Pacific Biodiesel celebrates National Biodiesel Day, launches new video series
Today is National Biodiesel Day, the annual celebration of biodiesel in America. Observed each year on March 18, National Biodiesel Day commemorates the birthday of Rudolf Diesel, who invented the diesel engine and unveiled it at the World Fair in 1900.
Now more than ever, Pacific Biodiesel’s locally produced biodiesel is providing ongoing energy security for Hawaii by reducing the need for imported fossil fuel—while providing Hawaii with a clean renewable fuel choice that reduces harmful greenhouse gas emissions to help fight climate change.
“The original diesel engine was designed to run on peanut oil,” said Jenna Long, Pacific Biodiesel’s director of operations. “The modern, efficient clean diesel engine is not the problem. Petroleum diesel fuel used in those diesel engines is the problem. By simply switching to biodiesel as a renewable fuel alternative, existing diesel engines can immediately reduce harmful greenhouse gas emissions by nearly 86 percent compared to petroleum diesel fuel.”
Hawaii’s only commercial producer of liquid biofuels since its founding in 1995, Pacific Biodiesel today is producing at its refinery on Hawaii Island more than 5.5 million gallons annually of premium distilled biodiesel, a 100 percent renewable fuel that provides a reliable firm renewable backup to Hawaii’s intermittent renewables such as solar and wind. The company’s fuel is sold entirely in Hawaii.
“Pacific Biodiesel’s community-based production model in Hawaii uses local resources such as agriculture crops and recycled used cooking oil from restaurants to produce biodiesel,” said Pacific Biodiesel President Bob King. “This directly supports a circular economy approach to fighting climate change. It also ensures a just transition to a 100 percent clean energy future in our state by enabling consumers and companies to use existing diesel engines and simply change the fuel to biodiesel—without the need to purchase a new EV or invest in expensive new equipment.”
Today, on National Biodiesel Day, Pacific Biodiesel is launching a new series of videos about the company. Watch below to learn more about Pacific Biodiesel, the benefits of biodiesel for Hawaii, and how the company is expanding local fuel production through sustainable agriculture for “food then fuel.”
