KANSAS CITY -- U.S. Senator Jim Talent (R-Mo.), co-chairman of the Senate Renewable Fuels Caucus, was on hand last week for the kickoff of the first biodiesel pump in Kansas City. The Valero station, operated by Maher Oil Co., is the first of its kind in the Kansas City area to sell B20, a blend of 20% biodiesel and 80% diesel.
I believe using biodiesel is good for America, and frankly it's also good for business, said John Cook, owner of Maher Oil. Carrying biodiesel has created new customers for us. We wouldn't have large fleet customers like the city [image-nocss] and the power company if we didn't have biodiesel. I'm confident that opening this public pump will bring us more customers who believe using biodiesel is the right thing to do.
Cook gave motorists an incentive to give it a try. On Friday, April 14, and Saturday, April 15, he sold B20 for 25 cents less per gallon than the going rate for diesel.
Maher Oil, along with biodiesel producer West Central Soy, has directly supplied the City of Kansas City, Missouri with more than 1.3 million gallons of B20 annually for several years. City officials were on hand at the event to discuss their success with using B20 in 900 trucks and pieces of equipment. The City of Olathe and Kansas City Power & Light are other local users of B20.
United Beverage Co., a downtown Kansas City distributor for Anheuser-Busch, now fuels its fleet of 22 diesel delivery trucks with a blend of 20 percent biodiesel. James Brooks, vice president of sales for United Beverage, said the vehicles will fill up at the Valero station. This was an easy choice for us because biodiesel is good for the environment, Brooks said. We're an urban wholesaler with lots of trucks on the streets downtown. Using biodiesel is something good we can do for ourselves and for our city.
Talent joined Maher Oil, the Kansas City Regional Clean Cities Coalition, area officials and the National Biodiesel Board (NBB) for the event. "Renewable fuels such as biodiesel will assist our producers, increase our energy independence, create American jobs and, as an added benefit, they are good for the environment," he said.
"This pump opening shows an important trend," said Joe Jobe, CEO of NBB. "Seeing biodiesel at retail locations will become more common, especially as truck drivers start using more biodiesel and automakers introduce diesel passenger cars. Sen. Talent has been absolutely instrumental in helping biodiesel become more affordable and available to consumers. His work on biofuels is to the benefit of all Americans."
As a member of the Senate Energy & Natural Resources Committee, Talent championed renewable fuels such as biodiesel. He was an architect of the Renewable Fuels Standard included in the Energy bill. He helped write the provisions in the bill to add 7.5 billion gallons of biodiesel, ethanol and other renewables to the nation's fuel supply by 2012.
Talent has been instrumental in extending a federal tax incentive for biodiesel. He has also established legislation that will help agricultural biodiesel producers get their businesses off the ground. In the last energy bill, he led the charge to include an income tax credit for retail biodiesel refueling infrastructure. That effort will help more pumps like this one open in the future, he said.
Biodiesel is made from renewable resources such as soybean oil and other fats and vegetable oils. It can be used in pure form or in a blend, and works in any diesel engine. More than 400 major fleets use biodiesel commercially nationwide.
More than 700 filling stations make biodiesel and biodiesel blends available to the public nationwide. That includes a Conoco station that carries B20 in Jefferson City.
Having this pump in downtown Kansas City is a big step towards helping us realize our goal of reducing consumption of foreign oil, said Sam Swearngin, Missouri Co-Chair of the Kansas City Clean Cities Coalition. It gives everyone with a diesel vehicle a choice.
About 1,500 petroleum distributors, like Maher, carry biodiesel. More than 600 fleets use biodiesel, including government, military, commercial and school bus fleets. Biodiesel has become America's fastest growing alternative fuel according to the Department of Energy.
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