Nearly 11% of the nation's animal fat waste, used cooking oil and other discarded grease streams will be turned into renewable diesel fuel when work is completed on the $368-million Diamond Green Diesel facility now under way in Norco, La., near New Orleans. The biomass project will nearly triple the amount of renewable diesel produced domestically, according to the U.S. Energy Dept., and may be the first of several such innovative technology projects planned in the state.
The project, a joint venture between independent oil refiner Valero Energy Corp. and animal rendering and food waste recycler Darling International Inc., signals a boost in the regional biomass construction market, says Lee Mayeux, project manager for Baton Rouge, La.-based Cajun Industries, which is providing construction services. After a lull following busy construction activity in 2006-2007, work in the biofuels sector is "definitely" picking up again, he says.