biodieselSMARTER

BUY THE MAP!

Mon, 01 Feb 2010 17:55:14 -0500

PRICE REDUCED!
This is the B100 map you've heard so much about. Hot off the presses, it shows all the locations in the United States where you can buy B100 biodiesel. It's also covered with useful information, titillating stories and inspiring highlights from around the country. And it's guaranteed to bring the joy of sustainability to any room, thanks to the bright, amusing graphics of illustrator David Huyck.
Now, for a LIMITED TIME, you can buy it for just $9.95 per copy!

Sidebars include:
+ Why you love B100
+ How "Good" or "Bad" is my biodiesel? by Kumar Plocher
+ Why we built an industrial biodiesel plant, by Lyle Estill
+ A B100 Community Trail, by Leif Forer
+ DIY B100 "Stations"
+ and many more!

Printed on 100% post-consumer recycled paper. 34" wide X 22" tall.

This map is being sold as a fundraiser for biodieselSMARTER and for the Collective Biodiesel Conference.

no biodiesel, there's your problem

Thu, 07 Jan 2010 14:27:43 -0500

I just got back from working a biodiesel booth at the Association of Diesel Specialists (ADS) International convention in Washington, DC. These are the folks who rebuild fuel injectors, injection pumps and turbos.
To my surprise, we got a great reception. Many of the shop owners were biodiesel friendly, made their own biodiesel or raced their personal trucks with it!
Since I had all these knowledgeable and experienced diesel specialists flying in from all over the world asking me questions, I thought I should ask them some questions about pump and injector failure.
The general consensus was that the main cause of injection pump (IP) failure was lack of fuel.
Read: CLOGGED FILTERS!!!!
(And, of course, leaks caused by ultra low sulfur diesel (ULSD)).
Fuel is what lubricates the IP. No fuel, no lube, no go, things go boom!
The first thing that happens to a Volkswagen TDI IP when it is denied fuel is that the suction pump or lift pump actually begins to cavitate. The pump has to suck so hard that the vacuum created begins to vaporize the fuel, causing little explosions inside the pump. Then the lift pump goes and pukes it guts into the rest of the IP, causing damage and mayhem.
"Why, Why, Why!" you exclaim.
Because you did not use protection, and thus exposed your pump to dirty fuel.
Shame!
An injection pump is a terrible thing to waste.
So, is your IP well fed? Are your fuel filters restricted? Is your tank infected with the crud? Let take a look-see.
In diagnosing a TDI, the first thing I do is go for a test drive. Is the car quick and perky?
Then I look for air in the fuel lines and test for fuel restriction after the fuel filter with a big vacuum pump that looks like a garden sprayer. One stroke of the pump should yield generous fuel.
If it doesn't, the filter or fuel system up stream may be restricted.
Next, I check up stream just before the filter, and then at the fuel tank itself, until I find the source of the restriction.
On a TDI, it could be the filter, fuel line check valves and/ or the in-tank fuel pickup. On the Pump Deuse models it could be the in-tank lift pump.
TDIs have their fuel pickup under the back seat. It's easy to remove and look into the fuel tank.
CLEAN OUT YOUR TANK! What the hell is in there? Is that OK? NO! Anything other than fuel has to go!
It's not that hard. Raise the driver's side of the car a little and pump out the fuel. Then reach into the tank and carefully wipe it out.
At Dr. Dan's, we sometimes even update the fuel pickup with a cold weather version that seems to help improve fuel flow.
Flush out the fuel lines. Bleed the fuel system to purge any air.
Now how does it run? Happy? Perky? O.K. Good job!
Keep it clean, use protection, do good work and spread good knowledge.

Dr. Dan is a mechanic with 30 years of alternative fuels experience. He runs Seattle-based Dr. Dan's Alternative Fuelwerks, and does biodiesel training classes and consulting. Visit him online: drdansbiodiesel.com

wood chip biodiesel

Thu, 07 Jan 2010 14:13:08 -0500

RolfQuo Biodiesel is a mid-sized commercial biodiesel producer situated at 18900 Clark Graham in Baie D'Urfe Quebec, Canada.
Recently, I had the opportunity to sit down with owner Andy Quosdorf and his plant manager, Kai Maddock, to discuss their operation and some of the innovative methods they use in producing quality biodiesel.

Your background is in chemical blending. So why biodiesel?

Andy Quosdorf: It's something we got interested in about three-and-a-half years ago. We were looking for another product to make in this location and because our tradition business, textile chemicals, was going down the drain.
Myself plus Kai, my plant manager, are motor heads, we like motors, engines, tinkering with things, and I came across biodiesel from one of my competitors actually, he mentioned it to me, so I googled it and that is how the whole journey started.

Your biodiesel production has gone through upgrades since you first started, not the least of which is the method used to purify the settled fuel. Can you elaborate on the history of what brought you to where you are now with this new method and the medias you looked at?

Okay, we started getting interested in "dry wash" media probably two years ago, simply because water washing takes forever and isn't that kind on the environment. In our operation here it takes on average two-and-a-half to three days to water wash a batch, and that is just too long.
In the lab we looked at several of the medias: the Purolite and the Thermax, and found them to be excellent, but I was a little nervous about the price, the cost of these resins.

But you found that the resins lived up to their reputations?

Oh, absolutely! They live up to their reputations.

But price-wise they are a bit prohibitive?

Exactly. You know, we are a small operation here, we built everything out of used equipment ourselves and can't afford to buy a lot of fancy equipment and the resin itself.

So now you are using hardwood chips as a purifier.

Yup.

And that has eliminated water washing altogether. You use no resins or any other method?

Nothing at all.

Can you describe the process briefly?

After the glycerine has settled we run the test for glycerin content. Once the batch is deemed good, which is ASTM quality for glycerin, the test we use here, ...we flash off the residual methanol from the biodiesel, and quite frankly, there is very little left. And then at that point it is passed through the wood chips.

And what have you found with the wood chips as far as residual soaps are concerned?

Typically we start with soap values anywhere from 300 to 800 ppm before it goes through the wood chips and at the end it is from zero to 50 ppm.

So, well within ASTM regs?

Well within those boundaries, yes.
One thing I would like to mention is that we will be looking at different systems, physically. It is based on drums right now, steel drums, but I want to build two proper towers. Mostly because I can't get the flow rate I want from the drums; right now we can run about 2,000-3,000 litres a shift through there and I need to be higher than that.

So about 2000 to 3000 litres per eight hour shift?

That's right, but I want to be at least 10,000 litres, maybe 20.

So, wood chips are definitely the way to go?

Yup, yup, yup, definitely, we're convinced. Can't beat the price, and they work very, very well.
The most important thing is to properly prepare them, though. Very important. We put them through three bed-volumes of methanol, and then three bed-volumes of clean biodiesel, before we use them.

