Biodiesel has had a transformative impact on our economy—renewing tax incentives
could keep the momentum going.
On February 11, House leaders sent a letter to Congress calling for a multi-year extension of biodiesel and renewable diesel tax incentives. In their letter, legislators from both sides of the aisle cited the fuel’s success in reducing toxic emissions as well as US dependence on foreign oil, calling biodiesel a “great American success story.”
So, how exactly has the environment—not to mention the economy—benefitted from
widespread embrace of biodiesel? And what’s at stake as lawmakers weigh policy
surrounding renewable fuels?
The Benefits of Biodiesel
When we think about the benefits of renewable fuels like biodiesel, we tend to first think about its environmental impact. But biodiesel’s greatest success has been its impact on the US economy—particularly in the transportation and agriculture industries. According to the February 11th letter to Congress, “US biofuel production supports more than 60,000 good paying jobs in the US and helps rural communities across the country build new economic opportunities.”
For farmers, especially Iowa’s soybean farmers who are feeling the impact of falling crop
prices and trade uncertainties, biodiesel production offers a glimmer of hope—in the
letter to congress, lawmakers said biofuel “can add roughly 63 cents of value to every
bushel of soybeans.”
For the transportation industry, switching fleets to biodiesel or biodiesel blends comes
with its own financial benefits. As online commerce continues to push fleets to their
limits, fuel prices are becoming an increasing concern for drivers and carriers. Extending
the biodiesel tax incentives would help lower the cost of fuel, passing the savings off
onto drivers, and in turn, lowering the cost of goods they’re hauling for consumers.
Is a Biodiesel Tax Incentives Extension on the Horizon?
On March 1, Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley and Oregon Senator
Ron Wyden, inspired by the February 11 letter to Congress,
introduced legislation calling for the renewal on several
expiring tax incentives for biodiesel, including:
Credits for installing alternative fuel (including biodiesel) vehicle refueling stations (must be up and running by 2020). The maximum credit is $30,000/location for stations installed on a business property.
The $1/gallon biodiesel mixture credit.
The 10¢/gallon small agri-biodiesel producer credit.
Acterra is closely monitoring the story–follow us on Twitter for updates and developments on this and other biodiesel news.
It was a situation the Davenport Municipal Airport could never have anticipated: a man fleeing the cops by vehicle ran his car through an airport gate, sped down the taxiway and crashed into the AVGas fueling platform, causing a fire that destroyed the pumping system.
While the crash could have been devastating on a much larger scale, three fuel dispensing safeguards Acterra had installed throughout the fueling system worked exactly as planned, preventing a worse-case scenario.
The safeguards—a thermal shutoff valve, an impact shutoff valve and a power interrupting shutoff valve—worked to prevent the release of fuel from the main storage tank. Thankfully, the main tank suffered only cosmetic damage, and was still operational.
Rebuilding
Thanks to a quick response from firefighters, the fire was extinguished within minutes, and excess water was removed within hours. Once the scene was cleared, Acterra got straight to work with the Airport to inspect and pressure check the system. Because the fueling facility needed to be completely shut down until everything was resolved, we set up a temporary dispensing system to minimize service interruptions while testing and repairs were underway.
To get their fuel station back up and running as quickly as possible, we got to work as soon as we had approval to rebuild the dispensing platform. While we anticipated a four-month build, we were able to complete the project after only three and a half months.
We don’t like to think what might have happened had the safeguards not been in place AND functioning properly. It’s a great reminder to not only take every precaution when you’re building your fleet fueling system—but to take extra care during inspections and routine maintenance.
Fleets come in all shapes and sizes—so it’s no surprise that every fleet has its own unique fueling requirements.
As technology evolves, companies are beginning to expand their fleets with electric vehicles and equipment that runs on biofuel. That means companies that once dealt only with petroleum and/or diesel now have much more varied storage, dispensing and maintenance requirements.
Thankfully, adopting new technology doesn’t need to be a headache. The right partner can help you plan for new additions to make the management of your fleet fueling systems more efficient—not needlessly complicated.
At Acterra, we can provide complete service, sales and installation of fleet fueling equipment, from storage tanks to fuel dispensers and even biofuel blending systems. Because we have extensive experience in both the petroleum and renewable fuels industries, we can help you manage your entire fleet fueling program, no matter your fleet mix.
