Mr. Bowen is a founder of both Tellurian Biodiesel and its predecessor San Francisco Biodiesel. Mr. Bowen is a biodiesel industry leader. He currently serves as Chairman of the California Biodiesel Alliance, an organization which he co-founded with other California biodiesel industry leaders to promote biodiesel in the state. He also serves as Chairman of the San Francisco Biodiesel Taskforce, which was created as a result of legislation Mr. Bowen authored. Mr. Bowen is a member of San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom’s Clean Tech Advisory Council and is the Founding President of the San Francisco Biofuels Co-op, an all volunteer community biodiesel filling station.

Mr. Bowen was formerly the Vice President of Energy and Biofuels at Sigma Capital Group, an investment banking and advisory firm, where he specialized in biodiesel project finance. Prior to entering the biofuels industry, Mr. Bowen was a corporate attorney at Venture Law Group (now part of Heller Ehrman), Silicon Valley’s leading law firm serving technology start-ups, where he mastered managing complex transactions and assisted dozens of companies with capital raising, mergers and acquisitions and IPOs.

Mr. Bowen graduated Phi Beta Kappa from the Robert D. Clark Honors College at the University of Oregon and earned his J.D. at the University of California, Berkeley, School of Law - Boalt Hall.

Mr. Bowen is the author of the blog All Things Biodiesel, which aims to foster a healthy, sustainable biodiesel industry.

Joe Gershen is a founder of Tellurian Biodiesel and its predecessor, LA BioFuel. He has been involved in the biodiesel industry since 2002 and has been a pioneer in the Southern California market, working with municipal, corporate, governmental, small business and retail customers and clients. By establishing strong industry relationships, Mr. Gershen has been able to develop projects and ventures in biodiesel production, distribution, market development, emissions testing, education and community outreach throughout California, the Southeast, and other key U.S. markets.

Mr Gershen has been instrumental in facilitating numerous public and private diesel fleet transitions to biodiesel, including the municipal and transit bus fleets of Santa Monica, Inglewood, Beverly Hills, Pasadena and the Golden State Foods and CLIF Bar distribution fleets. He developed and leads a South Coast Air Quality Management District-funded demonstration project in partnership with the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), the California Air Resources Board, the California Energy Commission and other key stakeholders.

Mr. Gershen is the founder of Green Depot, a sustainable energy organization, and regularly works with industry groups, environmental and community organizations, regulatory agencies and state and local policy makers. He has been featured in print, broadcast radio and television publications for his biodiesel expertise, and has spoken at Caltech, UCLA, USC and other California institutions.

Tellurian’s Vice President of Operations manufactured the first industrial volumes of biodiesel in the US and is a 28 year veteran of the oleochemicals, vegetable oils and rendering industries. Mr. Wellons has developed deep expertise in the management and processing of low-cost feedstocks such as animal fats and recycled cooking oils. He presently serves as a governing member of the National Biodiesel Board and is a member of the American Oil Chemists Society. He helped develop the BQ-9000 testing program for the biodiesel industry and has worked on the ASTM standards for biodiesel.

Mr. Wellons has worked extensively with the EPA, IRS, USDA, California Air Resources Board, California Energy Commission, and other government agencies promoting the use of biodiesel generally and the use of biodiesel from recycled feedstocks in particular. He also advises the National Renderers Association, The Fats Proteins Research Foundation, and the Animal Coproducts Research Center.

Mr. Wellons has a BS degree in Biological and Agricultural Engineering and has served in production management, sales management, and as VP/General Manager of a chemical company. He has provided business management consulting services and most recently has been employed as manager of new business development for a large privately-held manufacturing company.