Steering toward bio-diesel fuel Across state, it's popular for school buses June 1, 2005 BY NATE TRELA FREE PRESS STAFF WRITER The fuel of the future may be sitting in your cupboard or the grease trap at McDonald's. With gas prices in the stratosphere, a growing number of communities are looking at bio-diesel, a fuel made from vegetable oil or animal fats that can be used alone or blended with petroleum-based diesel and used in diesel engines. Advocates say bio-diesel could help struggling farmers, clean the skies and lessen U.S. dependence on foreign oil. But critics say the fuel's benefits are overstated, it costs more than traditional diesel -- although tax credits are narrowing the gap -- and it cannot be used in strong concentrations without voiding vehicle warranties. Gail Frahm, executive director of the Michigan Soybean Production Committee, said using B2 -- which is 2% bio-diesel and 98% petroleum-based diesel -- helps lubricate engines. At a concentration of B20, there is a measurable reduction in hazardous emissions -- and the exhaust often smells like french fries. Ann Arbor has been at the forefront of bio-diesel usage, and Frahm says the fuel is quietly finding its way into the tanks of vehicles and equipment owned by a handful of state agencies, counties and cities. Public schools are among its heaviest users. At least 35 districts in Michigan use a blend of bio-diesel in their buses, ranging from B5 to B30. Plymouth-Canton Community Schools was one of the first to adopt it in 2002, and it now uses a blend of nearly 20% bio-diesel in all 140 buses. The district orders 15,000 gallons roughly every two weeks, and the fuel costs about 2.5 cents more per gallon than petroleum-based diesel after the tax credits are applied. Melvin Latnie Jr., the district's director of transportation, says it has been about three years since anyone has said the district's buses stink. "I used to get three to five complaints a week, but they just stopped," he said. Not everyone is sold on bio-diesel. As part of an ongoing look at alternative fuels and other ways to reduce emissions, SMART (the Suburban Mobility Authority for Regional Transportation) has considered using bio-diesel. But Marvin Perkins, the agency's director of maintenance, says it's hard to justify the extra costs of the fuel, especially when he found it would void the warranties on the systems' buses. "We want to use the wheel, but we don't want to be the person who invents it," said Jay Lamky, SMART's technical coordinator. No bio-diesel plants are in Michigan, but Richard Vande Vusse, president of Gladstone-based Ag Solutions, says he expects the company to have its first plant operational by July 30. "I already have people calling, asking when we're going to be in production and if they can have all of our capacity," he said. Kim Mahrle, the corporate secretary for Manchester-based Wacker Oil, one of the first distributors of bio-diesel in Michigan, said demand is growing, but it's still not enough to entice many companies to produce it; when that happens, the price will come down. Frahm said three other companies are looking at making bio-diesel in the state. Macomb County will give the fuel a try this year, committing in May to use 1,000 gallons of B20 a week in 10 vehicles. Chief highway engineer Robert Hoepfner says the county Road Commission will monitor the test vehicles before deciding if it will make a complete switch. After a tax credit, the fuel will cost about 8 cents a gallon more than diesel. The pilot program is also a subtle nod to a group looking at building a plant in Macomb County. Don Morandini, deputy director for the county's planning and economic development department, says bringing a plant in would help agribusiness and add a new type of manufacturing to the county. But Don Anair, a vehicles engineer from the Union of Concerned Scientists, isn't as bullish on bio-diesel. While the fuel reduces many hazardous emissions, he says an engine running it spews 10% to 15% more nitrogen oxide, a key component of smog. "It's not a silver bullet," he said. Anair also noted that no vehicle manufacturer has given the go-ahead to using 100% bio-diesel in its engines. Still, at least 18 states -- including Michigan -- are considering legislation this year that would encourage -- and in some cases mandate -- the use of bio-diesel. State Rep. Neal Nitz, R-Baroda, has proposed requiring all diesel in the state to be B2 starting in 2007. But the requirement would only go into effect if manufacturers in the state can produce at least 12 million gallons of bio-diesel a year. To produce that much fuel, the oil would have to be extracted from 8.4 million bushels of soybeans -- an eighth of what the state produces. The oil is often thrown away as a by-product when soybeans are processed. It could be saved for bio-diesel with little added cost. Nitz says he thinks it's possible to replace a major portion of the nation's diesel fuel with bio-diesel. A study by Oak Ridge National Laboratory found that bio-fuels -- including bio-diesel and ethanol -- could meet about 30% of America's transportation fuel needs. Vande Vusse was skeptical, however, noting that the need for diesel increases about 1 billion gallons a year, and he doubted it would be possible just to keep pace with that growth. "It's always going to be an additive or a boutique fuel," Vande Vusse said. "I wish this would be the solution for our entire energy problem, but it's only going to be one of many potential solutions -- and a minor one at that." Contact NATE TRELA at 586-469-8087 or trela@freepress.com. Web source: http://www.freep.com/money/autonews/biodiesel1e_20050601.htm
A friend of mine is a chemist that made his own formula for biodiesel from soybeans. He uses it for everything from heating his home to running his riding lawnmower. All his vehicles use it (he has to pay road tax for the stuff he runs in his vehicles even though he produces it himself, go figure). He claims it will actually make the engine last longer due to better lubricity and no sulfur and with a timing change nox emissions are next to nothing. He's working on making a local retail and distribution center here in town to mass produce and ship it.
