Fueling the Future
We sat down with Rob Reed, Director of Press Relations for Earth Biofuels, a soy-based fuels company that is making waves through its connection to several outspoken celebrities.
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Interview by Norman Clausen October 20, 2006
Well, it’s pretty interesting. Each of them really has their own story of how they found their way to us. Willie had already been involved with biodiesel before we joined together. He learned about it while living in Hawaii, and having been a multidecade-long supporter of farming, it just really clicked with him. As soon as he learned that he could run his Mercedes diesel and his tour bus on what amounted to vegetable oil, he put two and two together and said—this could really be great for farmers. He said it’s great for that, and it’s great for the environment, and it’s great for reducing our dependency on foreign oil. It just all made so much sense that he got really into it and started his own brand—BioWillie. Earth Biofuels is based in Dallas, not far from Carl’s Corner, which is the first truck stop that sold Bio Willie. Willie makes his right there in Austin, so we just all came together—combined forces to bring BioWillie to as many people as possible.
Pardon the pun, but how is the alternative energy industry helping to fuel the farm economy?
The Biodiesel industry in general is just great for all kinds of farmers. And the bigger it grows, the better it will be for everybody. Obviously you have the farmer who has to grow the beans, the raw material. Then the soybeans have to be crushed, so there’s a middleman between the farmer and the producer, which would be the bean crusher. They extract the oil, the oil goes to diesel production, and the rest of it is used for food products and animal feed. Really nothing is wasted which is another one of the cool things about the process.
What about Morgan Freeman, and Julia Roberts—what are the stories of how they found you, or vice versa?
Well, Morgan came to the company right around the same time that we joined forces with Willie. He is a Mississippi native, and he and his business partner Bill Luckett, were looking to get into the biodiesel industry themselves. Earth Biofuels was actually founded in Jackson, Mississippi in ‘04, and relocated to Dallas later on. So, we had people in Jackson that had been introduced to Morgan and Bill, and again, it was just a matter of joining forces to reach a common goal.
For Morgan, it was specifically about getting the biodiesel industry up and running in the state of Mississippi as a means to stimulate the economy for the farmers and for the local economies where biodiesel facilities would be built.
Also, Morgan is a pretty passionate environmentalist, and I think that was one of his original motivations for getting into biodiesel as well.
What about Julia Roberts?
Julia is also an environmentalist, as most people know from her being on the cover of Vanity Fair’s first annual green issue. She had been using biodiesel off and on at their ranch in New Mexico for their tractors and a couple of the diesel trucks that they have up there—kind of wherever they could get it. There are supply issues and sometimes you can’t get it very easily.
And then, having become a mother recently, and realizing the health benefits of biodiesel, we started talking to her about the possibilities of doing a school bus program. She was really receptive and excited about that, and so that program is under development. It’s targeted at providing a healthier learning environment for school kids.
Anything that can help the children is always great motivation for change. And I understand that there’s been a great increase in demand for biodiesel—what do you attribute that demand to?
I think that different markets find different benefits and motivations. You know, with the truckers, they get the satisfaction of knowing that by pumping BioWillie into their truck that 20% less oil we have to import. With the school bus initiative, it’s essentially parents and children, and the motivation of school districts to make the switch for health reasons.
Beyond even diesel, it seems that there’s been a huge push for ethanol. GM and Ford have been advertising E85 compatible Flex-Fuels Vehicles over the last year. Is that helping to create a buzz?
Yeah, it’s great. I think there are about 6 million flex-fuel vehicles on the road, and I think a lot of people would buy E85 if they could get. But right now in California, there’s one E85 pump in the entire state, down in San Diego.
The other thing is that Mercedes and Daimler Chrysler have a whole line, maybe 5 different vehicles coming out in 2007, running on a newly developed diesel engine that is the cleanest burning diesel engine ever used. It will be on the E class and the Jeep Cherokee right away. And you know, those will be great candidates for consumers. With these new vehicles coming out and Volkswagen also making more diesels available to American consumers, my hope is that we begin to embrace diesel cars more. Not only can you run them on biodiesel and they’re cleaner for it, they also get 20 to 30 more miles per gallon. So just driving a diesel reduces our dependency on foreign oil. And then you factor out an ultra-low sulphur diesel that’s going to be coming out next year, and it will be a great alternative for the market.
It seems that every time the price of oil goes up 5 dollars a barrel, there’s some new (and if you ask me, fabricated) reason for it—whether it’s the war, increase in demand, etc. What factors affect the biodiesel market?
Well, the main factor affecting the price of biodiesel is soybean oil. It has its own supply and demand considerations. And with the demand for biodiesel going up, the demand for soy is going to go up. And so we need to increase the supply through more farmers growing it, otherwise the price of soybean oil could get pretty expensive. The other factor is the taxes that are available state to state. Especially with oil in the 70s and approaching 80 per barrel, the retailers can really sell biodiesel for less than diesel and make more money on it. The price at the retail pump is pretty much set by the retailer, so it’s up to them. Typically what they do is try to price it right at the price of diesel and market it as essentially a better quality product for the same price.
Biodiesel has a lower small particulate matter and carcinogenic emissions. Is biodiesel our answer to curbing harmful pollutants produced by vehicles?
Well, you might have seen the most recent University of Minnesota study—they did the energy balance equation…
Right, they found the net energy gain in biodiesel production to be higher than initially thought.
Right, so a higher net energy will reduce emissions. And some new numbers came out on the emissions and the reduction of CO2. The facts are pretty much all there, and for me for the longest time it’s pretty much been intuitive that it’s better than petroleum based fuels.
As you said they’re adding 6-10% of ethanol to regular gasoline, that allows for the removal of MTBE and all kinds of other chemicals that were in petroleum-based fuels.
Yeah, ethanol just replaced MTBE because we found that it was a horrible groundwater pollutant.
Are there any other benefits to using biodiesel?
Well, there’s anecdotal evidence from truckers and earlier school bus fleets that you’ll get 1 to 3 miles per gallon more from biodiesel than from petroleum diesel, but it’s never been put into a scientific study.
Any drawbacks?
Really just being able to supply the demand. But it’s a good start, and with the opening of our new facility in Durant, we’ll be able to produce another 10 million gallons each year. So we’re on our way.
Well, good luck meeting that demand and thank you for taking the time to speak with us, Rob.
Any time. Thank you.
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