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Added 5 days ago - It was only a matter of time but finally a company has stepped forward and decided to invest in making south florida greener by building a $20M biodiesel plant near DelRay Beach. Ag-Oil, which is affiliated with Boca Raton-based Ascot Development, announced plans to build a biodiesel refinery on 103 acres in Delray Beach. What makes this more interesting to me particularly is that the company will use and mechanically harvest Jatropha, algae and related by products into fuel. Jatropha, which is not a feedstock source, is a fast growing plant and is considered one of the best viable sources of cheap, abundant, high quality biodiesel oil. It is also durable and can grow in most any weather condition. Additionally the plant is rich in oil. Just one hectare (2.5 acres) of jatropha's pressed seeds can yield roughly 600 gallons of amber-tinted oil. The refinery would convert the Jatropha into pure Biodiesel (B100). 20 acres of Jatropha has been planted by the company thus far. This brings a new niche of work and jobs to the area because this infrastructure will make it easier and cheaper to market, store and deliver the Oil.
The issue with Biodiesel in south florida has mainly been one of logistics because most of it has to be trucked in from other parts of the country or it must be brought in through rail or ship cargo from far places such as Brazil. This places a premium on the price due to transportation overhead which can get quite expensive. Many commercial entities and residents alike will now actually have a homegrown source of high quality biodiesel to go to. Municipalities and even companies such as airlines may be interested in Jatropha because of its high quality. Continental, Air New Zealand and Virgin Atlantic airways are 3 examples of airlines that have already test flown a mix of biofuel derived from algae and jatropha and also pure jatropha. With these kinds of companies interested in Biodiesel and particular jatropha and algae, interest in alternative fuel exploration is sure to grow.
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