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Sapp Bros. opens another biodiesel blending facility in Nebraska

Sapp Bros. has opened a new biodiesel blending facility in Columbus, Nebraska.

It’s located on the south side of Columbus, about five miles from the Columbus NuStar terminal. Fuel suppliers can load diesel on their transport at the terminal, then load biodiesel at the Sapp Bros. terminal to the desired blend level.

Sapp Bros. Petroleum president Andy Richard says the facility will increase the availability of biodiesel to the area.

“Obviously, there are a lot of great benefits to running biodiesel. One that I think is probably near and dear to most people’s heart is price. A lot of times, because you blend biodiesel into diesel, it reduces the cost of your fuel,” Richard says. ”Soybean oil also add lubricity back into the fuel, and it’s got a higher cetane. It’s a domestically-produced fuel, and it’s helping increase the price of soybeans.”

Nebraska Soybean Board member Greg Anderson of Newman Grove, who also serves on the National Biodiesel Board, says Nebraska soybean farmers will benefit from the new facility, even though no soy biodiesel is currently being produced in the state.

“We’ve done studies and we show that it adds 63 cents a bushel to the value of soybeans at the farm gate,” Anderson says. “That’s very significant in these times.”

Anderson hopes the continued expansion of biodiesel blending facilities in Nebraska may help spur future construction of biodiesel plants in the state.

The Columbus facility is Sapp Bros. second biodiesel blending terminal in Nebraska. They opened one in Norfolk last summer and will open another in Geneva this June.  Sapp Bros. owns 17 travel plazas and more than 30 wholesale locations across the U.S.,

The Nebraska Soybean Board helped provide funding for the terminal project through its blending infrastructure program.

AUDIO: Andy Richard

 

AUDIO: Greg Anderson