Wisconsin Ag Connection - Biodiesel Producer Working to Fight Climate Change

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Biodiesel Producer Working to Fight Climate Change
Wisconsin Ag Connection - 07/24/2008

In the wake of a recent global warming report issued by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Sanimax on Wednesday highlighted its effort to help limit the release of greenhouse gas emissions by producing an environmentally-friendly renewable fuel. The EPA report, released last week, details the human cost of continued global warming, including an increase in wildfires, insect outbreaks, and heat waves that would threaten the health and well-being of people across the globe, and is in response to a recent Supreme Court decision which found that greenhouse gases can be regulated under the Clean Air Act.

"While this report clearly states the threat of global climate change is a very real and very serious problem, Sanimax is doing its part to help stem the onset of global warming," said Jeremy Goodfellow, Vice President of Energy for Sanimax. "By producing clean-burning, renewable biodiesel, we are helping to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases and other causes of global warming."

Sanimax's biodiesel facility, located just north of Madison in DeForest, produces approximately 20 million gallons of biodiesel per year. The facility opened in April of 2007.

In addition to noting the potential dangers of global warming, the EPA has also noted that 'because biodiesel is a renewable fuel, life-cycle GHG emissions are much lower than for operation on petroleum diesel.' Other studies by the U.S. Department of Energy have found that emissions of carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas that is one of the key causes of global warming, is reduced by 78 percent when biodiesel is used instead of conventional diesel.

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