Building a Green Diesel Plant
Turner Industries breaks ground on first-of-its-kind biodiesel plant

Turner Industries broke ground on a commercially operated hydro-treated and isomerization process, one of the first large-scale refineries of its type. Turner will be the general contractor for the project and will have approximately 340 trained craft personnel. This biomass-based diesel manufacturing plant, or the Diamond Green Diesel Project as it is more commonly known, will be located adjacent to Valero Energy's refinery in Norco, La., about 20 miles west of New Orleans. Turner has partnered with Richard Designs Services, an engineering firm based out of Beaumont, Texas.

The Green Diesel Facility is owned by Diamond Green Diesel, LLC, a joint venture between Valero Energy and Darling International. Valero is the world's largest independent refiner with 15 refineries. Darling International is the United States largest publicly traded food processing by-products recycling company. The joint venture will use feedstock, including animal fats, used cooking oil and other waste grease to produce renewable diesel. The fats come from used restaurant grease and the animal fat portion of the by-product recycled by Darling from the beef, pork and poultry processing industries. The plant is capable of converting 1.1 billion pounds of fat into 136.7 million gallons/518 million liters of renewable green diesel, annually, or an estimated 9,300 barrels/day.

" We believe that the combination of Darling's ability to provide low-cost, carbon-friendly feedstocks and Valero's experience as North America's largest independent petroleum refiner and marketer has the potential to create a sustainable renewable diesel facility geared toward meeting America's growing renewable energy demands," Randall Stuewe, Chairman and CEO of Darling International, said.

The diesel fuel produced by the plant will reduce greenhouse gases by more than 80 percent over conventional petroleum-based diesel and will fulfill almost 14 percent of a national mandate to boost production for biomass-based diesel. Renewable (or green) diesel has a different molecular structure than current mass-produced biodiesel which allows it to be distributed using the current petroleum distribution system, such as a pipeline.

These reductions reflect Valero's commitment to the alternative energy market. They continue to be leaders in the market and their energy alternative ideas range from corn ethanol production to wind energy to investments in emerging biofuels development.

At the project's peak performance, it will take approximately 340 trained craft personnel to perform the project safely. Construction on the project began in May of this year and is expected to be completed by late 2012.