By Rep. Paul Anderson
A meeting of what’s known as the Biodiesel Task Force was held in St. Paul last Friday at the Dept. of Agriculture. Additional chairs had to be brought into the conference room to accommodate all those in attendance. The reason for the meeting was to hear from interested parties about the upcoming move by the state changing the mandate from 10 percent bio oil in diesel fuel to 20 percent. This move has been in state law since 2009 and has been postponed once already, but opposition to the higher blend still remains.
Minnesota’s mandate for the use of bio in diesel fuel went into effect nearly eight years ago and began with a B-2 blend, which means a mixture of 98 percent diesel fuel and 2 percent bio. It later ramped up to B-5 and more recently to B-10. According to statute, the final jump to B-20 will take place next year, if all the criteria for making the move are in place. Among those is a requirement that the infrastructure is sufficiently in place so that such a move (to the higher blend) will not cause economic difficulty.
Representatives from pipeline terminals and refining facilities were on hand and gave their concerns about doubling the amount of bio in diesel fuel for the months of April through September. Their main concerns relate to upgrading pumps and storage facilities to handle the increased amount of bio that would be blended. They talked about longer “wait times” for trucks picking up product at terminals such as the one in Alexandria. The estimated cost to upgrade facilities at each of the various terminals in the state is about $2 million. They said that larger storage tanks would be needed, in addition to faster pumps and metering systems to blend the mixture more quickly.
Representatives from both the Farm Bureau and the Farmers Union spoke in favor of the move to higher blends, saying the increased use of soybean oil, which is the main type of oil used to blend biodiesel, would mean higher prices for farmers who raise that product.
Before the move to B-20 becomes official, the state commissioners of Agriculture, Commerce, and the Pollution Control Agency must give their approval. All three were at Friday’s meeting and asked questions of those in attendance. It’s expected that they will issue their opinion in late July or early August and, if they give the OK, the move to B-20 during the five warmest months of the year would take place 270 days later.
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Most areas finally received some badly needed rain over the weekend. As usually happens this time of year, that precipitation was part of a storm system that dumped large amounts of hail in some locations, along with high winds that caused considerable damage. Recent hot temperatures and strong winds had combined to dry out the topsoil, causing difficulty for some crops to emerge. First cutting of hay went well for most, as we experienced a two-week span with little or no rainfall. I think, for the most part, the top has been taken off yields of crops for the year.
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The summer parade season begins in our district this weekend with a celebration at New Munich. The following week has festivities in Melrose as the summer season kicks into high gear. Enjoy this time of year with family and friends!
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