You started using wood chips for purification of the biodiesel instead of water, and as Andy said earlier, you've looked at resins and all kinds of other methods. Can you describe how you prepare and use the chips?

Kai Maddock, Plant Manager: So far we are having the chips given to us, so no need to buy at this point. They come from lumber mills and are all hard wood.
We would run methanol through there first to remove any resins from the wood or whatnot and the procedure is pretty easy; you fill up the drum and run methanol through basically until it runs clear.
At first it runs yellow, and sometimes even a little red. Once it runs clear you put maybe another 200 liters through just to be sure you got all the resins out. And then you force that out with at least 200 to 600 liters of finished biodiesel through it.

Is this per drum of chips?

Yes, per drum, but everything is reclaimed. You can use the methanol in a new batch and the biodiesel is reprocessed. So nothing is wasted.
The biodiesel flushes any methanol that may still be in the chips, and when we start we are sure all the methanol is out and the drums are already full of finished bio. Then we start a production run. We use little air pumps, so we can go pretty much at full speed, which will give us a tote, say 1,000 liters in, best guess, couple of hours.

That's not bad, 500 liters an hour flow rate?

That's right. What we have here looks like one, but is actually two columns, and you are dumping them into the same tote.

Okay, so you have a two-tier set up, and basically your right top drums dump into the bottom right drums and the same for the left side, and for that you use a small air pump?

Yes, and surprisingly it requires almost no pressure. Just enough to get it moving, and then it flows.
If you put a little pressure you can get really going but too fast isn't good, you're not getting suficient residence time to get all the soaps out.
It is fascinating, but it has its limits obviously. If you are starting with 3,000ppm soap or something, it won't take that out in one shot.

So, you'll have to run it through a couple times?

It is even set up that we can circulate it if we had to. We can just run it over and over if we had to. But if you are starting with 800ppm soap or less it does a really good job, it gets down pretty much to zero.

In one pass and you're good to go?

Yes. Even if if you start with a thousand, worst case scenario, you're starting with a thousand, you have to slow it down to get your zero.

But that is definitely a much more environmentally friendly method of purification than say, water.

We must have passed at least 50,000 liters; I don't have the exact numbers but it is at least that.

Through one set of four 200 liter drums (800 liters of wood chips)?

Yes, one set. The rates vary with what you start with. If the soap content is high you have to go slow. If we get a reading of 200ppm starting out we can then crank it up to the max and the biodiesel comes out at zero ppm for soap.

What do you do with the spent chips, or have you had to deal with that yet ?

So far we've not had to deal with that. But we have discussed it; we can pretty much press all the bio out of there, and then what is left isn't dangerous, it's wood chips and non toxic residual biodiesel.

RolfQuo Biodiesel can be reached 8AM-4PM weekdays at (514) 457-4222.
Mr. Bill "Jehu" Guyan of Scotland is credited with inspiring RolfQuo's decision to use hardwood chips. His tireless research into this subject and others can be found at biodiesel.infopop.cc

