that the Crawfordsville plant has among the smallest production capacities in the state.
Strom said it was also a struggle to hire employees. There were five at the plant leading into the shutdown. Two of them are taking jobs at the Michigan facility, he said, and the other three have found other employment.
Biodiesel production increases demand for the state’s soybeans and is estimated to add about 13% of value to a bushel of soybeans, according to the Iowa Soybean Association.
About 71% of Iowa’s biodiesel is made with soybean oil, according to the IRFA. It’s also produced with animal fats, canola oil and used cooking oil.
Biodiesel is blended with oil-based diesel and sold for fuel, typically in concentrations as high as 20% biodiesel.
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