Benefuel

About Benefuel

Benefuel, founded in 2007, was an alternative energy company that specialized in the production of biodiesel and biolubricants. The company's primary focus was on converting low-cost, non-food feedstocks into high-quality fuels. Benefuel's business model centered around its patented ENSEL technology, which was designed to improve the efficiency and cost-effectiveness of biodiesel production. This technology uniquely combined the esterification and transesterification processes into a single step, allowing the use of high free fatty acid materials like animal tallow, used cooking oils, and distillers corn oil.

The company's strategy involved forming joint ventures to retrofit existing biofuel plants with its proprietary technology. A significant milestone was the formation of Duonix LLC, a joint venture with Flint Hills Resources, a subsidiary of Koch Industries, in 2013. This partnership aimed to retrofit a plant in Beatrice, Nebraska, to produce approximately 50 million gallons of biodiesel annually. The ENSEL technology was developed by the National Chemical Laboratories and exclusively licensed to Benefuel. This process used a solid acid catalyst, which aimed to reduce waste and processing costs typically associated with biodiesel manufacturing.

Throughout its history, Benefuel attracted notable investors, including Suncor and Koch Industries, and raised $23 million in funding. In 2018, the company announced plans to expand into Canada, targeting British Columbia and Sarnia, Ontario, for new biodiesel facilities, citing favorable government low-carbon fuel standards. The planned Sarnia plant was intended to be a modular design, incorporating lessons learned from the Nebraska facility, and was projected to produce 20-40 million gallons annually. Despite these ambitious plans and technological developments, public records indicate that Benefuel ceased operations around November 2021.