government biodiesel

Thu, 07 Jan 2010 14:06:16 -0500

After a spate of severe flooding, the Iowa Department of Natural Resources (DNR) Trails Crew was called on to clean 40 tons of debris out of Maquokota caves. This is an environmentally sensitive area with no air flow.
The diesels being used were making the crew ill.
Crew leaders wondered if they could run B100 in the new Kubota and Bobcat equipment, in spite of the manufacturers' B5 limitations.
After conducting an assessment of their fleet and fueling practices I recommended going ahead and running B100.
No operational issues resulted. The crew were converted to believers in the benefits of biodiesel.
In that the crew had a new geo-thermally heated building with a little extra space, this planted the seed of opportunity for more biodiesel. The benefits of greatly improving air quality while repurposing post-consumer under-utilized resources were obvious to these stalwart environmental stewards.
Michael Pecenka is the senior trails technician for the Iowa Department of Natural Resources Trails Crew working out of Big Creek State Park near Des Moines. The Trails Crew utilizes AmeriCorps personnel to build and repair trails, buildings and infrastructure throughout the Iowa parks system. Americorps is the modern equivalent of the depression-era Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) during the depression and boasts over 70,000 volunteers. Mostly young people, they spend the summer working with non-profits such as Habitat for Humanity, the Red Cross, Keepers of the Land and the DNR, earning a very modest education stipend.
The Trails Crew also conducts prairie burns and invasive species mitigation, as well as many projects that might be outsourced to contractors.
I first met Pecenka during a biodiesel/ environmental benefit talk at the Loess Hills Prairie Seminar in 2006.
Pecenka expressed an interest in the concept of harvesting locally available waste resources for in-house production of biodiesel.
He ran the idea past his diehard visionary director Mark Edwards, who immediately saw the wisdom in such a project.
Mark set his talented grant writing sorceress Whitney Davis to work on obtaining funding and, with a little help, generated the proper language to fit the grant solicitation.
In 2008, a Blue Skyways CENSARA grant was awarded to procure biodiesel production equipment and hire a 3/4-time biodiesel maker. The grant is to produce 6,000 gallons of biodiesel and quantify the emissions reductions using the EPA Diesel Emissions Quantifier (DEQ) to establish dollar-per-ton-of-pollutant figures.
Whitney asked if I knew anyone that might be interested in the job. The opportunity to advance the cause of small scale nonprofit biodiesel production outweighed the detractors (low pay and 120 miles from home) for me, so I applied for the position. I knew that I would hit the ground running and be able to fully realize the possibilities.
I now commute to the park once per week in my 1998 B100-powered Jetta. I work three days and two nights "on," and have four days "off."
Our first oil collection site was the state capitol complex.
This fryer oil had already been paid for by the citizens of Iowa and was used to feed legislators and state employees, so it makes sense that it be converted by a state environmental organization to power state vehicles!
Most of our subsequent grease accounts have been by referral. When I present the attributes of our project, restaurants are happy to work with us in maintaining the integrity of their used fryer oil and assisting our efforts.
We deliver two very clean white barrels with the Iowa DNR sticker and a bright yellow tight fitting lid at most locations.
Particular attention has been given to only collecting the best oil available and keeping all debris and water out of our barrels.
Some of our large accounts get back 10% of the oil they contribute in the form of biodiesel for use in huge generators and tractors.
Oil is collected in a repurposed forestry service cube van, by means of a trash pump and an IBC tote, then taken to the park for processing.
So far our recycled fryer oil (RFO) has been consistently titrating at 3 to 4. A longstanding relationship with Yoderville Biodiesel Collective started us off with the donation of eight totes of high quality RFO, allowing us to get production quickly up and running without having to struggle for every gallon of oil.
Together with a donation of 10 barrels of virgin organic sunflower oil (!) we were making some really excellent fuel from the get-go.
Processing is done with an "Ester Machine" from Green World Biofuels and two auxiliary wash totes to increase throughput.
Larger batch sizes might seem appropriate but the cost, scale and scope of this project make a compact portable system fit better.
We use 20% by volume methanol per liter of raw oil and 9.0 grams per liter Potassium Hydroxide, plus the titration amount. We do a single stage reaction for one hour at 140F. This "Appleseed" style processor is then shut off, allowing glycerin to settle before being pumped off into a storage tote.
With the Ester Machine's heated intake barrel, the oil is at processing temp by the time we pump out the first batch, so I tend to run eight consecutive 40 gallon batches into two 275 gallon wash totes.
We run 27/3 tests frequently to test for sufficiently low glycerides in the finished fuel. Due to the highly consistent and dry oil we collect, processing, washing and drying are pretty straight forward.
Initially, hard tap water was used for washing. Since upgrading to a rain water wash system, washes go very smoothly and require less water, while also improving our energy balance.
After the wash, resulting dirty water is run through a military style grease trap, then a commercial style unit, to remove any FOG (fats, oils or greases). The water is then applied to an adjacent field.
Our glycerin byproduct is currently being municipally composted while researchers test it for use as fuel at a university boiler plant and an asphalt plant.
The wet biodiesel is pumped back into the Ester Machine for drying, 100 gallons at a time and usually takes about four hours with a little heat added to speed drying time.
Finished biodiesel is pumped into our 350 gallon armored dispensing tote, or into a transfer tank going to another park.
To date this year we have produced about 5,000 gallons of very high quality biodiesel.
Dispensing is usually accomplished with a DC 15 GPM Fill-Rite pump, Fill-Rite B100 compatible meter and Bio-Tek Hydroglass 2 micron filter.
We have hooked up a PV panel to charge the pump battery. However, I am having a difficult time figuring out how to make it conform to gasoline filling station regulations!
The Trails Crew fleet includes a 2007 Chevy one-ton dually, two Kawasaki "Mules," two Kubota ATVs, two "retired" forest service Chevy Blazers, two cube vans, a 2 ¼ ton military dump truck, a 100HP ASV Posi-Track, 30 HP skid loader and a little Bobcat loader.
Many of these vehicles came from the government "boneyard" and have been recycled to cost-effectively leverage scarce funds.
Other state parks, such as Pleasant Creek and Mines of Spain, have been running B100 in a wide variety of equipment, much of it in John Deere tractors for mowing.
Four used 600-gallon aluminum portable used military fuel tanks have become our preferred dispensing apparatus at Big Creek.
Many of the bulk fuel tanks at other parks are old and never cleaned or tested for water. The likelihood of contamination makes using clean plastic IBC totes the cost effective solution to dispense B100.
The older engines in our fleet see maximum environmental benefit from the biodiesel we produce. To put a new $30,000 engine in an old truck with light duty cycle is not a cost effective solution.
Much of the federal stimulus directed to clean diesel is limited to engine repowers, installation of Diesel Particulate Filters (DPFs) and fuel cost differential.
The fleets in the area that I have talked to had NO interest in any of the federal programs.
There seems to be a disconnect between the enormity of the problems (climate change, petroleum depletion) and the creativity required to effect timely positive change.
Working within the DNR has proven to be both challenging and advantageous. The DNR is a huge bureaucracy but also provides for direct access to high levels of expertise and regulatory assistance.
Operating inside a state park dictates a high level of compliance and scrutiny. Obtaining a land application permit for our wash water was much easier than it looked. We did not need a construction permit, but Polk county required an operating permit based off of a DNR construction permit (!).
The Iowa DNR has authority over all of Iowa, but two counties have independent Air Quality bureaus with a different set of rules. This patchwork of regulatory oversight makes siting issues quite difficult to resolve. How many of you have been bounced from department to department inquiring about various permits only to have to recite the story repeatedly, educating each bureaucrat as you go?
I strongly recommend Penn State's Biodiesel Best Practices Manual! I also require anyone on our crew who might be participating to read all issues of this magazine. I know of no better way to get someone up to speed on all of the issues that we face, with safety at the top of the list.
I also encourage small scale producers to reach out to their local regulatory agencies for assistance in complying with all appropriate rules for collection of oil and production of biodiesel.
We have continued on our mission of efficiency by installing a rain water collection system to supply our wash water and with further funding will install PV to power pumps and a hydronic system to provide process heat.
We are also developing a site assessment tool and implementation guidelines for project replication at other parks.
Every member of the DNR from Executive Director to my coworkers has been incredibly supportive and encouraging.
We still run into unit managers who say that they are unwilling to make any sort of change because Kubota and Ford only warranty B5, but we operate under the hope that first hand experience and education will begin to win over the "I ain't ever changing" crowd.
The status quo has left us in a terrible predicament and we must utilize every opportunity to improve our environment and situation. In these days of high oil prices, Cap and Trade legislation, Tier 4 emissions standards and DPFs, the future of our country is being decided.
As members of the community that have decided to take matters into their own hands, it is up to us to find a seat at that table and creatively advocate for locally-owned appropriate solutions. Big business has a seat at that table, and it does not have our best interests in mind.
I invite anyone passing through Iowa or attending the Iowa State Biodiesel workshop in Ames to give me a call and stop in and see our production facility.

surprise! it's the EPA!

