California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed a law Tuesday, Oct. 4 allowing public agencies to use vehicles that can run off biodiesel blends.
The California law was signed less than a week after Minnesota became the first state to mandate a 2 percent biodiesel mix for all diesel fuel, and a day after a Texas company announced plans to build a biodiesel plant on Galveston Bay.
“Californians have always led the way in protecting our lands and oceans and pioneering new forms of energy use that reduce our reliance on foreign fuels,” Schwarzenegger said. “Today, we are continuing that proud legacy with new legislation that will decrease our dependence on foreign oil and encourage the use of cleaner-burning domestic fuels.”
The proposal was written by state Sen. Roy Ashburn, a Republican representing Bakersfield, home to American Biofuels, a major biodiesel plant.
“By using biodiesel, we can reduce dependency on foreign oil by up to 20 percent,” Ashburn said.
The facility will expand to produce as much as 10 million gallons of biodiesel annually by the end of the year, and further expansions will increase production to 35 million gallons annually, a company executive told the Central Valley Business Times.
Biodiesel is a clean-burning alternative diesel fuel that contains no petroleum. It is produced from domestic, renewable resources and is as much as 75 percent cleaner than fossil-derived fuels, eliminating an engine’s need to use sulfur as a lubricant. Made from soybeans, agricultural oils and fats, or recycled restaurant grease, it can be blended with petroleum diesel to be used in diesel engines with little or no modification.
