Wisconsin Biodiesel Association Reviews

"The Minnesota Experience"

The “Minnesota Experience” has become a phrase that is universally understood within the nation’s biodiesel industry. It points to a fundamental challenge the biodiesel industry confronted in the post-Katrina winter of 2005-06. The Wisconsin Biodiesel Association has adopted the lessons learned during this episode in the industry’s development and has accepted as its fundamental role the promotion of quality assurance and other guarantees necessary to support consumer confidence in biodiesel and advanced biofuels.

What was the “Minnesota Experience?”

In 2005, the State of Minnesota mandated the inclusion of biodiesel in all diesel fuel sold. This was the first domestic experience with the widespread commercial sale and distribution of biodiesel blends in such a cold and unforgiving climate. Biodiesel produced to proper specifications has been determined to have little, if any, adverse effect on the cold-weather characteristics of fuel (i.e. pour point; cold filter plugging point; etc.) when used in low blends with petroleum diesel. In the wake of Hurricane Katrina, however, petroleum diesel of suspect quality was blended with biodiesel that didn’t meet industry specifications, resulting in a fuel product that caused great hardship to consumers in Minnesota. Many vehicles were temporarily disabled as fuel filters clogged in the harsh Minnesota winter, and the industry experienced serious backlash from consumers who rightfully decided that this introduction of biodiesel as a commercial product deemed it to be a “non-starter.”

What was the Biodiesel Industry Response?

In the aftermath of the “Minnesota Experience,” the National Biodiesel Board (NBB) led the industry to make a firm commitment to ensure that standards – specifically ASTM D6751 – would be further developed and would become an absolute benchmark for all biodiesel product sold in the commercial market. In this way, considerable resources were successfully applied and a fundamental commitment was made to offer assurance to consumers that the biodiesel product made available to them was uniform in its quality and suitable for their use in all applications and climes. Ultimately, the “Minnesota Experience” resulted in a wake up call to the industry that has reestablished support and confidence in biodiesel throughout Minnesota and the rest of the nation.

As a direct response to the challenges presented by the “Minnesota Experience,” the NBB has adopted as its primary responsibility the effort to earn and maintain confidence from consumers in the biodiesel product. Quality biodiesel, regulated to ensure its conformity with ASTM specifications, has been proven to be a superior alternative to the petroleum product it replaces. The NBB and the WBA remain vigilant to ensure that all biodiesel made available to consumers conforms to these standards and that all biodiesel produced for commercial distribution represents the very best biodiesel product we can offer.