You get 3.5 units of energy
out, for every one you put in
HERO BX has enjoyed 10
great years as a biodiesel
producer, and owner Pat
Black is looking forward to
many more. So strong is
his belief in this young industry that he
recently published a book, The Biodiesel
Solution, to call attention to the enormous
potential.
Black’s biodiesel journey began in
2004 when he was shifting gears after
a successful career in insurance and
looking for a way to create good jobs
in his hometown of Erie, PA. “Erie
used to get 50 percent of its GDP from
manufacturing, but that has fallen off as it
has across the country. I wanted to build
that back up, because the best-paying
jobs with the most sustainable wages are
in manufacturing.”
He decided to pursue renewable energy
production in either ethanol or biodiesel,
and his research made the decision easy.
“When you make biodiesel, you get more
than three and a half units of energy out
for every unit you put in,” he explained.
“With ethanol, every unit you put in yields
three-quarters of a unit. Biodiesel is a
much more efficient process.”
He launched Lake Erie Biofuels in 2004,
built a plant from the ground up in Erie,
and began production in November 2007
with a nameplate capacity of 45 million
gallons per year. Lake Erie shipped its
products to Europe at first, but then
market conditions shifted between 2008
and 2010 with the imposition of tariffs
in Europe, the passage of the federal
Renewable Fuel Standard 2 (RFS2),
and Pennsylvania’s enactment of a 2%
biodiesel mandate for on-road diesel.
The newfound focus on the U.S. market
led to several changes. The company
revisited its branding and switched the
name to HERO BX, and they retooled the
Erie plant to increase feedstock versatility.
The RFS had created different classes of
obligated parties, including the petroleum
giants such as Exxon-Mobil, Shell,
Valero and Chevron. Those companies
became major buyers of both biodiesel
and biodiesel Renewable Identification
Numbers (RINs). HERO BX also developed
a strong clientele of truck stop operators
and jobbers.
Between 2010 and 2015, the company
focused on maximizing efficiency, which
increased the capacity of the Erie plant to
50 million gallons a year. To better serve
customers in the South, HERO BX also
purchased a 15-million-gallon plant just
south of Tuscaloosa, AL and retooled it.
In 2016, HERO BX made its first major
investment outside the manufacturing
space by purchasing a blending
terminal operation in North Hampton,
NH. The acquisition put HERO BX in
the New England heating oil market,
where marketers are adopting the
blending of petroleum heating oil with
biodiesel creating Bioheat® fuel as an
environmentally friendly alternative to
the pure petroleum product. The heating
oil industry is committed to improving
its product while ensuring its broad
coalition of fuel dealers continue to enjoy
a sustainable future. This is now possible
with the advent of clean burning ultra-low
sulfur heating oil blended with biodiesel,
a fuel that is lower in greenhouse gas
emissions and more aligned with policy
decision makers’ thinking.
To bring its proprietary product one
step closer to its customers, HERO BX’s
New Hampshire facility offers electronic
rack injection blending of biodiesel with
heating oil using the Top Tech System
MultiLoad II and TMS 6000 software. A
card-based system, it enables dealers to
select their preferred blend level for every
truckload from presets that include B5,
B10, B15, B20 and B80. The most popular
choice is B20. “It allows retail dealers
to walk the walk and say there is 20%
biodiesel in the fuel,” Black said. “And
most importantly, it keeps them within
the ASTM standard for heating oil blends.”
Producer
Pat Black
Owner, HERO BX
32 Biodiesel Success Stories