Thu, 07 Jan 2010 13:59:05 -0500

Recently, two men from Bionetics, an EPA contractor, paid DieselGreen Fuels an unannounced visit.
They asked to see samples of my biodiesel, thinking I was a producer. I explained that I was only a distributor, but they still wanted samples. After calling the EPA to confirm they were for real, I gave them samples from our tank and explained what we do.
To summarize, at DieselGreen we collect oil from almost 200 restaurants and provide it to biodiesel producers. These producers turn it into biodiesel for us (a relationship referred to as "tolling"), which we then we sell as B100 to end users to power their vehicles.
Because of the difficult licensing in our state, we have also had to establish a relationship with a licensed renderer who aggregates yellow grease from all over and sells it for animal feed and biodiesel feedstock. They literally just take temporary custody of the oil on its way to the producer, in exchange for a fee.
Most recently, we have applied for that license ourselves, and hope to streamline the process.
Back at our office, the investigators wanted lots of product transfer documents (PTDs). They asked for PTDs from our restaurants to us for the oil collection (we only have handwritten driver records, which were acceptable); PTD's from us to the rendering company we sell the oil to; and PTD's from the biodiesel producer we buy B100 from.
Next, they took a sample of biodiesel and tested it on the spot using an X-ray machine of some kind.
This determined its sulfur content was 5.2ppm (it is required to be below 15ppm).
They then took another sample to test for methanol content, flash point, and acid number back at their lab. They knew little about biodiesel, but were just following orders.
In addition to all this, they asked me about our conversion of vehicles to run on vegetable oil. They requested invoices to customers for doing conversions, receipts of buying conversion kits and automated SVO fuel system controllers, and anything else I had on those products.
I could have said no. I could have contacted a lawyer.
But I'm in this as a business, not to hide what I'm doing. I gave them everything they asked for and then some.
We talked for quite a while about the grey area of using vegetable oil as a fuel. The IRS, for example, officially takes road taxes for SVO, while the EPA officially says it's not a permissible road fuel.
Oddly, they asked me NOTHING about our involvement in using vegetable oil as a fuel, but focused entirely on the conversion business.
The investigators had reviewed our company website and had googled my name thoroughly enough to find things I've written on these topics, so of course I had to wonder what was the inspiration for the investigation.
They said they didn't know. I called their supervisor at the EPA, Ross Ruske.
Ruske said he "couldn't recall" the source. I pressed him, and let him know I would just file a Freedom of Information Act inquiry to find out.
I also said I suspected it was a complaint by a competitor. Finally, he asked, "Why take the time and expense to file a FOIA request when you already know the answer?"
So there it is. The competitor apparently called the EPA to tell them that we were doing things they wouldn't approve of, and the EPA showed up on my doorstep.
The good news is that we had an answer for everything they threw at us. I had every document, every rule, every little shred of information to show that we are doing it all above board.
Not incidentally, we stopped doing conversions at the beginning of this year, when one of the partners split off to do that himself. So I even had the legal document splitting that part of the business off.
The men from Bionetics were really nice guys, and after I explained the trouble we had with our competitor (sending a spy to try and rent a room from us and probing for confidential business information, filing false criminal charges against me, threatening to sue their customer for $8,000 for breaking their contract, etc.) they asked me for their address. They said they were going to make an unannounced visit to them, too!
So what's the moral of the story?
Be prepared for this.
Two weeks after we won a couple of accounts away from our competitor last year, we got a visit from the city's zoning board, the air quality, water quality, stormwater runoff, state environmental board, fire marshall, and city planner, literally within a week of each other. Each one said it was complaint driven.
Don't forget that you're one complaint away from an audit, a site visit, or even just a phone call from the authorities.

mail order bio-ride

Thu, 07 Jan 2010 12:34:55 -0500

Bypassing the domestic vehicle market in Canada: this is the story of how I met my foreign biodiesel true love.
I remember when I first saw her picture on a German website; those straight lines and blocky features... I'm not going to lie; I wanted her. Then when I found out all the things she could do, I had to have her. There was no domestic comparison.
And the best thing about her: she was ready - biodiesel ready!
So what brought me to this point, searching for biodiesel love on a foreign continent? What was it about my domestic experience that left me so... unfulfilled?
If you made it to the Collective Biodiesel Conference (CBC) in Washington, DC in July, you're closer to understanding. The conference was an amazingly informative weekend that filled our biodiesel minds and souls. It also put a little fear in us for the future of the relationship between sustainable biodiesel and the domestic vehicle market.
At the conference, biodiesel distributor Jason Burroughs and filmmaker Josh Tickell gave a standout presentation on the future of biodiesel in the evolving OEM market - "OEMs (Original Equipment Manufacturers) & Biodiesel."
If you thought that the OEMs were getting more biodiesel friendly, think again.
The crux of the talk was that fuel injection and emissions technologies in newer OEM diesel vehicles are becoming less biodiesel compatible, not moreso. A copy of the presentation can be found on the CBC website, www.collectivebiodiesel.org.
Hmm. If the domestic OEM market can be so cold to us, maybe its time to find some loving outside the dysfunctional relationship - an innocent cross-continental fling while they regain their senses. They never really loved us anyway, right?
On the west coast of British Columbia (B.C.), one answer to the lack of choices in the domestic diesel OEM market has been simply to bypass it altogether. Although newer imports must meet Canadian Motor Vehicle Safety Standards (the CMVSS is similar to the United States' DOT system), vehicles fifteen years old and older can be brought in with relatively few restrictions.
In Japan - partly due to strict insurance and vehicle inspections every two to three years - there's a relative glut of used, very cool diesel vehicles.
This has led to the growth of a new import market specializing in some very unique (to us) used diesel vehicles, such as the Mitsubishi Delica. Since we're on the West coast, most of our diesel imports are right-hand-drives from Japan.
It makes for some interesting driving experiences. I've done a few double-takes as what seem like driverless cars pass by. A chiropractor with a sense of humor keeps a full-scale human skeleton in the front left seat of his Delica. It must be a great prank to have a skeleton driving past the costumed kids on Halloween.
And that brings me to my story of how I found true biodiesel love online.
When my rickety '85 diesel Jeep Cherokee finally died, I needed a dependable 4x4 for environmental field work and for those get-aways to beautiful and remote places on Vancouver Island. Sure, there were a lot of gas models available, but we sustainable bio-dieselers just aren't the settling kind.
After laying eyes on her, I would never be able to look at a domestic diesel the same way again.
Sure she was just one of hundreds auctioned off by the German Army, but here in the Cowichan Valley she would be one-of-a-kind. A surplus 1991 VW Transporter Synchro (4WD) with a 1.6L turbo-diesel engine! And with the folding bed in the back, I could sleep with her!
In fact, my turbo-diesel synchro became two-of-a-kind when John, my fellow Cowichan Bio-Diesel Co-op member, worked with his father in Germany to import a pair of these beautiful green beasts.
The B.C. west coast is seeing more and more people bypass a domestic OEM market that doesn't offer them the diesel vehicles they want.
We're still happy together, my Synchro and I. And I know its wrong to love an object, but this is a beautifully engineered, German, B100-ready object.
What is it about Europeans that make domestic vehicles all seem so... inhibited?

quality control decoded

Thu, 07 Jan 2010 12:08:04 -0500

In order to know which fuel quality tests you need to perform, and how frequently you need to perform them, you need to know what your goals are.
In the case of Yokayo Biofuels, our goal is twofold: to maintain our ability to be within the specifications of the ASTM standard, so that we can legally sell fuel, as well as to generate records for certain high volume customers that require them. I do a number of tests daily on site, and supplement those with other less frequent tests from third party labs.
Your goals may be quite different.
In some cases, the goal is as simple as "I want to make sure that the fuel I produce doesn't wreck my old Mercedes." If that is your goal, your quality program may be as simple as a heat-and-weigh water test, a "27/3" methanol solubility test for conversion, and a soap titration.
One myth that I hear is that "bigger is better," i.e. commercial producers make better fuel than homebrewers. Personally, I've seen bad fuel from both, and while commercial producers may have a cash advantage when it comes to buying certain equipment, homebrewers can get to know the fuel on a much deeper level. I think a motivated, careful homebrewer can easily hang with the big dogs on quality control.
Another myth I hear all the time is that biodiesel fuel can be "ASTM certified." While it is true that the organization originally known as the American Society for Testing and Materials does endorse certain labs for performing specific ASTM tests, there isn't any ASTM seal of approval that can be stamped on fuel the way that a "certified organic" label can. ASTM publishes the frequently-updated biodiesel standard (current version is D6751-09), which is comprised of test methods and the results that will keep you "in-spec."
Another misperception out there is that every batch of commercial biodiesel has every ASTM test done on it. While that wouldn't be a bad idea in theory, in reality that approach is cost prohibitive for most producers, who choose to focus on the "most important tests" more frequently than the whole entire slate.
The National Biodiesel Board created the "BQ9000" protocol to provide the framework for successful quality control programs. However, it is designed for big commercial producers, and some of the requirements may seem less functional and overly expensive to smaller producers.
As a homebrewer or small producer, you may want to gather information about BQ9000 just to have a template to follow.
Some important things to remember in designing a quality control program:

