Tyson Foods and ConocoPhillips to Produce Diesel Fuel From Animal Fat.

[Guest guest]

Courtesy of Robert Martin

 

Tyson Foods and ConocoPhillips have cooked up a new recipe for your

pickup truck.

 

The two companies announced Monday that they were forming an alliance

to produce and market diesel fuel made from pork, poultry and beef

fat. It was another sign that farmers and agribusinesses, which are

now producing corn for ethanol, will be playing an increasingly large

part in the country's energy future. The new brew should be available

at the neighborhood filling station by the end of the year.

The companies said that the diesel, which will be shipped and

distributed through existing pipelines from ConocoPhillips

refineries, would burn cleaner than conventional diesel. Much of the

feedstock for the fuel will come from several Tyson rendering plants.

" This strategic alliance is a big win for the entire agricultural

sector because it paves the way for great participation of fats and

oils in renewable fuels, " said Richard L. Bond, Tyson's president and

chief executive.

ConocoPhillips, the third-largest American oil company, began

producing some diesel from soybean oil last year at a plant in Cork,

Ireland. The processing technology for the fat-based diesel was

developed and successfully tested at the Irish plant.

The oil company's alliance with Tyson indicates an even greater

interest in pursuing biofuels; several other companies including

Chevron and BP have expressed similar interests recently.

Efforts to reprocess animal fat will begin at some Tyson plants by

the end of the year, and production is expected to reach 175 million

gallons a year by 2009. That represents about 3 percent of the diesel

produced by ConocoPhillips in the United States.

A total of 250 million gallons of biodiesel was produced in the

United States last year, a minuscule percentage of the total American

diesel market. But biodiesel production is expected to grow to 1.2

billion gallons a year in about a decade.

ConocoPhillips disclosed it was spending up to $100 million on the

project. Tyson indicated it would invest a smaller sum.

" ConocoPhillips believes the key to a secure energy future is the

development and efficient use of diverse energy sources, " said James

J. Mulva, the chairman and chief executive. Mr. Mulva added that the

program would help " reduce greenhouse gas emissions, " which

scientists have linked to global warming.

At a news conference here, Mr. Mulva said the new source of

biodiesel, though relatively small, would help the country meet its

energy needs. " In a tight market every incremental increase helps

improve supply availability and reduces retail price pressure, " he

said.

BP has been working with DuPont for several years to make new

biofuels, including biobutanol, a substance that has similar uses to

ethanol but can possibly be shipped by pipeline. It is made from

sugar beet stocks.

Chevron formed a strategic research alliance last year with the

Georgia Institute of Technology to make cellulosic biofuels out of

wood or switchgrass. It also invested in a biodiesel plant in

Galveston, Tex., which uses soybean oil as a feedstock. The plant

will have the potential to produce 100 million gallons a year.