Biofuels company breaks ground for New Haven facility

(11/4/2011) By Mary E. O’Leary, Topics Editor

moleary@nhregister.com / Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/nhrmoleary”>@nhrmoleary

NEW HAVEN — A long-awaited biofuels production facility that will help expand the “green” footprint of the industry and add a company and jobs at the New Haven Terminal had a ground-breaking ceremony Friday.

Greenleaf Biofuels, owned by Gus Kellogg, will operate the plant at 100 Waterfront St., which he is leasing from New Haven Terminal.

Phase 1 involves construction of an estimated 8,500-square-foot building, where Kellogg will put his processing facility, offices and a small laboratory. Eventually, there will be some eight fuel storage tanks on the site.

The plant is expected to produce 10 million gallons of biodiesel per year.

It took Kellogg longer than anticipated to line up the necessary funding, which finally fell into place this month. Helping the project are the Connecticut Community Investment Corp., as well as the state Department of Economic and Community Development and Advantage Capital Partners/Ironwood Capital.

“We expect to create 20 full-time jobs initially at our Port of New Haven location and will add more as we expand in the future. In addition, we will be creating many temporary construction jobs over the next nine to 12 months,” Kellogg said.

His company has been in existence since 2004, with offices in Guilford.

Biofuel is a renewable fuel usually produced from a vegetable oil, which is mixed with methanol and a catalyst.

It is then blended with diesel and is a substitute for No. 2 heating oil.

Kellogg is trying to capture a share of the diesel fuel market where 1 billion gallons of conventional diesel are used annually in Connecticut. Continued...

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One economic study said the U.S. biodiesel industry may grow to support more than 74,000 jobs by 2015 and create $4 billion in household income.

“The goal of the Biodiesel Production Facilities Grant Program is to create new green collar jobs and support a growing green tech manufacturing sector. The construction of Greenleaf’s biodiesel plant in New Haven will deliver on both of those policy objectives,” said DECD Commissioner Catherine Smith.