Good News for Soy-Based Biodiesel

LPP Combustion LLC, Columbia, MN, says it has demonstrated that its patented LPP Combustion System will allow soybean oil-based biodiesel to burn as cleanly as natural gas — with no net greenhouse gas emissions. During recent tests, the company obtained emissions of nitrogen oxides, carbon monoxide, sulfur dioxide, and particulate matter comparable to natural gas level emissions using a commercial state-of-the-art dry low emission gas turbine combustor. Because biodiesel is a renewable fuel, gas turbines burning this fuel with the LPP system can provide what the company describes as "carbon-neutral electrical power" by producing no net greenhouse gas emissions.

LPP Combustion says it has developed an enabling technology that provides the cleanest possible use of biofuels in a combustion device without the need for post-combustion pollution control equipment. Last year, LPP Combustion received its primary U.S. patent for technology that converts biodiesel and other liquid fuels into a synthetic natural gas, called LPP gas, which can be burned in natural gas combustion systems with no modifications to the combustion hardware. Additional U.S. and worldwide patents are pending.

LPP Combustion has positioned itself as a provider of biofuels-based clean renewable energy technology to the power industry. "We are very excited to offer the power industry our LPP combustion technology, which will allow biofuels to be burned with the lowest pollutant emissions possible and no net carbon dioxide emissions. We look forward to the role our technology will play in helping the electric power industry and others to reduce greenhouse gases," said Dr. Leo Eskin, president and COO.