As California increases its use of low-carbon biofuel, additional transportation fuels storage will become a necessity. Since biodiesel is hydrophilic it cannot be shipped in many pipelines. This is a logistical challenge to fuel suppliers attempting to market blends (B-20, etc.), and so creates additional costs in a low-margin, competitive marketplace. Trucks carrying bulk loads must typically on-load 6,600 gallons of diesel at a refinery or pipeline terminal and then stop at a bulk storage facility to top-off with 1,400 gallons of biodiesel to achieve a B-20 blend. The proposed facility will virtually be co-located with a pipeline terminal, essentially eliminating a step required of bulk biodiesel: diesel blend transporters.
Western States Oil operates a commercial truck stop on a parcel immediately adjacent to the San Jose Kinder-Morgan pipeline terminal. Western State's facility can easily be used to top-off partially loaded transfer trucks departing the Kinder Morgan terminal with biodiesel (fatty acid methyl esters). This pipeline terminal services the southern region of the San Francisco Bay Area such as San Jose, Sunnyvale, Palo Alto, Fremont, and Hayward, and will be instrumental in the achievement of those communities' climate action plans and the State of California's Low Carbon Fuel Standard.
The project will facilitate the introduction of 5.25 million gallons per year of B-99, 21 million gallons per year of B-20, or 105 million gallons per year of R-20 (5 percent diesel component) into California's diesel supply chain, at a cost of $69,223.
