Joe Gershen
Director of Sales & Marketing, Crimson Renewable Energy, LP
On October 7, 2001, three weeks after 9/11 and on the day the US began bombing Afghanistan, Joe Gershen and his wife, Ellen Sevy, were married. Joe had been a music composer, producer, and publisher for film, television, and technology apps as well as a patented inventor, software developer, and code writer for commercial interactive applications. But, the impact of the new geo-political reality was profound for Joe, and he began the search for a new career that would allow him to use his skills as a creator and marketer in service of making the world a better place, most urgently for environmental and sustainability issues, which he had long championed. Shortly thereafter, Ellen introduced him to some friends who had a small business delivering biodiesel to homes and businesses in the Monterey Bay area. Joe found the product "outstanding" and their passion irresistible. He was hooked.
He was struck by the fact that biodiesel, a domestic sustainable fuel that could be deployed immediately, provided an unprecedented opportunity to "think globally, act locally." In 2002, he launched a new career in biodiesel with a few very ambitious goals.
First, Joe believed that biodiesel's credibility would need to be achieved by getting well-known cities and businesses to use the product. Second, since he was convinced that using second-use or waste raw materials, such as used cooking oil, were the most sustainable, he thought it was critical to persuade one or more fast food restaurant chains to recycle their fryer oil into biodiesel and use it in their distribution fleet. At that time, used cooking oil-based biodiesel was produced on an extremely small scale and not considered a high quality option. Getting a major player on board would also drive product quality and market credibility. Joe's third goal was to make a decent living in the biodiesel business. He knew that biodiesel, in order to succeed in the marketplace, had to become a commercially viable industry, able to provide good jobs and move beyond its status as a labor of love for the dedicated few.
Joe traveled the country learning as much as he could about biodiesel and the people involved with it. He set up a business, LA Biofuel, which had a small B100 delivery component, and began sourcing rail car volumes of biodiesel from mid-west producers and brokering it to California fuel marketers and jobbers. He also began looking for a producer capable of processing more challenging feedstocks like yellow grease. Joe met with various city agencies in his hometown of Santa Monica and was eventually able to get them to adopt biodiesel. The municipal and transit bus fleets have been using biodiesel ever since. Joe ultimately went on to repeat this success with several other Southern California fleets including the cities of Inglewood, Beverly Hills, Pasadena, and the CLIF Bar distribution fleet
Also in 2003, Joe was introduced to upper-level management at Golden State Foods (GSF), the McDonald's supply chain management company based in Irvine. They had been exploring ways to turn their customer's fryer oil into biodiesel and had heard that he had similar ambitions. After the first few meetings, an agreement was made to work together toward their shared goals. The next couple of years were spent vetting process technology providers and developing a business model. It was agreed that they would need to get their entire fleet to use B20 to demonstrate real success, which they did a few years ago.
After almost three years struggling to find a reliable technology provider (and getting very little sleep!), Joe knew he needed help. Seeking synergy, he reached out to Bay Area biodiesel entrepreneur and attorney Eric Bowen of San Francisco Biodiesel and Fred Wellons, a biodiesel technology expert and Director of Product Development & Quality Control for Baker Commodities. After some discussion, the three of them decided to work together, an arrangement made possible by the merger of LA Biofuel and San Francisco Biodiesel In 2006. The two companies came together to form Tellurian Biodiesel in order to more effectively develop the GSF project, marketing business, and other opportunities.
Tellurian grew steadily for a couple of years before the economic downturn of 2008 forced the sale of the company in 2009. Fortunately, Joe had developed a strong relationship with Harry Simpson, President of Crimson Renewable Energy. Harry made Joe a compelling offer to join his team early in 2010, and Joe has been working for Crimson as Director of Sales and Marketing ever since.
Joe reports that Crimson has successfully completed re-commissioning and start-up of its 25 million gallon per year biodiesel production facility in Bakersfield, which will be BQ-9000 certified next year. Over the past 18 months, Crimson reconfigured its Bakersfield plant to process a variety of second-use fats and oils feedstocks such as used cooking oil, inedible animal fats, and yellow grease in order to help its customers meet their California Low Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS) compliance obligations. The first production lots were shipped on November 1st and met or exceeded all of the ASTM biodiesel specifications.
The company is ramping up production slowly in order to ensure smooth operations and consistent product quality. As the plant production reaches 50% of its capacity, Crimson will be the largest biodiesel producer in the state. Joe believes that Crimson's size and logistical advantage will offer customers a ratable supply of ultra-low carbon biodiesel at the lowest cost of LCFS compliance.
When asked about the current state of the industry, Joe is very hopeful about the economic and environmental impacts of RFS2 and LCFS going forward. "Now, it's all about creating stability in the marketplace. Biodiesel customers are looking for stable supply, stable prices, stable product quality and stable business partners," Joe says.
One of the pioneers of California biodiesel who early on began to eat, sleep, and breathe biodiesel around the clock and hasn't stopped since, Joe has made an invaluable contribution to the industry. Not only did he reach the goals he laid out for himself when he started out in the field, the work he does now with Crimson, along with his very active involvement in CBA and other biodiesel related non-profits, is helping to create the stability he believes is so important for the biodiesel industry in California to move forward.
CBA is grateful to Ellen for introducing Joe to her biodiesel friends and for lending him to the industry for so very, very many hours each week.