I hope that this becomes the future, the middle-east has us by the balls w/ there oil, and this would do nothing but help, and having a lot of friends in the farming business this would help them out a ton
Has anyone here actually run bio-diesel in there rigs yet? I was just curious if you notice in changes in the performance of your vehicle, mileage, repairs, etc. I'm not aware of any being used north of the border. Rob
I haven not, I'm a bit leary of my DMax due to the high pressure common rail, expensive pump, and GM warranty (100k engine/200k injectors) being voided. However, the local B100 distributor has a DMax just like mine that has been running on B100 for around 2 years and 100k, with no problems acording to him...
A coworker of mine got into making his own biodiesel about a year ago. He runs it in his beater mid 80s mercedes station wagon as well as an old diesel generator/welder he uses in his garage. According to him it isnt noticable at all but the winter months he cuts it with reg diesel due to gelling issues. I dunno much about it as the only thing I did was help him build a control panel for his refining process however, I do know that he uses grease/cooking oil from his kitchen as well as mom n pop type restraunts to brew the stuff up. He says the garage smells like french fries when he fires up the welder which IMO is way better than regular dino diesel would smell .
Anyone watch "Trucks" today about making your own Bio Diesel? Pretty cool stuff, but the warranty issue would not be worth it for me. Looks like you can buy a kit and make it at home.
I saw that and looked the site up today: http://freedomfuelamerica.com/products/fuelmeister.asp $3K sounds like pretty steep start up costs, but the idea is good.
Ok a little math. For 3k dollars you could buy 1,276 gal of dino diesel at the pump at 2.35/gal. If you get 15mpg and drive 25k miles a year that 3k would last you about 9 months. Now on the show Stacy said he made his biodiesel for $.70/gal (probably not counting the cost to go get the used oil and storage if you really want to use this). So you would have to make 1,818 gallons of diesel to break even. With the same mileage listed above you wouldn't see any savings for a full year. And that is if you can find, process, and store the fuel as you get it.
Also assumes your time, energy to produce, and storage space have no value... I think the key here is to co-op it in order to defray not only start up costs, but also the ongoing time and collection overhead.
FWIW, I asked my coworker how much $$$ he had tied up in the plumbing, tanks, pumps, etc for his biodiesel brewing thingy. Keeping in mind he is a big time DIYer/junk yard scavenger he said he has about $150 in everything he needed. He said the most expensive thing was the 55 gallon drum of methonol thats used in brewing it which was an additional 150-ish bucks. His biggest prob seems to be finding enough oil to make it since none of the large chain restraunts will let him have it or even buy it since they have disposal contracts with other corps due to EPA/legal reasons. He mostly has friends and family collecting it from their kitchens as well as a few of the local mom n pop type restraunts that give it to him. IMO, between the labor, fuel to collect the oil, electricity for the pumps/heaters in the brewing set up, and other chemicals he's losing money but he seems to be enjoying it as a hobby so who am I to question him as to why hes doing it.
Hmm, what if the big oil companies bought all the used veggie oil and produced the bio diesel on a grander scale for the consumer like us at a discounted price. We carry Bio Diesel here on the base and it is purchased at 1.70 a gallon. But then again we get that price at the beggining of the fiscal year and it is written in the contract at that price. The only disadvantage so far is with our Power Production guys who have No choice but to put it in there emergency backup generators due to EPA laws in NV. They run the generators once a month for general maint. and testing. During that time the oil has been said to seperate causing it to clog injectors and stuff :doah:
Does anybody make there own bio and then mix it with dino to make your own BXX? this way you save some $$ and dont need to produce large qty's
I get a lot of people asking me if I make my own fuel. I guess it's because my plates say BIOFULD. I have an 06 Dodge 3500, and I run it on B99 most of the time. I don't make my own fuel because I can't afford the lab equipment it would take to satisfy me that the fuel meets ASTM 6751D, the spec for biodiesel. I would not put off-spec fuel in my truck. An old Mercedes perhaps, but not something as sensitive (or expensive) as a modern diesel. It's not like testing home-brew beer or wine where you can sip it and know if it's good or not.
At least your buddy is not ruining his engine like one of my customers trying to cut it with gas,then wondering why is wont start or run because it sounds like hes burn out holes in the pistons
Why do people rant and rave about road taxes?? If it weren't for road taxes the roads would disintegrate from lack of maintenance, or the state would have to shift funds from other uses to pay for road upkeep. If I'm running WVO from restaurants and fast food joints, I would have no problem paying the tax. I would still be saving over $2/gal.
