A recent Indiana tour provided major original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) from Detroit and their Indiana dealers with the chance to see the biodiesel production process, from crushing plant to distribution at local retail locations. The tour was an important opportunity for OEMs who have recently shown increased interest in the quality and performance advantages of biodiesel-blended fuels.
Representatives from Daimler Trucks North America, Detroit Diesel and Mercedes-Benz USA stopped at CountryMark’s fuel terminal in Peru, Ind., to see the cooperative’s commitment to blending and distributing high quality biodiesel blended fuels. The visit was part of a two-day trip organized by the National Biodiesel Board (NBB), which also included a stop at the Louis Dreyfus Commodities biodiesel production plant in Claypool, Ind.
Jennifer Weaver of NBB explained that the goal of this tour was to help major OEMs gain a better perspective on industry-leading biodiesel production, blending and distribution processes and practices.
“OEMs are asking more and more about the value of biodiesel,” explained Weaver. “They want to see how biodiesel is engineered and what makes it a higher quality product. They’ve really been impressed by the dedication that biofuel companies, such as CountryMark and Louis Dreyfus, have toward quality.”
CountryMark’s Peru terminal, where the tour visited Tuesday afternoon, was the first computer automated biodiesel blending terminal in the country. The biodiesel blending system was added to the CountryMark terminal in 2004.
Dennis Reynolds, CountryMark pipeline and terminal manager, felt the attendees left having learned something new about CountryMark’s processes and high quality standards.
“We shared with them the CountryMark operations process we use to assure that our biodiesel blended fuels will exceed the expectations of both our on-road and off-road diesel customers,” said Reynolds.
CountryMark purchases and blends only BQ9000 quality biodiesel, the highest standard for fuel quality in the biodiesel industry.
“We continue to hear from engine manufactures that fuel quality is key to optimizing engine performance in today’s modern diesel engines,” said Jon Lantz, CountryMark Vice President of Marketing. “Because of this need, CountryMark starts with the highest quality diesel fuel and blends with it only the highest quality biodiesel.”
One of the major advantages of biodiesel is that it can be used in all diesel engines and fuel injection equipment in blends of at least 5 percent (B5) and over 75 percent of OEMs also approve the use of up to B20 or higher biodiesel blends in at least some of their equipment.
Daimler Trucks North America has shown its commitment to high quality biodiesel with their Detroit Diesel engines approved for B5 blends or B20 upon approval, and their use of Cummins engines approved for B20 blends.
CountryMark is an American owned oil exploration, production, refining and marketing company with headquarters in Indianapolis. The CountryMark refinery, located in Mt. Vernon, Indiana, processes 27,000 barrels of American crude oil per day. In addition to oil refining and logistics, CountryMark operates more than 1,400 oil wells that produce 3,500 barrels of American crude oil daily. CountryMark fuels and a proprietary line of lubricants are sold through a distribution channel of member cooperatives that operate more than 180 fuel delivery routes and are responsible for more than 100 CountryMark branded fuel stations.
(Pictured left to right, Steve Howell with National Biodiesel Board, Jason Martin and John NcNeil with Daimler Trucks North America, and Jon Lantz with CountryMark)