Local firm wants to produce biodiesel

PHOTOGRAPHER: Edward Munger Jr.

Owners of an Amsterdam firm planning to make biodiesel fuel out of used vegetable oil expect to present plans for zoning approval in time for production to start this summer.

Geo-Environmental Management Solutions owners Jeremy Silverman and Fred Krone said Monday engineers are drafting documents for submission to the Glen Town Planning Board.

Operating as NYS Biofuels LLC, the company intends to collect vegetable oil and produce 200,000 gallons of the alternative fuel.

Silverman said private investors are being lined up and the company plans to purchase about six acres of land in Montgomery County’s Glen Canal View Business Park.

Silverman said he expects to close on the land in March, followed by applications for approval from the town of Glen.

“We need to go through all the local planning and zoning,” Silverman said.

While those plans are drafted, Silverman said, contacts are being made both to collect raw materials and sell the finished product.

Silverman said NYS Biofuels is in contact with the New York State Restaurant Association to gather a list of potential suppliers.

The company also hopes to develop a relationship with School House Companies, a local trucking firm, which could make use of the fuel in its tractors.

The initial goal to produce 200,000 gallons is still the same, but Silverman said 200,000 gallons “isn’t really that much fuel.”

“If we can, we’ll try to produce 660,000 in the first year, but definitely, the first year’s goal is the 200,000-gallon range. It depends on how much grease we get and how good it is,” Silverman said.

Krone said a large trucking company could use up 200,000 gallons of the alternative fuel which, with specialized equipment, could be produced within a couple of hours.

Biodiesel is typically mixed with regular, petroleum-based diesel, Silverman said.

Once the land sale is complete, a total of 84 acres of the Glen Canal View Business Park, located off state Route 5S, will be spoken for, according to Montgomery County Economic Development Director Ken Rose.

The county’s Industrial Development Agency last week entered into an option agreement with M.S.C Construction Group for a 6.65-acre parcel in the business park, representing the final portion of land currently considered “shovel ready.”