Pacific Biodiesel Plant Receives SBA Certification

Members of the crew and staff of Big Island Biodiesel and Pacific Biodiesel met Governor David Ige and State Director of Transportation Ford Fuchigami just prior to National Biodiesel Day in 2015. Pacific Biodiesel file photo.

Pacific Biodiesel earned a new certification, as announced Friday by the Sustainable Biodiesel Alliance.

The company is the only commercial biofuel producer in Hawai’i, and the certification has made it the only biodiesel operation of its kind to receive certification in the United States.

Pacific Biodiesel is able to produce up to 5.5 million gallons annually through its use of distillation technology.

SBA gave Big Island Biodiesel a “Gold Certified” status with a score of 78 out of 100. Pacific Biodiesel/Big Island Biodiesel earned the “Platinum Certified” status as a Biodiesel Distributor with a score of 92 out of 100.

“The SBA is very pleased with the results of the certification audit, and applauds Pacific Biodiesel for being a leader in sustainably produced biodiesel” said Jeff Plowman, Vice-Chair of the SBA.

A third party audit, completed by Chris Garth of Carolina Management System Services, Inc, was performed as part of the certification process

“It was a pleasure auditing the management systems of Pacific Biodiesel,” said Garth. “The biodiesel produced at Big Island Biodiesel is made efficiently, yielding high quality fuel that meets ASTM D 6751, and in an organizational culture that scores very high – and drives continual improvement – in quality, environmental, health, safety, and sustainability metrics.”

The certification process went through various aspects of production and distribution practices including, control of air emissions, reduced water consumption, continuous improvement toward zero-waste production, low level energy consumption, development of sustainable purchasing policies, and creation of diverse community benefits.

“We are thrilled to hear today’s announcement from SBA’s Certification Committee,” said Jenna Long, Director of Operations at Pacific Biodiesel. “This gives our entire team a great sense of pride and reinforces our company’s mission to make clean, renewable fuels in the most sustainable and community-focused manner possible. We also received valuable input during the certification process so that we can continue to improve the sustainability practices of our facility.”