Bio Diesel

[dieselburb]

I run a fuel station on the water in Califronia, the state with the most air quality regulations, and for the past 5 years, we've been selling an alternative biodiesel called "Soygold". It's produced by a conglomerate company in Texas with interests ranging from hospital beds to the aforementioned biodiesel. The stuff was great, improved lubricity, sat in the tank and didn't get bugs, and smelled like french fries when it burned. But we stopped carrying it last year because we would sell about one gallon every quarter! The stuff cost $5.95 per gallon and did not improve mileage above and beyond the 5% barrier. Another interesting "problem" that developed was the fuels incompatibility with rubber hoses. If you run this fuel with rubber fuel lines, o-rings and the like, you will see the rubber disintigrate. The manufacturer recommends converting to a commercial grade hydraulic hosing compatible with the fuel.
Now when the commercial guys can keep running diesel at 500+ gallons a day without draining their wallets to save the environment, it may become more feasible.
So my statement is, the product is already available, and if you guys want, I'll send you the information including the rep. we used while we carried it. But the pressure needs to be applied to the manufacturers to find a way to lower the price becasue $6/gallon is pretty high.
If you would like more information, I'd be happy to post any of it I have answers to.

[rustypig]

Hmmmm...Seems really pricey. See the post "biodiesel" under the members forum. A gentleman named "grant" from downunder appears to be making it for 15 to 20 cents per liter, which would come out to about 71 cents per gallon. I'm all for biodiesel, and read everything I can find about it. I've even thought about making it myself....but barely even have time to get the laundry done as it is. Like you said when the price gets reasonable it will sell like hot cakes, but till then....I'll be adding the fuel supplements like most others.

[Dimsdale]

If the feds and the state officials were really serious about introducing bioDiesel into the system, the best thing they could do is leave off the taxes that they heap on the petroleum based fuels. Low prices will draw customers. Obviously, $6 per gallon is nuts, especially when "grant" is making it for peanuts. That, and allowing us to "moonshine" our own product would set up a nice little entrepreneur market that would fuel interest, pardon the pun.

Too bad about the incompatibility with certain rubber products. It probably wouldn't be too hard to switch the parts that contact fuel, but I wonder how the injection pumps like it, particularly the DS4s.

[jrlii]

At $5.95/gal. those guys are almost certainly making biodiesel out of fresh oil, rather than the used stuff out of the fryer.

If you are making it for $.71/gal. you are making it out of free (or nearly so) used fryer oil.

Around here the dog food companies have pretty much cornered the market on used fryer oil: They are not only hauling it away, but are paying the resturants for it.

- John.

[ 05-18-2002: Message edited by: jrlii ]</p>

[Bonanza78]

Maybe it is so expensive because the dead dinosaur brewers know that it is better, both for the economy(more people can raise soybeans than drill for oil) and the enviornment. They certainly have alot more pull ($$$) in govt. than the tree huggers or you or I. But consider this, I read in a mag at the Holiday Inn yesterday, that if we were to switch to organic fuel (ethanol, etc.) we would need to plant 95% of our current cropland with corn to keep up with current demands!

Just fuel for thought smile.gif

Jason

[Pat T]

95%? That would be just about right to get the grain markets back to where they make it fun to farm again! Don't worry about where the extra for soydiesel would come from, between the US and South America there would still be enough for everybody, and we could tell the Middle East where to stick it!!

[Bonanza78]

Amen to that Brother!!! Then maybe I could convince the wife I NEED to go back to farming!

Jason