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Auto manufacturers in Europe are committed to the diesel platform, touting their environmental programs and having abundant access to biodiesel, but they have been slow to support or incorporate methyl esters as an official part of their business models and carbon reduction schemes.

Solid Canadian support for renewable fuels, along with new mandates and positive results from biofuels development, undergird a positive outlook at the Canadian Renewable Fuels Summit.

This year marks the onset of widespread commercial application of selective catalytic reduction systems for on-highway diesels, to reduce nitrogen oxide emissions per U.S. EPA regulations. Researchers say there are no short-term negative effects from using biodiesel blends in diesel SCR systems, but long-term performance is much less understood.

Many biodiesel producers consider their customer lists proprietary, but whether it’s a small plant in Texas that has off-take agreements with retail stations in the immediate vicinity, or a large, corporate-owned facility working for ExxonMobil shipping fuel all over, Biodiesel Magazine traces methyl esters from source to spigot.

Minimizing production costs through new technology is the focus of much research in biodiesel. Supercritical transesterification eliminates some costs and reduces environmental and safety concerns, but higher utility costs could offset those benefits.

Process facilities can use zero liquid discharge systems to effectively address tightening environmental regulations and the world’s dwindling fresh water supplies.

Finances willing, retrofitting biodiesel plants with the latest technology is one route to squeezing more out of a company’s returns.