By ROBIN SHANNON

L’Observateur

NORCO – A new facility at Valero’s St. Charles Refinery in Norco will use recycled cooking oil and animal fats to produce diesel fuel that is easier on the environment.

Valero will partner Darling International in the more than $241 million venture, to be known as Diamond Green Diesel LLC. The U.S. Department of Energy is committing the loan, which will guarantee construction.

Valero St. Charles spokesman Ron Guillory said Darling will supply and render the materials, which come from restaurants and slaughterhouses, and Valero will refine the materials at the new refining unit. He said the materials would come on tanker trucks and be pumped right into the refining unit, limiting the exposure to the surrounding area.

“We are sensitive to what the community is exposed to and this plant will not produce any of the smells common at rendering plants,” Guillory said.

Guillory said the refining process involves adding hydrogen to the fat, which causes a molecular restructuring process known as isomerization. The project will be the first application of its kind in the U.S.

According to a release from the Department of Energy, the refining unit will have the capacity to produce 137 million gallons of biodiesel per year, which is triple the amount of renewable diesel produced in the U.S. In addition, the facility will fulfill almost 14 percent of a national mandate to boost production for biomass-based diesel.

“We have to begin to look at renewable fuels as a supplement to what we are already producing,” Guillory said. “It will help us to minimize our dependence on foreign sources for fuel.”

Guillory said the project is scheduled to begin construction in the late second quarter or early third quarter of this year and will coincide with the refinery’s $1.2 billion expansion of its hydrocracker unit. Both projects are expected to be online by early 2013.

St. Charles Parish Economic Development Director Corey Faucheaux said the project is expected to create about 700 construction jobs during peak construction, in addition to more than 60 permanent jobs once the plant is complete.

Faucheux said the project will improve job security at Valero by diversifying the refinery’s operations.

“There is more certainty now when it comes to industry of this nature,” Faucheaux said. “I think we can expect to see more projects like this in the years to come.

Guillory said the project will eventually generate tax credits for Valero, which like other refiners is required to produce a percentage of renewable fuels in its output. Outside of the cost of building the new refining unit, The cost of producing a gallon of green diesel is about the same as with petroleum-based fuel.