Blue Sun to Launch Next-Gen Biodiesel Production with Key Hire

GOLDEN, Colo., Jan. 9, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- There will be historic opportunities in biodiesel in 2013 for those players still able to afford strategic acquisitions as struggling first generation plants come up for sale. As part of their core strategy to maximize this opportunity, Blue Sun has hired biofuels industry veteran Bruce Baughman as Chief Operating Officer.

Mr. Baughman will play a key role in identifying first-generation plants for acquisition, and integrating Blue Sun's latest enzymatic processing technology into the St. Joseph, Missouri biodiesel facility. Blue Sun estimates their current technology will reduce net production costs by over 90 cents per gallon – a $27 million cost reduction for a 30 million gallon per year plant.

"Bruce fits right into the Blue Sun strategy," said Leigh Freeman, CEO. "Strong teams are the key to successfully establishing new technologies and competitive advantage in the market. What Bruce is bringing will ensure the success of the Blue Sun St. Joe project and help Blue Sun in the development of the next generation of biodiesel production facilities."

Blue Sun bases its strategy on the excess capacity present in the industry. The $1 per gallon federal Biodiesel Tax Credit established in 2005 led to the boom for the biodiesel industry and led to a flurry of plant construction. Then, with the 2008 global recession and other industry challenges, many of these plants were idled or competitively derailed. Blue Sun launched a process to evaluate, control, and upgrade the best of these legacy facilities with a goal of creating a network of the most technologically advanced biodiesel facilities in the U.S.

Sean Lafferty, Vice President of Technology and New Business, sees the addition as the right complement to the team. "The project and operational management skills along with the technical experience Bruce brings fits perfectly with Blue Sun's technology focus. His breadth of experience not only assures projects will be successfully implemented, he also understands the technology and the engineering required to install and operate them within the time and budget allotted," he said.

Mr. Baughman will initially direct activities at Blue Sun's upgrade of the St. Joseph, Missouri biodiesel processing facility. This project is installing new processing technology that will drastically decrease net production costs and increase co-product value by over 300%.

Mr. Baughman will work with Blue Sun management in identifying, evaluating and acquiring additional biodiesel facilities and lead technology evolution activities at those facilities.

Over the past 33 years Bruce Baughman has worked with ADM, DuPont/Solae, Kraft, Cargill, Abitec Corp, ITG GreenHunter  and Mission New Energy. Mr. Baughman is a graduate of the University of Missouri, Rolla.

Blue Sun has hired for over 30 new jobs and continues to seek qualified applicants for new job roles. Information is available at http://www.gobluesun.com.

About Blue Sun
Blue Sun is a technology commercialization company specializing in acquiring and proving promising research breakthroughs in the field of liquid transportation fuels and bringing them to commercial production. The current focus of Blue Sun is in the application and commercialization of advanced technologies in the alternative fuels industry to build near and long-term competitive advantage with a target of producing low-cost, consistently high-quality fuel from non-food feed stocks. Blue Sun's ultimate goal is to reduce production costs to allow commercial production without government support. Current projects in this area include renewable diesel technology development; military bio-jet fuels; plant technology upgrades at the Blue Sun St. Joe Refinery; and the acquisition of first generation biodiesel facilities to upgrade using advanced Blue Sun technology.

Blue Sun has been a leader in the biodiesel industry since 2001. In 2003, to address the lack of quality standards, Blue Sun developed the first biodiesel fuel specification, which continues to exceed the ASTM standard. That same year, in response to market uncertainty about biodiesel, Blue Sun launched the first branded biodiesel, Fusion™, setting the standard for quality and customer expectations in the industry. Blue Sun operates the 30 million gallon per year Blue Sun St. Joe Refinery and maintains a multi-million gallon terminal position in Knoxville, Tennessee. For more information, please visit http://www.gobluesun.com.

Photography of the Blue Sun St. Joe Refinery is available.
Management is available for interview.

SOURCE Blue Sun