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Biodiesel Magazine catches up with a few of the researchers investigating innovative chemical and biological processes for the conversion of glycerin into value-added products including antifreeze agents, hydrogen, fortified milk and ethanol.

Refined glycerin prices have remained solid since earlier this year, but biodiesel producers selling crude glycerin, while retrieving modestly higher returns for their byproduct compared to last year, are still entering a saturated crude market. In the meantime, alternative uses for crude glycerin and capacity to refine it are on the rise.

Washington is nicknamed the “Evergreen State” and Central Washington Biodiesel LLC has taken a proactive approach to preserving that moniker by supplying B99 in support of Microsoft Corp.’s data center construction project in Quincy, Wash. Biodiesel Magazine talks to the biodiesel producer and the contractors involved about how the fuel has improved working conditions.

The good news is the House Ways and Means Committee supports provisions in the Energy Bill that strengthen the biodiesel industry, and the House version of the Farm Bill would expand the Commodity Credit Corporation Bioenergy Program and the Biodiesel Education Program. The bad news is that nothing is written in stone, and the administration strongly opposes any provisions that could hamper international trade.

Three brothers from Arkansas, who already develop and grow their own soybean seed and provide crop monitoring and management services, aim to vertically integrate their business by buying soybeans, crushing them and turning the oil into biodiesel.

Word of Bob and Kelly King’s grassroots approach to producing biodiesel is getting around. Pacific Biodiesel Inc., with its humble Hawaiian roots in the Central Maui Landfill, continues along its community-based, sustainable path using locally produced feedstocks.