Monday, November 24, 2008

Conn. Gov. Rell doles out biodiesel funds

By Mass High Tech Staff

Connecticut Governor M. Jodi Rell has authorized $350,000 in grants to help bolster the state’s biodiesel infrastructure. The program, which was announced on Saturday, will distribute $50,000 to local companies that undertake the development of biodiesel and biodiesel distribution facilities in the state.

Connecticut has been aggressive in its use of biodiesel, with the Connecticut Department of Transportation using a biodiesel blend for seven years, using both state-run filling sites and a handful of retail outlets for filling purposes.

The new program is being funded by the Department of Economic and Community Development and administered by the Connecticut Center for Advanced Technology.

According to the Governor’s office, the award recipients are:

• Megellan Terminal Holdings LP, an independent petroleum storage company that will purchase and install a blending system, biodiesel storage and necessary piping at its facility at 85 East St. in New Haven;

• Bantam Supply Co. Inc., in Bantam, which will upgrade its pump, metering and monitoring system and increase distribution capacity at its facility;

• Baribault Oil Company Inc., in the Oakville section of Watertown. The company intends to use its grant to replace existing piping with 4-inch Schedule 40 welded pipe and install a new loading area to accommodate the diameter change;

• Total Energy Solutions LLC, the parent company East Hartford-based Sterling Street Terminal LLC, a petroleum distribution facility, will use the grant to modify its storage tank for a blending system and purchase and install a 10,000 gallon biodiesel “day tank” with dispensing pump and meter;

• Norbert E. Mitchell Co. Inc., a retail petroleum fuel distributor throughout Fairfield, Litchfield, and New Haven counties, will purchase and install a 10,000 gallon biodiesel storage tank and fuel injection system;

• Greenleaf Biofuels LLC, a wholesale and retail distributor of biodiesel and blends located in Guilford, will purchase a 6,900 gallon biodiesel tank trailer;

• Hale Hill Farm Biofuels will purchase and install two 1,000-gallon storage tanks with fueling apparatus, a 3,000-gallon delivery truck, three 275-gallon storage tanks with fueling apparatus and a 20-foot-by-20-foot field office for biodiesel sampling and testing for its facility in Portland.