Considering a change to your fleet mix? Contact Acterra and work with a single point of contact for ALL your fuel storage, dispensing and management needs.
A dose of prevention can help you avoid equipment damage that requires costly repairs or replacements. It can even help you avert a disaster scenario: a leak or spill that causes you to lose product, or worse‚ contaminates nearby soil and water sources—a PR nightmare that will cost your company a pretty penny.
Most tank operators take a lot of pride in their work, and do their best to maintain their facilities.
To make it easy to stay on top of your monthly tank inspection and maintenance routine, Acterra created a checklist to guide you through the steps. Fill out the form below to download the printable checklist.
Acterra can help you test, inspect and repair your tank system to stay on top of government regulations and industry standards. Our service contract program helps teams expand their resources, capabilities and expertise. To learn how we can help your facility, contact Lisa Opsahl at lopsahl@acterragroup.net or call 800.289.7371×122.
Earlier this year, the Acterra Electrical division travelled to Leer, Germany to check out two promising new wind turbines: the Lely Aircon 10 and Lely Aircon 30. We were totally surprised by how quiet and unobtrusive both turbines were and even more impressed with the engineering.
As anyone who has serviced big industrial machinery will tell you—the simpler, the better. The Lely Aircons feature no gears and minimal moving parts (all of which meet the industry’s highest standards), making them extremely user-friendly and easy to maintenance—a major benefit considering their 20+ year life expectancy.
Who is Lely?
If you’re a dairy farmer, chances are you’re already familiar with the Lely brand, known for its reliability and the famous Lely Astronaut robotic milking system. For years, Lely has led the push to automate farms to make them more self-sustainable, environmentally-friendly and future-ready. Now that the company has added the Aircons to their product offerings, more farmers will have the chance to be energy independent, and potentially, add a new source of revenue to their operations.
Automation & Self-Sufficiency
While automation has made life much easier for the modern farmer, it’s also led to an increase in energy consumption. Energy-efficient equipment has helped alleviate some of the burden, but overall demand for electricity continues to increase—along with prices. Adding one or more wind turbines (either alongside photovoltaics or on their own) produces energy that can be directly fed to your farm and used exactly where it’s needed. And depending on where you’re located, the incentives could be sizable. (To learn what incentives are available in your state, consult the DSIRE database here.)
According to Lely, the Aircon 10 produces enough electricity to power one Lely Astronaut, while the larger Aircon 30 can power three Astronaut robots plus additional equipment. Lely also makes small wind turbines, which can be used outside the farm in residential developments and industrial settings.
Lely Aircon Now Available Exclusively through Acterra
Just seeing the Aircons in person was enough to pique our interests. But looking the benefits on paper got us really excited—from the potential payback and return on investment to the low total cost of ownership—we were sold. We got to work training directly with Lely on how to plan for, install and service the entire Lely Aircon line of wind turbines. And as of May 21, 2018, Acterra became the first and only distributer in the US to carry the Lely wind turbines.
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Wayne Fueling Systems has just announced a new financial service program with Lease Corporation of America (LCA). Wayne and LCA signed an Agreement that provides a broad range of financing solutions for Wayne’s distributor customers purchasing Wayne dispensers and petroleum-related equipment through the Wayne distributor network.
The Acterra Group has now become a member of the LCA network, offering our customers up to 100% pre-funding of transactions with Wayne equipment and many other types of equipment. Customers can now apply online, estimate payments, and determine possible tax benefits from equipment purchases. For more information visit the Acterra Finance Page.
The Acterra Group is happy to announce John Kindred has joined our Colorado staff in the newly created position of Manager of Construction. John joins Acterra with years of experience in petroleum equipment installation and construction.
A Wild Ride
If you’re a dairy farmer, chances are you’re already familiar with the Lely brand, known for its reliability and the famous Lely Astronaut robotic milking system. For years, Lely has led the push to automate farms to make them more self-sustainable, environmentally-friendly and future-ready. Now that the company has added the Aircons to their product offerings, more farmers will have the chance to be energy independent, and potentially, add a new source of revenue to their operations.
Wayne Fueling Systems has just announced a new 
The Acterra Group is happy to announce John Kindred has joined our Colorado staff in the newly created position of Manager of Construction. John joins Acterra with years of experience in petroleum equipment installation and construction.