Issue link: https://nebusinessmedia.uberflip.com/i/464437
V o l . X X I N o. I I S o you've built this smart little company, manufacturing a renewable fuel from recycled fry grease. Your oil burns clean, dra- matically reducing carbon emissions, is competitive with the price of petroleum, and can be produced with zero waste and pollutants; it even provides all the fuel you need to run your plant. It's got real potential. e government supports it with tax credits and fuel-blending mandates, and the future is starting to look pretty bright. en the bottom drops out of the oil barrel, and the federal subsidies expire or are delayed, leaving the emerging biofuel industry out in the cold. What do you do? Many biofuel producers across the country closed up shop. Quitting wasn't an option for Jarmin Kaltsas, founder of Maine Standard Biofuels in Portland. It took him three years to get up and running, he re-mortgaged his house to start the company, and a number of friends and supporters invested. Plus he's committed to creating an affordable alternative to fossil fuels. For Kaltsas there was only one way to go: work harder and smarter, diversify the product line, increase efficiencies and decrease costs, keep spreading the gospel and hold on. "We try not to think too much about what's happening at the federal level. My number one concern when [petroleum] fuel prices drop is that people forget about conserving and forget about alternative fuels," Kaltsas says. "We're really optimistic about growing this, and we're really proud that we haven't laid anyone off. Right now we're not so much looking at it in terms of profit and loss, we're looking at it as survival. at's where we're focused." Essentially, the company is predicated on a simple multiplication formula. One base ingredient—used cooking oil from restaurants — equals three marketable products: heating oil, engine fuel and a liquid soap made from a by-product of the process. P h o t o / t i m G r e e n way F O C U S Changing marketplace As gas prices drop, a maker of alternative fuel adapts B y t i n a f i s c h e r Maine Standard Biofuels principals, from left, are Jarmin Kaltsas, founder and president; Derek McIntosh, vice president of sales; and Alex Pine, who oversees outreach and technology, at the company's site in Portland. Ja n ua r y 2 6 , 2 0 1 5 26