1859 Sept | Oct 2012_opt

Ventures
usiness prole
SeQuential Fuels
the Next Generation
Biofuel manufacturer grows with
demand for plant-based power
written by Jennifer Hughes
photos by Aubrie LeGault
Sequentials COO, Alan Twigg,
and founder, Ian Hill right,
show off the green roof of their
flagship station in Eugene.
IN EUGENE, TWO ROYAL BLUE and
goldenrod yellow SeQuential Biofuels stations
stand out among a sea of Shell, 76 and
Chevron gas stations. The latter group is of
the typical gas-and-go variety with unleaded
outside and trans-fat snacks on the inside.
The other sells biodiesel, yerba mate and organic
produce under a green roof.
SeQuential BioFuels is Eugene’s greenest
fueling station and is ground zero for cutting-edge
alternative fuels while also turning
organic food into roadside convenience
snacks. In the ordinary filling station, the gas
is petroleum based and the fats sit on the
shelves. At SeQuential, the fats and greases
are in the pump and comprise the mostly
soy-based fuel.
Fed up with “Big Oil”, Thomas Endicott, Ian
Hill and Tyson Keever began making biodiesel in Hill’s garage in 2000, using
leftover cooking oil collected from restaurants. Local demand for their
biodiesel grew dramatically, and in 2004, they teamed with Pacific Biodiesel
to open Oregon’s first commercial-scale biodiesel production plant.
SeQuential takes in Oregon-grown canola and waste vegetable oils
from the region, and converts this feedstock into biodiesel through a process
known as “transesterification.” The result is a cleaner burning fuel that
is biodegradable. Its byproduct is carbon dioxide, the same compound
animals exhale. The tailpipe emissions from a petroleum-burning engine,
by contrast, are carbon monoxide; smog’s main component, nitrous oxide
and unburned hydrocarbons.
Today SeQuential has its own oil processing plant and a fleet of thirty
biofueled trucks that collect oils in Western states. The company’s biodiesel
plant in Salem produces 17 million gallons of biodiesel fuel per year.
That fuel is multiples less carbon-intensive than petroleum diesel, making
it one of the lowest carbon fuels commercially available in the United
States. Additionally, SeQuential Pacific Biodiesel is a zero-waste facility,
deploying a proprietary process that produces no waste water, and generates
heat and power from heavy fats and oils that cannot be processed.
Atop it all is a distillation column to capture and re-use methanol released
in the process. This facility provides fuel for a network of nearly
seventy consumer retail stations.
Thousands of plants grow on its flagship rooftop in Eugene. Inside, dozens
of local food products from more than seventy-five local companies
fill the shelves. Fresh sandwiches, organic coffee and pastries from nearby
Sweet Life Patisserie give a fresh twist on convenience food. One filling
station’s sandwich special is made from Applegate ham, local gluten-free
bread and organic produce.
In addition to the living roof, half of SeQuential’s annual electricity
needs are supplanted by its passive solar building design.
Both federal and state tax credits and mandates have played a role in
the creation and viability of alternative fuel companies. In 2007, the State
of Oregon created a business energy tax credit (BETC) to aid in the development
and distribution of alternative energy resources. Under this program,
the state successfully courted solar panel manufacturers, electric
car makers, wind power projects and biofuel manufacturers.
“We have a state level mandate for a renewable fuel standard, which
stipulates five percent biodiesel of all diesel sold in Oregon, and it doesn’t
stipulate where that biodiesel must come from,” Hill says. “We still compete
to fill that demand. Competition is good; it’s not a handout from the
government at all, by any stretch of the imagination.”
As part of a wide-ranging renewable energy portfolio, Oregon law requires
all gasoline retailers to blend their petroleum fuel with 10 percent
ethanol. Oregon also offers residents a state income tax credit up to $200
for documented use of high blends of biodiesel.
While Hill and Keever have witnessed other biodiesel companies shooting
for the moon and failing, their approach is moderate growth. Their focus
is to create high-quality, low-emission fuel products for Oregonians and
the Pacific Northwest—with or without government assistance.
“From the beginning we’ve been very determined to develop a business
that will thrive without any government programs or incentives,
and we feel like we’re certainly on our way to that,” says Hill. “We are
out to create something that is really sustainable, and we want it to be
around for our grandkids.”
60 1859 oregon's mAgAzine SEPT OCT 2012