The Biodiesel Imperative: Ignore the Frustration, Create Profits

One of the excruciating aspects of working in the biodiesel industry is knowing you are right and meeting resistance from people who refuse to listen to facts.  I strongly suspect that this is neither a revelation, nor a frustration unique to the biodiesel industry.

I realize that change creates friction.  The greater the change, the more the friction, and the greater the unthinking "braking reflex".  This unthinking braking reflex, coupled with calculated resistance from those who benefit from the existing entrenched profit models tends to tranform a rationale argument into one that suddenly is portrayed as "extreme", "apocalyptic" or "fringe-ish".

And thus do we [collectively] dither, forced to debate whether of not climate change is real; whether or not Peak Oil is real; whether or not our economy "can survive" environmental accounting.   All three of these ludicrous arguments exist solely because of the combination of oil and auto lobbying dollars coupled with the apathy that exists when the problem can't be immediately seen, tasted, smelled, heard or felt.  Billion of dollars can confuse virtually any issue in this country, and apathetic people don't worry too much about confusion.

Did I mention frustration?

My solution is straightforward.  Make biodiesel a money maker.  Make alternative energy in general a wealth generation phenomenon.  Harness the rapacious nature of the majority - currently snug in its blanket of apathy -  and it will probably overcome the focused [and rapacious] opposition of the minority - those who are reaping billions of dollars by slowly eroding our environmental and economic security.

So how do we make biodiesel a money-maker?  After all, if I look around at the carnage in the biofuels sector in 2009, profit is one of the last things I expect to find.  Bankruptcy, facility shutterings, stalled regulation, "not now" purchasing patterns and increased SUV sales, these are evident in spades, but profit is absent.  About the only thing I see that has any interest for those outside the industry is "algae".  Algae is nice; algae is the future, but how far out is the future *?

I see a mullti-billion dollar industry opportunity today.  I see potential job creation opportunities today - in a time when job creation is probably more politically important than environmental issues.  I see a solution awaiting implementation.

While the big players may need some government support, Springboard Biodiesel is based on the premise that the best way to make money in biodiesel is to produce that biodiesel locally.  Our processing equipment is designed to allow locally based production and feedstock independence.  We allow our customers to rationally and profitably match feedstock supply and end user demand and eliminate feedstock constraints by offering the broadest spectrum of inputs - in essence we provide the local producer with an "unfair" cost advantage in production.   We believe our equipment provides a compelling technology platform, which, when coupled with our local production business mode,l harnesses the profit motive that is essential to the long term success of any business endeavor.  After all biodiesel production is a business, a challenging business and potentially a rewarding business.

So, despite the industry's doldrums, we remain optimistic that our customers will be on the forefront of commercializing biodiesel today and tomorrow.

Keep up the good work,

Mark Roberts

* Rest assured, the topic of algae based biodiesel is well worth future discussions - coming soon....