The Kansas City Regional Clean Cities Coalition, the Kansas Soybean Commission and the Missouri Soybean Merchandising Council are hosting a biodiesel workshop this Friday, Aug. 12, at the Kansas Speedway. The event will focus on informing original equipment manufacturers, dealers, fleet managers, journalists and others interested in biodiesel, America's first advanced biofuel.

Registration will begin at 9:30 a.m. There will be two morning presentations, one titled "America's Advanced Biofuel" delivered by Jessica Robinson, communications director for the National Biodiesel Board at 10:30 a.m., followed by "Biodiesel 101?"with Hoon Ge, MEG Corp. Fuel Consulting at 11 a.m.

Following lunch, Robert Cerio, owner of Ocean State Energy Resources will present "Terminal Operations, Pipelines and Fuel Distribution.

At 2 p.m., Alicia Clancy, corporate affairs manager for the Renewable Energy Group will talk on "Biodiesel Distribution." At 2:45, the final presenter, Robinson will speak on the topic "It's here. It's now. Biodiesel."

There will be time for questions from the audience before the event adjourns at 3:30 p.m.

Biodiesel is a renewable, clean-burning diesel replacement made from an increasingly diverse mix of resources, including soybean oil. It is the first and only commercial-scale fuel being produced nationwide to meet the Environmental Protection Agency's definition as an advanced biofuel under its Renewable Fuel Program, which is aimed at spurring development of sustainable alternatives to petroleum.

Compared with traditional petrodiesel, biodiesel reduces greenhouse-gas emissions by 57 percent to 86 percent, depending on the feedstock used, and drastically cuts nearly every toxic air pollutant. It also has the highest energy balance of any domestic, liquid fuel, yielding more than 5 units of energy for every unit of fossil energy it takes to produce it.

For more information and to reserve a seat, contact Aaron Brown with the Kansas City Clean Cities Coalition at [email protected], Dennis Hupe with the Kansas Soybean Commision at [email protected], or the J.P. Dunn with the Missouri Soybean Merchandisinig Council at [email protected].