Press Room
December 5, 2011
BIOFUELS FOCUS MEETING IN THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST
On November 15th, E2’s Pacific Northwest chapter held a focus meeting about clean transportation in Oregon.
On November 15th, E2’s Pacific Northwest chapter held a focus meeting about clean transportation in Oregon. In partnership with the Oregon Environmental Council (OEC), "Clean and Local Fuels for a Strong Northwest Economy" brought together E2 members, OEC leaders, industry participants, state officials, and members of the community to learn about Oregon’s Low Carbon Fuel Standards (LCFS) and clean transportation activities strengthening the region’s economy. The meeting included a tour of a local biodiesel production facility and a lunch session featuring presentations from the biofuels, electric vehicle, and natural gas industries. With an estimated $5 billion leaving the state of Oregon each year to purchase dirty fuels, development of clean, local transportation fuel is a real opportunity to bolster the state’s economy while protecting the environment.
At the following lunch gathering, speakers included Chris Galati, director of conservation & technology at NW Natural, a regional gas provider; Carrie Atiyeh, director of public affairs at ZeaChem, a Denver-based cellulosic ethanol producer with a production facility in Eastern Oregon; James Mast, interim operations director at Drive Oregon, the state’s EV industry association; and Andrea Salinas, legislative director at OEC. Along with presentations from each speaker, a lengthy Q&A session tackled topics such as the importance of deploying infrastructure, the challenges to ramping up production, and how different clean transportation technologies (e.g., biofuels, EVs, natural gas) can work together to compete with existing oil-dependent transportation. Oregon’s LCFS was also discussed in detail, highlighting the importance of extending the policy beyond its current 2016 sunset date – with many relevant technologies still in the development stage, premature expiration of the LCFS would not allow Oregon to leverage the several promising clean transportation technologies expected to become commercially available in the next decade.
Tyson Keever, general manager of SeQuential Pacific Biodiesel, led attendees through an informative tour of the company’s production facility in Salem, Oregon, which uses locally collected waste cooking oil and Northwest grown virgin oil feedstocks to produce as much as 17 million gallons of biodiesel each year.
At the following lunch gathering, speakers included Chris Galati, director of conservation & technology at NW Natural, a regional gas provider; Carrie Atiyeh, director of public affairs at ZeaChem, a Denver-based cellulosic ethanol producer with a production facility in Eastern Oregon; James Mast, interim operations director at Drive Oregon, the state’s EV industry association; and Andrea Salinas, legislative director at OEC. Along with presentations from each speaker, a lengthy Q&A session tackled topics such as the importance of deploying infrastructure, the challenges to ramping up production, and how different clean transportation technologies (e.g., biofuels, EVs, natural gas) can work together to compete with existing oil-dependent transportation. Oregon’s LCFS was also discussed in detail, highlighting the importance of extending the policy beyond its current 2016 sunset date – with many relevant technologies still in the development stage, premature expiration of the LCFS would not allow Oregon to leverage the several promising clean transportation technologies expected to become commercially available in the next decade.
