MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. — Minnesota truckers are the first transport providers in North America required to fill up their fuel tanks with a biodiesel blend.

According to the Minneapolis Star Tribune, the law requires fuel sold in the state to consist of B2 biodiesel (2 percent biofuel and 98 percent petrol). The rule was enacted in 2002, but goes into effect today, as suppliers needed time to ramp up production, the newspaper reports.

Biodiesel is a renewable vegetable or animal fat-based fuel that can be burned in any standard, unmodified diesel engine in pure form (B100) or in a blend with petroleum diesel. The most common blend for commercial vehicles is B20.

Minn is the first state to mandate biodiesel. Is Ontario next?

Gov. Tim Pawlenty kicked off biodiesel’s official debut with visits to farmer-owned processing plants in southern Minnesota. A third plant is in Redwood Falls, giving the state a total of 63 million gallons of annual biodiesel production capacity, more than enough to pump out the 16 million gallons that will be needed for blending in Minnesota’s yearly consumption of 800 million gallons of diesel, the Tribune states.

Minnesota soybean farmers are celebrating the law while many state truckers are complaining the mandatory blend will create an island out of the state and drive diesel costs higher than they already are. Bruce Goodrich, chairman of the Minnesota Trucking Association, says biodiesel blends have been running 2 to 3 cents more per gallon than plain petroleum diesel at the 200 Minnesota stations already carrying it.

Goodrich is also concerned over biodiesel’s performance in Minnesota’s seasonally frigid weather. The fuel — especially higher blends of B20 and up — is known to start gelling in freezing temperatures, requiring added costs for tank heaters.

Goodrich’s fellow trucking lobbyists north of Lake Superior recently announced a possible victory in their battle with the province of Ontario over a planned biodiesel mandate for truckers.

Earlier this month, the Ontario Trucking Association said that Ontario’s Ministry of Agriculture is thinking twice about the imminent mandatory adoption of biodiesel. The government was considering a biodiesel requirement of B2 or B5 for Ontario truckers.

“I am aware that the trucking industry has a number of concerns about biodiesel as a fuel,” Minister of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs Leona Dombrowsky, wrote in a letter to OTA. “I understand that the federal government has introduced new on-road vehicle and engine emission regulations that will impact heavy duty vehicles. Under these regulations, biodiesel will have less smog reduction advantage over petrodiesel…”

The minister goes on to admit that biodiesel does have cold weather challenges, and to note the industry’s concern over biodiesel blends when it comes to engine warranty, distribution and cost.

The OTA, like many other biodiesel critics, also warned that the long-term effects of biodiesel on maintenance and reliability with incoming low-emissions EPA-mandated engines are not known at this time. The vehicles are still in the development stage no one can say with certainty how they will be impacted, OTA said.

— with files from the Minneapolis Star Tribune