HEGLAND ELECTED CHAIRMAN OF NATIONAL BIODIESEL GOVERNING BOARD

 

Ed Hegland, soybean farmer from Appleton, MN and former president of the Minnesota Soybean Growers Association, has been elected Chairman of the Governing Board of the National Biodiesel Board. Hegland served as a board member for the nonprofit trade association since 2004, as a representative of Minnesota Soybean.

 

“We have had some great successes in growth of the industry and in policy in Washington D.C. over the last few years,” said Hegland. “Going forward, our board will work together to build the industry, and to be the unified voice for a sustainable future for biodiesel.”

A second Minnesotan elected to the governing board is Chuck Neece, of FUMPA Biofuels in Redwood Falls, MN. Neece is also the President of the Minnesota Biodiesel Council.

 

Hegland noted that the 15-member Governing Board has seven farmer-members. Other board members represent NBB’s additional membership categories, including biodiesel producers. For more information on the National Biodiesel Board visit www.biodiesel.org.

 

“NBB’s vision for the future is that by 2015, biodiesel will be viewed as an integral component of a national energy policy which relies increasingly on clean, domestic, renewable fuels,” Hegland says. “Positive market dynamics coupled with federal counter-cyclical policy will support a significant and stable market.”

 

Sales, primarily in the form of low level biodiesel blends, will replace 5% of diesel demand by 2015. Energy security and environmentally driven uses, such as B20, remain a significant and visible source of demand. Grassroots involvement remains a strong and vital strength of the biodiesel industry.

 

Soybean checkoff dollars were used for the research and development of biodiesel, a soybean-oil-based alternative to diesel fuel.