December 10, 2007
(Clayton, DE) -- Just a year or two ago, diesel fuel made from soybeans was touted as a promising new alternative fuel. Now, a biodiesel plant in Clayton is sitting idle and the company that owns it is waiting for the market to turn around.
The Mid-Atlantic Biodiesel facility has the capacity to refine up to 6 million gallons of biodiesel fuel per year. The plant opened in September 2006, but the rising price of soybean oil forced the plant to halt production this spring .
The plant began production with nearly $1 million in state and federal grants and a $5 million loan from the Delaware Energy Office. Company president Martin Ross says the company has kept its loan payments up-to-date.
Ross says soybean oil is currently priced too high to make biodiesel production profitable.
Read More: http://www.delmarvanow.com:80/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071210/NEWS01/71210001.