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For many start-up companies in the clean energy sector, success means seeing its stock trade on the floor of a major stock exchange such as NASDAQ or the New York Stock Exchange. Until they have the revenue and profits, they must build their identities and persuade investors to their base with big statements and even bigger dreams.

Biodiesel producers and industry stakeholders attending the 2010 National Biodiesel Conference & Expo sought answers to the status of the expired biodiesel tax credit as well as to many confusing elements in the RFS2 final rule. While some producers found clarification, others left the event puzzled, concerned and even discouraged by the enormous amount of red tape required to participate in the program. Despite this, the conference provided a healthy mix of biodiesel information and announcements.

Safety issues have been a chief concern for the biodiesel industry, as evidenced by a long list of fires and explosions. The following is an assessment of what improvements are necessary to make commercial biodiesel processing safer.

Many biodiesel companies outsource the sample and finished product testing to a third party company, which can be expensive, time-consuming and inefficient. Inductively coupled plasma technology, however, can be efficiently utilized in-house to achieve regulatory compliance while saving time, reducing costs and increasing productivity.