+ in order to have proper accountability, some individual must be the designated quality-control-responsible party
+ for test results to be relevant, you should have a standardized sampling protocol (e.g. "inline" or "bottom-middle-top") that gives representative results
+ hard copies persevere, so there must be a secure paper trail of quality control
+ in order to address possible future concerns, samples must be kept for an appropriate period of time, and stored appropriately
+ third party labs must be used to double-check your results
+ sampling and testing must include the entire chain-of-custody until the fuel reaches the customer

What's good fuel today might not pass as good fuel tomorrow. As we've seen with the emergence of diesel particulate filters, new technology can change the rules of the game.
Staying abreast of the latest ASTM and international standards (see European standard EN 14214, for instance) can help you be current in your fuel quality, as can keeping up with the latest news on engine development and homebrew innovations.

small scale advantage

Thu, 07 Jan 2010 11:37:37 -0500

I just came back from a tour of a huge diesel-powered compost facility in Dickerson, MD. I was tagging along with a horticulture club on a bright summer day, listening to one of the facility's foremen explain how different front-end-loaders used more or less fuel on the same tasks.

"Are you using biodiesel yet?" I asked.

"Oh yeah, B20. But it causes problems. It rusts out our tanks, and we had to replace a $6,000 fuel pump on one of the machines."

Rust? Replace the fuel pump? This from commercially-sourced B20?

I pressed a little more, though this was clearly not one of the mechanics or the fuel buyer.

"Where is it coming from?" I asked.

"You know that white skim that's on the top when a barrel of the biodiesel arrives? That's the chicken fat," said the foreman. "It's definitely made from chicken."

Well, no, but it's definitely crap. As readers of biodieselSMARTER know, there will never be a "white skim" on the surface of any good biodiesel, even from chicken fat.

You or I would never put that in our fuel tank. You don't need a gas chromatograph to find bad fuel quality like that. Soaps, sterols, whatever it was, that skim typifies the advantage homebrewers have over commercial biodiesel consumers when it comes to fuel quality.

We homebrewers know our fuel. We know when it's reacted completely, when the water is all drained off. We personally filter it before we put it in our tanks.

When we see creamy or cloudy or cruddy, we quickly shout a swear-word and shut off the pump. We look at our fuel, we have a relationship with our fuel, and we are less likely to have fuel quality problems because we understand our fuel. This is our fuel quality challenge: spread that understanding and eliminate the scapegoating.

a simple tank, thanks

Thu, 07 Jan 2010 11:03:41 -0500

This is the story of a short-lived B100 filling station in Milwaukee, as told by Kyle Capizzi. As the Milwaukee Biodiesel Co-op learned, creating a public filling station is more complicated than just sticking a pump in a tank behind your friend's store.

We did a kind of soft opening, then we had a grand opening in July 2007. Really got a lot of public information out there, and also got ourselves onto a lot of media. We had some really good news articles written and there seemed to be this real push! We had a grand opening that alderman Tony Zielinski showed up for. We had support from the state. They said "Oh, this is great!"
About three weeks later, the inspector came around and said, "Look, you guys are in violation. We got a problem here. Here's a series of things you're in violation of."
[These] largely came out of the state regulations that affect class 3B liquids, which biodiesel is one of. Because it gets treated like petroleum, there are many problems that co-ops (or any group that wants to store a quantity of fuel) will have.
This inspector came after us with a vengeance. We had to have at least a UL-80 tank that was [professionally] installed and certified. That required a certified tank installer, which I got a couple quotes for. The price was going to be around $4,500 to put a tank in.
There were numerous other [unmet requirements]: a drawing of a site plan, some other things.
When the inspector came around for the second inspection, he cited the business where the tank was located. I think it was a $50 ticket. It was basically a shot over the bow: "You're going to be in a lot of trouble if you don't essentially empty this tank."
Literally that night I drove down there with a trailer and some 55-gallon drums. There wasn't a whole lot left in the tank at that time, so I just emptied it. That was the last time there was any fuel in that tank.
We switched back over to the buying club model that [we] had originally. People show up to the garage and pick up 5-gallon jugs, exchanging their empties.

that new car stink

Wed, 06 Jan 2010 12:29:03 -0500

Dear Ester,

I heard some new diesels aren't so good on biodiesel. Or are they? Is this a fuel quality issue?

~Dealing with Every Little Engine-Troubling Emission

Dear DELETE,

This has nothing to do with fuel quality and everything to do with emissions control.
The EPA regulates on-road emissions and they are particularly interested in particulate matter (also known as soot). Now some new diesels are equipped with diesel particulate filters (DPFs, for short) that filter out you-know-what.
My understanding of the problem is that most vehicles equipped with DPFs use a regeneration system called post-injection (or in-cylinder injection). The computer controlling the fuel injection sprays an extra squirt of fuel into the cylinder during the exhaust stroke.
With petro-diesel, this bit of extra fuel vaporizes and travels with the exhaust gasses to the DPF, where a reaction occurs that burns off soot and significantly reduces emissions.
However, there are components in biodiesel with much higher boiling points than diesel fuel. These components do not completely vaporize and can seep past piston rings into the crankcase oil sump. Slowly, over time these miniscule amounts of unburned fuel that leak past the rings can dilute the crankcase oil.
This problem is easily alleviated by changing engine oil more often than normal.
It is also possible to reprogram the computer that controls injection so that it does not spray that extra squirt during the exhaust stroke. Be advised that, officially, the EPA does not allow this for on-road use.

Dear Ester,

I have some old biodiesel sitting around from last year. At one point it was good stuff, but the jugs have been in the sun now it's old and probably bad. Can I just use it as home heating oil? My furnace doesn't care, right?

~Old Finished Fuel Showing Potential Extra Crappiness

Dear OFFSPEC,

Next time, store those jugs in a dark place.
Biodiesel, like beer, oxidizes in the presence of sunlight. You are right that because the fuel has been sitting around for over six months it would be unlikely to pass the oxidative stability and acid value specs of ASTM D6751. It is always a good idea to retest old fuel to see how far it has wandered out to pasture.
Though I do not have a lick of experience burning biodiesel in home heating furnaces, I suspect that the nozzles on those burners are more forgiving than the high pressure nozzles on your vehicle's fuel injectors.
Burning a lot of this type of off spec material is never a good long term idea because of increased risk of carbon buildup and component degradation. My guess is that blending with diesel fuel to, say, B20 will likely mitigate your problems.

