Willie Nelson On The Road Again Supporting Biofuels

Willie Nelson is on the road again. And his vehicles are not using gasoline; they’re using biofuels.

Evolution Fuels, Inc. (OTC:EVFN) announced that the country music legend will perform at Willie's Place at Carl's Corner Truck Stop in Carl’s Corner, Texas, on December 16, 2009.

The company endeavors to market renewable transportation fuels at retail fuel stations that will provide blends of ethanol ranging from 10% to 85% (E10 to E85), and biodiesel blends from 5% to 20% (B5 to B20). Evolution Fuels’ plan calls for the development of a chain of renewable fuel stations extending from Texas to Mississippi that will be a combination of "Evolution Fuels"-branded fuel stations/convenience stores and western-motif truck stops modeled after the Willie's Place Truck Stop in Carl's Corner.

Willie Nelson and Family are scheduled to perform Wednesday evening, December 16 in the "Night Life" theater that adjoins the truck stop. Also scheduled to perform are Ray Price and Billy Bob Thornton and his band, The Boxmasters. Concert updates will be broadcast on satellite radio's "Willie's Place" show which can be found on XM channel 13 and SIRIUS channel 64.

On Monday, November 9, 2009, Willie's Place at Carl's Corner Truck Stop was featured on HD-Net's "Dan Rather Reports" in an episode entitled "Truck Talk." Dan Rather visited the big truck stop at Carl's Corner, Texas, to hear from the American Truckers Association and big rig drivers from across the country who are concerned about their profession. The episode is now available for purchase at the iTunes Store.

The truck stop, which is partly owned by the company's subsidiary, Legends Travel Centers LLC, opened for business last December and has steadily increased sales of blended biodiesel fuels and merchandise since that time. The state-of-the-art truck stop features 12 diesel/biodiesel fueling lanes for tractor-trailers plus a wide load island. There is a separate fueling island for cars and trucks.

Nelson is the honorary board of directors’ chairman for the Sustainable Biodiesel Alliance (SBA).  The SBA was founded in December 2006 by biodiesel pioneer Kelly King, activist Annie Nelson and film maker Daryl Hannah. Since then, the SBA has grown to include family farmers and farm organizations such as Farm Aid, the Institute for Agriculture Trade and Policy (IATP), members of the 25 x 25 coalition, environmental organizations including the EPA and NREL, renewable energy experts and NGO’s and university programs across the country. The SBA addresses issues concerning the sustainability of the U.S. biodiesel Industry through three initiatives. The primary mission of the SBA is the completion of an independent sustainability certification system for U.S. biodiesel feedstock, production, distribution and end use fuel.

SBA programs also focus on educating the public on the values of community-based biodiesel systems and how local, sustainable biodiesel can help the U.S. move towards energy, economic and environmental security. Third, the SBA provides tools for sustainability to biodiesel consumers and the biodiesel industry through our website and membership. By working with biodiesel consumers and the biodiesel industry, and promoting the value of sustainable community-based systems, the SBA is bringing people together to build a sustainable energy future that benefits all sectors of society.

Willie Nelson is also a business partner of Pacific Biodiesel. For over a decade Pacific Biodiesel has been involved in all aspects of the biodiesel business, from fuel crop research and waste oil collection to fuel processing, quality management and distribution. Pacific Biodiesel designs, owns, builds and operates scalable, multiple-feedstock biodiesel plants utilizing used cooking oil, yellow grease, soybean oil, cottonseed oil, canola oil, tallow, and other feedstocks.

Image courtesy of Flickr