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Bakersfield, California
February 21, 2003
Green Star Products, Inc. (OTC:GSPI) announced today that
the largest biodiesel plant in the US is now being assembled in
Bakersfield, California.
The production capacity of this plant is expected to be 35
million gallons per year at full production. This is significant
when considering that the entire U.S. production of biodiesel in
2002 was only 15 million gallons.
GSPI has a 35% ownership position in American Bio-Fuels, LLC
(ABF), the company that is building the plant through a joint
venture.
The "Bakersfield Californian" newspaper published an article on
Sunday, February 23rd, "Bakers pumped about biodiesel," that
covered the role of biodiesel in aiding farm economies, reducing
oil dependence and improving Bakersfield's air quality, which is
among the worst in the U.S.
The newspaper article questioned several experts in the
biodiesel field including Mr. Joseph LaStella, President of
GSPI. The newspaper quoted Mr. LaStella as follows:
"A new diesel fuel may be available at Bakersfield gas pumps by
the end of the year that could make the valley's smoggy skies
clearer, help farmers meet strict new pollution rules, and even
make dirty diesel trucks and buses smell yummy."
The article provides further background on biodiesel including
the following quotes:
"Biodiesel can be made from a variety of domestically produced
vegetable products, from restaurant waste grease to the most
common source, soybeans.
This gives biodiesel exhaust its trademark aroma, which
resembles french fries or doughnuts. It also indicates another
benefit: Soybeans cleanse soil and absorb carbon dioxide from
the air as they grow. Since carbon dioxide is a leading
greenhouse gas, proponents say burning biodiesel can actually
reduce global warming," writes Matt Weiser of the "Bakersfield
Californian."
"It cleans our air. It cleans our soil. If you spill biodiesel,
it's as biodegradable as sugar," said LaStella, President of
Green Star. "We put our farmers to work and not the Arabs
pumping oil for us. We should be getting off that damn foreign
oil as soon as we can and we can do it right here."
"The San Joaquin Valley represents a major market for
biodiesel," LaStella said, "because of the area's bad air
quality and large diesel-dependent farming industry."
The article further states:
"The diesel burned today by farm equipment is unregulated and
contributes to a significant portion of the valley's air
pollution. The state faces a federal order to eliminate the
regulatory exemption for agriculture by Nov. 23. That could
require farmers to replace current engines at a cost of
thousands of dollars each. Instead, farmers might achieve
similar air quality improvements simply by burning biodiesel,
which requires no engine modifications," writes Weiser.
"If it's available and its price competitive -- even if it's
slightly higher -- growers will switch over," said Loron Hodge,
executive director of the Kern County Farm Bureau. "They've
looked for alternative fuels for a long time. If we can get them
to start using biodiesel, that would eliminate a big part of the
air pollution. I'm encouraged by it."
The article also states:
"Biodiesel has proven itself in a variety of test programs
around the country. For example, the city of San Jose now runs
its entire fleet of garbage trucks on 100 percent biodiesel, and
the Deer Valley Unified School District in Arizona has logged 4
million miles on biodiesel-powered buses," writes Weiser.
Mr. LaStella stated that: "The initial plant was to be much
smaller (see GSPI press release dated Nov. 19, 2002) but many
factors including market conditions and economies of scale
dictated that a much larger plant was more financially prudent
and desirable. The existing site facilities include three
railroad spurs capable of holding 130 railroad cars and 36 acres
of property with many other support facilities. Sixty percent of
the equipment for the Bakersfield site is either on-site or in
route."
Mr. LaStella also stated that: "The plant will also be the only
continuous flow production facility in the U.S. Other plants
usually incorporate older style inefficient batch processes."
The Bakersfield plant incorporates ABF's proprietary modular
reactor/separator, which was tested and operated at the ABF's
Adelanto facility (in Southern California) in early 2002. The
reactor/separator modules can be quickly installed in increments
of 2.5 million gallons per year in response to expanding market
demands.
The rest of the biodiesel plant does not lend itself to
modularization. The rules of economies of scale indicate that a
much lower cost can be achieved if this part of the plant is
built to maximum planned capacity. ABF, with the assistance of
outside consultant engineers, has designed this section of the
plant to be integrated into the continuous flow process.
The ABF continuous flow process design also reduces plant
footprint; lowers maintenance and operations costs; minimizes
capital construction costs; and shortens time to complete
construction. All of these factors significantly lower the
overall cost for producing ASTM grade biodiesel. The Bakersfield
plant will be capable of producing biodiesel in the Second
Quarter of 2003.
Biodiesel is a cleaner burning alternative diesel fuel made from
renewable and recyclable resources. It is non-toxic,
biodegradable and essentially free of sulfur and carcinogenic
benzene.
Other advantages of using biodiesel include:
- Puts American farmers to work
- Creates new production jobs
and a new industry
- Provides insurance against oil
embargoes
- Reduces life cycle CO2 by 78
percent (Greenhouse Gas)
- Reduces dependency on foreign
oil
- It's a renewable energy source
- Reduces hydrocarbon and carbon
monoxide emissions
- Reduces particulate emissions
and smoke
- Has higher cetane
- Has no sulfur
- Quality is assured by ASTM
standards
The entire "Bakersfield
Californian" newspaper article by Matt Weiser can be read at
http://www.bakersfield.com/.
Green Star Products, Inc. is
organized as a holding company with major ownership positions in
a set of subsidiary companies now commercializing advanced
automotive and energy technology products. For more information,
see GSPI's Web site at
http://www.baat.com or call Investor Relations,
619/409-8977, 619/409-9598 fax, or email
info@baat.com.
Information about trading prices and volume can be obtained at
several Internet sites including
http://www.bloomberg.com
under the ticker symbol "GSPI."
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