Biodiesel demand ahead of refinery
Salem location steps in when building stalls
Shelley Strom
Business Journal staff writer
With equipment and investors waiting at the door, the innovators at SeQuential-Pacific Biodiesel didn't wait to launch their fuel manufacturing operation.
When progress on building a refinery in North Portland took longer than expected, the company -- a joint venture between Portland-based SeQuential Biofuels and Hawaii-based Pacific Biodiesel -- decided to set up a fuel-refining operation on a tiny slice of industrial land in Salem.
"We were behind schedule and thinking about whether there was someplace where we could set up now," said Tomas Endicott.
Endicott is co-founder of SeQuential Biofuels, a 3-year-old marketer and distributor of biodiesel and biodiesel-petroleum blended fuels. SeQuential-Pacific hopes eventually to produce and sell annually at least 1 million gallons of the fuel.
Endicott said his investors got antsy as the development timeline for the Portland refinery stretched. All the while, expensive stainless steel tanks that arrived according to the original timeline sat useless.
An investor in the joint venture had room to spare on his Salem industrial site. The permitting process to set up such an operation, Endicott said, was simple compared with the arduous process of developing a facility from the dirt.
"We thought, 'Here's an opportunity,'" Endicott said.
Biodiesel -- which can be burned in most diesel vehicles -- is gaining a following.
Attractive because it is significantly less polluting than petroleum fuel, biodiesel roughly amounts to fat-free vegetable oil.
"This industry has the potential to create jobs in Oregon and keep dollars in Oregon," said Ashley Henry, Oregon Business Association environmental and economic development program manager.
SeQuential Biofuels is on track to generate $600,000 in revenue this year and anticpates increases to $1 million next year. The company employs five, and the joint venture employs four.
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