賓州州長瑞戴爾（Edward Rendell）以及AGRA生質燃料公司（AGRA Biofuels Inc.）主管6日共同宣布一項計畫，表明未來5年將在賓州建立並運作生質柴油生產工廠。州政府和該公司相關官員在賓州農業展上表示，賓州第一家生質柴油生產設備於1月1日在首府哈里斯堡南方的密德頓開始運作。
AGRA工廠共聘用20名常雇員工，每年預計生產200到300萬加崙生質柴油。該工廠完全透過民間募股成立，將做為該公司未來10座工廠設備的原型，每一座都將比現在的工廠大10倍。
該公司的11座生產設備每年將製造超過2億加崙生質柴油，同時也在未來5年創造3000個新的工作機會。
生質柴油是一種該乾淨的替代燃料。生質柴油不含石油，但是它能以各種不同比例和各種石化柴油混合而成為生質柴油混合燃料。幾乎不需對引擎作任何調整即可直接用在柴油引擎上。生質柴油使用簡便，可生物分解，無毒性，且不含硫和芳香族化學物質。
生物柴油是透過交酯化（transesterification）的化學過程所製造出來的，酯化過程中將甘油從脂肪或蔬菜油中分離。此過程留下兩種產物，一是甲酯，即生質柴油的化學名；另一種則是甘油，是極有價值的附產物，通常出售作香皂和化妝品製造用途。
計畫中，AGRA的11座工廠都將使用純大豆油為原料，而大豆油則主要來自賓州農民所生產。AGRA也將利用透過鐵路從其他州送到工廠的原料。一旦11家工廠全部上線，將會造成大豆需求增加，促進大豆價格上漲。
賓州州長與AGRA總裁也宣布，首批由AGRA製造的1萬加崙生質柴油將捐給賓州，並將用來減少賓州某些低收入家庭的暖氣費用。
近期家庭暖氣費用不斷上漲。根據美國能源部報告，本週家用暖氣燃油售價達每加崙2.43美元，較去年同期上漲了48.1美分。因此，AGRA的生質柴油和一般燃油混合後，將以9折的價格提供燃油給「低收入戶能源資助計畫」（LIHEAP）所補助的低收入家庭。
A plan to build and operate 11 biodiesel production plants in Pennsylvania over the next five years was announced Friday by Governor Edward Rendell and executives from AGRA Biofuels Inc. Speaking at the state Farm Show, the state and company officials said the first biodiesel production facility in the state started operations January 1 at Middletown, south of Harrisburg, the capital.
The AGRA plant employs 20 permanent workers, and will produce two to three million gallons of biodiesel each year. The plant was built entirely through private equity and will serve as a prototype for the company's next 10 facilities, each 10 times larger than the current plant.
The company’s 11 production facilities will produce more than 200 million gallons of biodiesel each year, and create as many as 3,000 new jobs in the next five years.
Biodiesel is a clean burning alternative fuel. Biodiesel contains no petroleum, but it can be blended at any level with petroleum diesel to create a biodiesel blend. It can be used in diesel engines with little or no modifications. Biodiesel is simple to use, biodegradable, nontoxic, and essentially free of sulfur and aromatics.
Biodiesel is made through a chemical process called transesterification which separates the glycerin from the fat or vegetable oil. The process leaves behind two products - methyl esters, which is the chemical name for biodiesel, and glycerin, a valuable byproduct usually sold to be used in soaps and cosmetics.
Each of the 11 facilities will use virgin soybean oil, primarily from Pennsylvania farmers, to create the renewable fuel. AGRA will also use feedstock from other states shipped to the facility via rail. Once all 11 plants are operational, the process will result in increased soybean demand for farmers, and higher prices per bushel.
Rendell and AGRA founder and CEO Don Coccia announced that the first 10,000 gallons of biodiesel produced by AGRA will be donated to Pennsylvania and will be used to reduce heating bills for some of the state's neediest families.
Home heating costs are rising. Residential heating oil prices are selling for $2.43 per gallon this week, an increase of 48.1 cents from this time last year, according to the U.S. Department of Energy. When blended with regular fuel oil, the AGRA biodiesel will help provide fuel to low-income families participating in the federal Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program, or LIHEAP, at a 10 percent discount.
