Minnesota Suspends Biodiesel Law Over Quality Concerns

innesota officials have suspended the state’s month-old law requiring diesel fuel to be blended with biodiesel after workers at blending terminals found that some fuel didn't meet quality standards, the Associated Press reported.

Separately, Arkansas has opened its first biodiesel plant, which could be the first of several in that state, AP said.

orkers in Minnesota discovered last Thursday that some of the biodiesel was not up to specifications required in state law, AP reported.

ruckers have been concerned about the new law for, among other things, biodiesel's performance in cold weather. (Click here for previous coverage.)

Minnesota’s largest oil refinery, Flint Hills, stopped selling diesel immediately, AP reported.

Even after the Minnesota Commerce Department approved selling fuel without biodiesel Friday afternoon, it took hours to reprogram computers before the refinery, south of Minneapolis, could resume blending, AP said.

Magellan Midstream Partners — which blends biodiesel and diesel in seven Minnesota and North Dakota terminals — switched to pure diesel, one official said, AP reported.

hile there is no provision in the law allowing the sale of pure diesel if there was not enough biodiesel available, the state's Commerce Department authorized refiners, terminals, distributors and retailers to sell unblended diesel for 10 days without fear of legal penalties.

In Arkansas, the first truckload of biodiesel has been sold from Eastman Chemical Co.’s plant near Batesville, Ark., AP said.

Annett Pagan, chairman of the the state's Alternative Fuels Commission, told AP she expects a second project to be announced and that investor groups may make additional proposals.

agan said biodiesel has suddenly competitive, since it runs about $2.75 per gallon, less than diesel national average prices which have run more than $3 a gallon throughout the month of October.