Dear Ester,

How often does a typical biodiesel plant get the full ASTM test done? Every batch? Really?

~A Not Testing Individual

Dear ANTI,

A typical plant probably tests the full spec way too infrequently.
When we started producing at Piedmont we probably ran the full slate on our first 10 production lots, just to confirm that we could hit it consistently. Today we test key parameters on every batch and only run a full slate twice a year or if we make a major change in our production paradigm.
A typical batch at Piedmont runs through the lab at least half a dozen times before it is ready to be sold. We test flash point, water and sediment, moisture, cloud point, acid number, soap, free glycerin, total glycerin, sulfur, oxidation stability, visual appearance, and cold soak filterability on every batch.
Additionally, we run group 1 and 2 metals tests monthly. Testing key parameters on every batch is critical to ensuring that only quality product is released for sale.
It is unrealistic to think that a homebrewer making fuel for themselves would subject each of their batches to all of these tests, let alone the full slate. However, it is very reasonable for a homebrewer to, at a minimum, conduct a simple conversion test (like the 27/3) before any batch is released for washing. Add a soap, acid number, and water test (e.g. a "Sandy Brae") before releasing it for use.

a closer look at the heating system

Wed, 06 Jan 2010 12:23:47 -0500

There are two sides to a burner's operation: the flame side and the liquid side.
A fuel burner's liquid side consists of a whole chain of interconnected parts: the tank, fuel line, filter, fuel pump, nozzle and burner.
Starting at the tank, for blends higher than 20% biodiesel only steel, mild steel, stainless steel, aluminum, fluorinated polyethylene, fluorinated polypropylene and fiberglass vessels are recommended.
Previously used petroleum tanks should be inspected for several potential problems, such as sludge, which can plug up the filter. The removal of the sludge can also make weak spots in the tank susceptible to leaking. Biodiesel has great solvent properties. In older tanks, I believe starting with a lower blend of biodiesel (B20) helps clean the liquid side of the fuel delivery system. Then change your fuel filter before stepping up to B100, and then change your fuel filter again.
In older tanks, starting with B20 before moving up to B100 will reduce chances of plugging filters and nozzles.
We have successfully used a 40-year-old oil tank, starting at a B5 we have gradually converted it to a B100 tank.
If you are starting with a new tank, there is no reason not to start with B100. The B100 tank should be kept in a space that is dry, dark and kept at 52 degrees Farenheit or warmer.
From the tank the biodiesel travels towards the burner through the fuel line. R.I. law requires copper coated lines as the only fuel line, but people do use black steel also.
Next the fuel travels through a filter to the fuel pump.
The pump should be upgraded for biodiesel compatibility. For B20, Webster and Suntech are a couple of pump brands we use. For B100, I recommend Webster pumps.
In other pumps, the gaskets are usually what will fail. Unfortunately, it is costlier and more complicated to replace the gasket than the entire pump.
Pumps should next be adjusted from 100psi to 175psi when burning B100. As you do that, your nozzle size should be downsized by 33%.
If the psi isn't raised and the nozzle downsized, the 'safety' shut off in the burner will be set off and the burner will need to be reset over, and over, and over....
The flame side of the burner has one significant change. The emissions are cleaner.

home heating made greasy

Wed, 06 Jan 2010 12:15:28 -0500

In 2004, our company, T.H. Malloy & Sons made an attempt to reduce our emissions and reduce our dependency on petroleum, big business and big oil.
We switched our fleet of 15 home heating fuel delivery trucks and service vans to biodiesel.
Here in Rhode Island, we stand on the rocky terminal moraine of the last glacier from Quebec heading south to the Atlantic Ocean. We are in the populated east, the cold north but are nicely temperate due to the warming affect of the ocean currents.
Due to climate, size and population density, Rhode Island and the other five New England states are in the only region of the U.S. to consume more fuel for heating than for transportation.
Thus, while trying to reduce emissions and dependency on foreign fuel for our transportation needs, it seemed ironic to be delivering petroleum for home heating.
We needed to take the obvious next step, use biodiesel for our heating needs.
When I, the idealistic, crunchy leftist libertarian grandson joined the family business and introduced the idea of biodiesel for home heating, I was met with great resistance from the three senior heating systems technicians with an accumulated 85 years experience. This turned out great: they really put biodiesel to the test, and it passed.
Starting off, we opted to blend in small amounts of biodiesel to avoid the potential issues of clogging and system failure on a cold winter's night.
During the winter of 2004, we asked family members, co-workers and friends to make the switch to biodiesel for their home heating needs. We started with a 20% biodiesel blend in newer systems and a 5% blend in 20-40 year old systems.
We found improved performance with no modifications. Soon, we started using B100 at our garage, office, family members' and co-workers' homes with great success.
As most readers have probably long since realized, generally car and truck manufacturers have been deeply connected to the oil industry for decades and they have been very reluctant and slow to embrace biodiesel.
With much pressure, slowly, small blends of 5% and 20% biodiesel were approved.
But, as we all well know, B100 works extremely well.
The same reluctance to accept biodiesel has occurred in the home heating world as well. The horror stories and potential failings have been widely advertised.
We have to realize that these manufacturers have been in business with the petroleum industry for many decades. Their reluctance to approving a community-created fuel should come as no surprise.
In sourcing our biodiesel, T.H. Malloy & Sons seeks to use and distribute local, renewable and sustainable biodiesel.
We know the environmental, political and social reasons to switch to locally crafted sustainable B100 for heating homes.
We are fortunate to be aligned with a great local collector of restaurant waste oil, biodiesel producer Newport Biodiesel.
Across the nation there is a "greenwashing" happening. Companies want to appear environmentally sensitive, and even petroleum distributors have gotten in on the action.
I have now changed my strategy with using the term Bioheat® due to marketing reasons. I noticed that many petroleum companies offering a 2% blend were showing up in internet search engines.
Bioheat® fuel is the industry-accepted term for any amount of pure biodiesel blended with conventional high or low sulfur home heating oil, a minimum of 2%.
While the term "biodiesel for home heating" was not appearing in web searches, I see a great value in using the term Bioheat as a gateway term to introduce fuel consumers to the STRONGER stuff, B100.
The change of opinion of the senior service technicians at T.H. Malloy & Sons was due to their diligence, persistence and open-mindedness. All now personally use B100, and have made great strides in making B100 available to our community.

