Originally Posted by dabenz

Will be the first US 'refinery' to use canola/rapeseed. Construction slated to start August 2005, with production in December 2006. Expected annual production is 30,000,000 gal/yr from 250,000 ton/yr of canola. The owners: North Dakota Biodiesel, owned by Biodiesel Holding (Delaware), owned by Science and Technologies Industries International (Germany).

Let's play some numbers games: North Dakota canola yield averages 0.71 ton/acre, so we'll need more than 350,000 acres/yr (550 sq. mi./yr) of canola. Using the 0.71 number, canola produces 85 gal oil/acre. North Dakota planted 756,000 acres of canola in 2004 (90% of US production - Canada produces a lot more), so Canada will be a player.

More numbers games: let's say a semi-truck gets 10mph (a low estimate) and runs 150,000 mi/yr. 30,000,000 gal/yr will keep 2,000 trucks running. That's a drop in the bucket, but I guess a start is a start is a start.