Biodiesel Boosters Plan Co-Ops 02:00 AM Mar. 14, 2005 PT If fans of biodiesel get their way, 2005 will be the first year in which thousands of drivers fill their tanks with the increasingly popular alternative to petroleum diesel at a network of public fueling stations. Biodiesel co-op members will get a discount on the fuel, which is derived from natural fats and oils. But drivers of any diesel vehicles will be welcome, according to entrepreneurs hoping to establish biodiesel plants and filling stations in their communities. That marks a change from the way many co-ops have operated in the past -- often in secret, and without legal permits. By going straight, the co-ops hope to improve their image as well as educate and attract investors, the public and government agencies. "You can't go and speak to the DOE if you aren't legal," said Lyle Estill, vice president of Piedmont Biofuels, a biodiesel co-op in Pittsboro, North Carolina. Estill writes a weblog that includes an account of his recent wrangling with the local fire marshal. Piedmont at the moment operates a small plant for its members on the back porch of a double-wide mobile home. The plant is capable of producing "a couple of hundred gallons per week, depending on how motivated the people are," said Estill. Piedmont is planning to open a new facility, capable of turning out a million gallons of biodiesel annually. Estill is working to secure permits for the plant, a process he expects will not be simple. Piedmont, which is in a rural area, has always kept its operations public. But in cities, where zoning laws can be very strict, biodiesel co-ops tend to organize "below the radar" of regulators, said Maria Alovert, a Berkeley, California, activist who teaches classes on making biodiesel. Anyone wanting to sell biodiesel to the public must also get approval from state and federal environmental agencies, Alovert said. "It's against the law for people to sell fuel or fuel additives to the public without registering with the EPA," said Alovert. "That is a difficult process for small-scale producers to go through." But some city co-ops want to become more visible in their communities. In places like Boston, Atlanta and Asheville, North Carolina, they aim to make automobile traffic less polluting and to provide an alternative to expensive home heating oil. "It's very important that we are able to locate our facility in the city, where people live," said Kris Smith, director of the Positive Energy Foundation, a co-op forming in Atlanta. While there's no need for the fuel to be produced in a densely populated area, it does need to be distributed in one, he said. Biodiesel producers also prefer to be close to a concentration of restaurants that can donate the old vegetable oil from which the fuel is commonly made. But co-op owners will have to convince code-enforcement officials they can make the fuel without harming themselves and others. "You may need to be working in a room with proper ventilation, or with explosion-proof fittings," said Capt. Maurice Mahoney, head of the Special Hazards Division at the Boston Fire Department. "If it's not done properly, I can see someone blowing up their garage one day, or their basement." In a densely populated area, Mahoney said, safety precautions are especially pertinent. Politicians in several cities, meanwhile, are eagerly passing pro-biodiesel resolutions to show they are doing something about the environment and America's fossil-fuel addiction. "We have to start looking at more environmentally friendly options," said Boston City Councilor Maura Hennigan, who announced her run for the mayor's office this week. "People are going to look to the city government for leadership if this is going to take off." Hennigan noted that one of her fellow council members, Felix Arroyo, runs his car on waste vegetable oil, which is a source of biodiesel. But few city fire marshals and building inspectors know how biodiesel is made and stored. And in their attempts to ensure public safety, the officials are applying unnecessarily high standards to biodiesel, said some co-op directors. "Most of the people enforcing codes regarding fuel production have a safety mentality evolved from the dangers of petroleum manufacturing," said Brian Winslett, director of Blue Ridge Biofuels, a co-op in Asheville. Blue Ridge wants to set up a biodiesel production plant in Asheville's River District, an old industrial area that is gradually being reclaimed by artists, according to Winslett. But the codes for industry in urban areas have become so strict that "you cannot thread one pipe or seam yourself," Winslett said. "It all has to be done by certified engineers. Those requirements can be crippling." Biodiesel can be stored more safely than many petroleum products, such as gasoline and diesel fuel, because biodiesel has a higher flash point, meaning its fumes become ignitable at a higher temperature than the others. Biodiesel is also nontoxic. According to Estill, one can drink it or compost it. But making biodiesel is another story entirely. In the wrong hands, one chemical mixture used to make the fuel, called methoxide, can turn a backyarder's five-gallon bucket "into a miniature bomb," said Winslett. "And that's a concern when you are going from the backyard to the micro-manufacturing level, mixing it into 55-gallon and larger tanks," he said. Blue Ridge makes methoxide by mixing methanol with an alkaline catalyst, potassium hydroxide, or lye. The methoxide then reacts with vegetable oil, leaving biodiesel and glycerol, a byproduct. The methoxide exists in the biodiesel reactor for only 30 minutes, said Winslett. But while in the reactor -- be it a five-gallon bucket or a 55-gallon tank -- the chemical is noxious, corrosive and explosive. Many backyarders are learning through experience about the risks of working around methoxide. Some could be seen recently on one of Berkeley activist Alovert's websites, Veggie Avenger, mixing lye and ethanol in an open container, a definite no-no if one is trying to avoid an accident. Winslett said he understands the concerns of code-enforcement officials. "A lot of those codes are there for a good reason," said Winslett. "Otherwise, you might have some Joe Shmoe out there producing fuel in a reckless manner, while threatening public safety and the environment." http://www.wired.com/news/autotech/0,2554,66868,00.html?tw=wn_story_page_prev2
I've been considering setting up a biodiesel breing setup at my house for awhile now, but I've heard that the Ford 6.0L doesn't run well on the stuff, so that's kind of put me off. I could still run it in my commuter, and I would if I could. I use probably close to 1200 gallons of fuel in the commuter car going 50k+ miles a year, so there would be some cost savings in it for me to make the stuff. I think that finding, transporting and filtering the WVO would be the hardest part. All of that aside, if I could buy clean BD for the same price as diesel I would definately buy it instead of petro diesel.
What do you do with the by-product waste etc. I would think you would be left with something to discard? Yeah, I would think filtering would be important especialy if you got your supply from a resturant, can't imagine getting an onion ring or french fry stuck in the fuel line. rotfl
You're left with water and glycerin, the water you could dump and the glycerin you could add fru-fru smelly crap and turn it into soap for the wifey.
i have been looking in to this and i am thinking it is not ready for me yet 1 it is more costly -- yes it is the veg oil (B) drums filters pumps etc 2 you need to do so many mods like fuel heaters big filters and it looks like the best setup is 2 tanks 3 you can not switch easily -- so a trip from NJ to fl could mess up my injectors i do not need moter problems in a new state just as a note i want to save $$$ and have a reliable ride and the evierment is a big plus (not a tree huger) and get away from the middle east
I think that you're confusing SVO, or straight vegetable oil, and biodiesel. Biodiesel is a direct replacement for regular diesel, pour it in and go. I've heard that some newer trucks don't like the stuff, but that seems to be mainly a quality issue and not an issue with BD itself. With SVO you do need tank heaters and you have to start and stop the engine running on standard diesel (or BD).