t-shirt soaked biodiesel

Wed, 06 Jan 2010 11:33:51 -0500

Six years ago, Eric Henry, president of TS Designs, personally invested in biodiesel. He bought a 45-gallon "FuelMeister" processor and sold his Subaru to buy a 2000 Volkswagen Golf TDI. Since then, he has been at the forefront of biodiesel as an alternative renewable fuel in North Carolina. But TS Designs is not a fuel company. It is a T-shirt company, devoted to creating a sustainable product while maintaining its triple bottom line of the People, the Planet, and Profits.
After being inspired by a biodiesel presentation by Yokayo Biofuels' Kumar Plocher at Solfest in Hopland, CA, Henry met FuelMeister inventor Rudi Wiedemann and bought the very first one. Soon he had enlisted the help of Dr. Jack Martin, a professor at North Carolina A&T and Appalachian State University. The two teamed together to produce the first batch, and on November 3, 2003, Henry filled up his Volkswagen Golf with biodiesel.
Soon, Henry started to form the Burlington Biodiesel Co-op. The Fuelmeister was producing 45 gallons a batch, but the demand was just too high and the supply was not cutting it. In March of 2005, Martin connected Henry with NC A&T to purchase the original FuelMeister, and shortly thereafter they built the second reactor, more than doubling their output to support a total of 100 gallons per batch.
Currently, the co-op has 10 members and produces one to two batches of biodiesel per week, at 90 to 100 gallons per batch. Consistently producing biodiesel since 2003, the co-op has only run dry twice. The co-op constantly receives requests for new membership, but they decided from the beginning, and wrote into their bylaws, that they would not add new members until enough fuel could be produced to support them. They are also a working co-op; all the labor comes from the co-op members. This helps greatly to keep the prices down.
"When people call up to ask about the co-op, I always ask them why they want to join and if their answer is to save money, I tell them this is not the co-op for you unless you have a lot of free time and your time is not worth much," Henry said.
The co-op has evolved to certain members having certain jobs. Henry and Bob Higgs concentrate on the fuel making, while others work on equipment design and maintenance, and others collect and filter used fryer oil. The price per gallon is decided on at monthly meetings. The co-op does pay road tax.
The Burlington Biodiesel Co-op gets their waste vegetable oil free from local restaurants by offering a removal service. Members pick up the oil from about 12 restaurants within a 10-15 mile radius. The co-op focuses on working with local restaurants, connecting directly with the owners, avoiding company headquarters hundreds of miles away.
"The best part about living in the South is that we fry a lot of food," Henry jokingly said. "Right now we are only scratching the surface of the available oil."
To minimize the amount of energy input, the co-op gets process heat from a compost pile and has future plans of using a solar hot water heat exchanger. The pile, which was designed by Martin, heats an old 250-gallon oil tank that is filled with water and is buried in the compost pile. The pile consists of tree grindings from a local tree service company and leaves from the city.
The pile, which stays anywhere from 150-170 degrees, keeps the water between 120-130 degrees. The leaves, sawdust and yard waste that make up the pile must be rebuilt every year as the material completes its decomposition and stops generating heat.
With biodiesel being produced at TS Designs, Henry and his business partner Tom Sineath, also a member of the co-op, were not satisfied using a vehicle running on regular gasoline. So, in the fall of 2007 they had an opportunity to purchase a 1994, low mileage, diesel-powered Isuzu box truck, allowing them to transport their product to and from their dye house, about a 10 mile round trip in a vehicle that is currently running on B20-B80.
"We are a society of consumers and are highly dependent on fossil fuels," Sineath said. "Biodiesel isn't a cure-all, but it is a step in the right direction."
"Biodiesel is a solution that works today," Henry said. "I believe you have to demonstrate sustainable solutions not just talk about them."
"Biodiesel is not the 'total' solution to our oil addiction, but is an important part of the solution for our country to become energy independent," Henry said.
The co-op pays a road tax, but they cannot sell their biodiesel to the public. Instead, it is reserved for their members and any excess is sold for farmers for off-road use.
But with interest in biodiesel rising in the area, Henry and Sineath saw the need for a retail filling station. They partnered with Piedmont Biofuels out of Pittsboro, NC and rezoned their land for consumer traffic to put in a public fuel tank in front of the TS Designs facility.
Last year, the co-op leased about a 200 square foot space in the back of the TS Designs so that they could be completely self-sufficient and could have access when TS Designs was closed. Now members have 24-hour access to work and obtain fuel.
The biodiesel station is a completely green structure. It is made out of Hebel block, an aerated cellular concrete which insulates the structure. The energy to power the station comes from TS Designs' wind turbine and tracking solar array.
"To my knowledge, it is the only 100% renewable-energy-powered biodiesel station in the country," Henry said.
The station is part of the Piedmont Biofuels Co-op's "B100 Community Trail," and is available to members 24 hours a day, seven days a week via card-swipe entry. S

what a barrel wants

Mon, 13 Jul 2009 11:14:05 -0500

Did you ever walk into the garage and find an old can of oil leaking all over the floor? What a mess. If only you'd thought to keep it stored in that empty five-gallon bucket sitting right next to it!
Well, that's all secondary containment is - a way to keep a leaking primary container from having its contents leak out to the floor, into a drain, or into the environment.
Secondary containment is especially important for materials that have the potential to cause pollution.
In a biodiesel operation this includes materials like methanol, used cooking oil, glycerin and finished biodiesel. All of these materials have environmental consequences if they get into soil, surface water or streams, and ground water. For home biodiesel facilities that are served by private wells, the possibility of preventing contamination to your water source is especially important.
So when do you need secondary containment? If the stored material could leak and the leak would get into the environment, then you should provide secondary containment.
In Pennsylvania, secondary containment is required if the material is in a container with a capacity of 55-gallons or larger and a leak could get into the environment. Other states may have similar requirements.
For facilities that store 1,320 gallons or more of oil above ground, secondary containment is an EPA requirement under the Spill Prevention, Control, and Countermeasures (SPCC) Plans regulations. But besides being a requirement, it's a good idea.
Secondary containment can range from purchased items that were specifically designed for this task to any container that you might already have, such as a plastic five-gallon bucket.
The containment must be made of a material that will not react with any of the materials stored. For example, you would not want to store an acid in secondary containment made from metal.
The containment must be able to hold 110% of the contents of the single largest container stored in it; it is assumed that only one container will be leaking at any time. If the material that you are storing is flammable, such as methanol, a "flammables" storage cabinet with secondary containment built into the bottom is a good option.
In some cases, the building itself can serve as containment.
If you store materials in a building with a concrete floor with no floor drains, and there is a step up to the door or the floor is sloped away from the door― that is, the material would not flow out the door― then this building serves as containment. That doesn't make it any easier to clean up a leaking container, however, since your floor may be covered with oil.
Another way to provide containment is to construct a dike around the stored materials made from concrete block. It's important to make sure the dike is well sealed to prevent the material from leaking through. This will at least isolate the spilled or leaked material in one part of your facility.
Purchased secondary containment for 55-gallon drums can include a grate to suspend the drum over the containment area for easy loading and unloading. This also allows you to easily look through the grate to see if the material is leaking. This type of containment can also be designed for use outdoors with a rolltop cover to keep rain from contacting the stored material and from getting into the containment area.
Some inexpensive-but-adequate methods of secondary containment include using empty buckets for bottles and small jugs, plastic trash cans for larger jugs and small drums, and even kiddie swimming pools for barrels.
Contain your spills, but not your enthusiasm!

biodiesel relief for a tiny island

Mon, 13 Jul 2009 11:07:34 -0500

The biggest biodiesel plant on the island of Vieques (pop. 10,000) is in Manuel Cruz's garage.
It's a beauty, too: a deluxe "appleseed," tidily plumbed along one wall of a two-bay garage, next to a hilltop villa that overlooks the town of Isabel Segunda and the ocean beyond. There are dozens of barrels and oil jugs lined up here, the signifiers of the only biodiesel game in a desperate town.
I visited Vieques, a small island off the coast of Puerto Rico that is geographically part of the U.S. Virgin Islands, on vacation.
I lucked out when Cruz, a biodieselSMARTER subscriber, offered to show me around and tell me his story.

