Biodiesel plant planned for Pittsfield

A New York renewable energy company plans to build one of the country’s largest biodiesel production plants in Pittsfield, capitalizing on a fast-growing industry that turns vegetable oil into fuel.

The Berkshire Biodiesel plant would be able to produce up to 50 million gallons a year of the soy-based fuel when it opens in 2008, president Garth Klimchuk said today.

The company, a subsidiary of Harrison, N.Y.-based NorthWinds Biodiesel, recently received a $3 million state grant, but is still raising money for the $50 million project.

Most of the 105 US biodiesel plants are in the Midwest, where soybeans are grown, and typically produce 8 million to 12 million gallons a year.

New England’s only two biodiesel plants are in Connecticut; each produces about 500,000 gallons a year.

Klimchuk said a large New England plant would make sense because so much vegetable oil is delivered to restaurants and food-processing facilities.

‘‘It’s easy to get the supplies we need here, and there’s a huge demand for biodiesel in this area,’’ he said.

Biodiesel burns cleaner than petroleum-based fuels. It is made from pure or recycled vegetable oil and is used on its own or blended with petroleum-based fuel in vehicles with diesel engines. It can also heat homes and drive power generators.
(AP)