Vieques was once the site of relentless U.S. military weapons testing. The island was marked as a strategically significant spot by the Navy at the start of World War II, to provide a safe harbor for the British Navy in case the UK were to fall to the Nazis. After the war and throughout the Cold War, the island remained largely occupied by the Navy. Nearly three quarters sectioned off as restricted areas, and the civilian population was relegated to a narrow section in the island's middle. Tens of thousands of live bombs were detonated every year on the island, polluting air and water and destroying sensitive areas.
Cruz grew up here in the 1970s and '80s. He remembers the daily explosions, so commonplace that it didn't seem strange to have the house rattle from thunder on a blue sky day.
But cancer rates had gone up. Most folks were reluctant to eat local fish. It was a paradox: a luscious tropical island, but residents didn't buy local produce because of fear of contaminated soil. Drinking water came over in a massive pipeline from the main island. With limited economic development, there wasn't much of a future, so Cruz left Vieques after high school.
Resourceful and handy, Cruz pursued a career as a mechanic, seeking opportunity on the island of St. Croix. There he built a successful repair shop for starters and alternators, which he operated for several years.
The military finally left in 2003 after a prolonged protest effort of public demonstrations and civil disobedience. Former military areas earned National Wildlife Refuge designation (much is still restricted because of contamination and the threat of unexploded ordnance).
Vieques, nevertheless, remained stunted. Today it retains the semblance of a rural outpost. Nowhere on this idyllic island are there the resort hotels you expect; you don't get served rum punch in coconuts on the beach and the road to the most beautiful beaches is literally so potholed you can only travel it by mountain bike or four wheel drive.
Worse, there is a chronic supply shortages of the most basic goods. Though Puerto Rico's main island is only a $2 ferry ride away, the ferry is the only way to get anything to the island, and the trip takes more than an hour. Need car parts? Send a pickup truck over on the ferry. Vegetables? A box truck on the ferry. Gasoline and diesel fuel? A tanker truck on the ferry.

Vulnerable fuel supply
Everyone on Vieques drives, and with fuel prices still reasonable at $0.54/liter (~$2.04/gallon), conservation efforts are sadly lacking. Though the whole island (including the off-limits portion) is only 20 miles long, there are gas-guzzling cars and SUV's everywhere. There are no buses, though the taxis, known as "publicos," are full-size vans. Because of the condition of the beach roads, the only two types of rental cars available anywhere are 10-mpg Jeep Wranglers and Suzuki Samurais.
As a result of these factors, the island's only two gas stations run out of fuel every single week.
This means everyone who drives is used to waiting in line. When word gets out that the stations are running low, the line goes way down the street. It's nothing strange to wait three hours to fill up with gasoline.
The fuel shortage could probably be solved simply by investing in some public transportation and including green driving tips in Driver's Ed classes (do you really need your engine idling while you wait in line for gas?). But still, there's the vulnerable supply.
One day in 2007, the single ferry that services the island broke down. Nothing got ferried between Vieques and the main island for a week and a half; even the tourists had to come and go by 8-seat airplanes from the island's tiny airport. The two busy gas stations on the island were bone dry. Business ground to a standstill.
This is where crisis became opportunity for biodiesel, and Manuel Cruz, to shine.
When the ferry broke down, Cruz was living on Vieques again. He had returned to start a restaurant after selling the alternator shop. "Shawnaa's," named after his daughter, found a niche selling good Puerto Rican fast food to locals.
Despite this fuel crisis, Cruz had to find a way to continue operating the restaurant and his ranch.
"I just happened to remember hearing something in the news about a guy who went from New York to California in his Volkswagen, running on straight vegetable oil," he said.
Cruz filtered some used oil from his restaurant a couple of times through a t-shirt, mixed it with the last diesel he had, and poured it in his tractor's fuel tank. "I thought, it's gonna work or my engine's gonna blow. I didn't really know much about it."
It worked.
"I could feel the tractor working with more power," said Cruz. "I could go up the slope here in a higher gear than on regular diesel.
"So I started to read about biodiesel on the internet. I read and read, until finally I got to build my own machine."
Cruz built his processor without a kit or class. "I just put, on the internet, 'biodiesel.' I never really sat down and talked to nobody, shared ideas. I am here by myself, my wife don't know anything about it. I love it."
He started, as many of us do, with a one liter batch in a jug. "It came out pretty good! And then I washed it real nice, drained it out, it looked good. It looked simple.
"But when I started doing a lot of gallons, then the problems started. I didn't know how to deal with the soap when it first came out of the processor. I threw away a lot of gallons of methanol. I had just about four barrels at the time, that was like $900.
"So I bought a brand new pump, a big water pump. I was thinking that was my problem, that my processor was too big, and the pump was too small.
"In the morning, when I'd wake up, first thing I was back at the computer with 'What am I doing wrong?' My daughter would laugh at me. I'd say 'This time, I got it!' But then, back to the computer." (And, of course, inspiring stories from old copies of biodieselSMARTER.)
Cruz persisted, determined to produce his own fuel. He reinstalled the old pump. He changed his recipe.
Finally, it paid off. "When I got the first good result, it was on my last barrel. Three complete barrels, wasted. I told my wife 'Listen, I know I've been spending a lot of money. This is my last barrel, so if it works, I'll keep going, if not, I'll give up.'"
The batch came out perfectly.
On his small hilltop ranch, Cruz continues to make biodiesel, striving for self-reliance. His water wash comes from a 20,000 gallon rainwater cistern built into his house. He longs to be off-grid, and is also installing a solar array on the roof of his garage.
To date, Cruz has produced more than a thousand gallons of fuel. He's got a diesel engine to put into his new Nissan pickup truck. He drives a biodiesel van to the main island every week to get produce and supplies for the restaurant.
And so, for this remote tropical island weary from petroleum's stranglehold, there is hope. Manuel Cruz is creating a refuge of biodiesel-powered independence.