B2 Biodiesel

[cef2lion]

Saw this under press announcements on the Deere WEB site.

Craig

http://www.deere.com/en_US/newsroom/2005/releases/farmersandranchers/050201_biodiesel.html

 

[Bob_Skurka]

Silly question, but until there are places where we can actually buy biodiesel, what good is it in practical terms. I understand the symbolism. But how do we get the national and regional truck stop chains, gas stations (those who sell diesel) and our local fuel suppliers to switch from regular diesel to biodiesel?

I buy my diesel for my truck fleet on contract at a local service station (around the corner from my distribution company) and I am stuck with what he has in the ground because he won't be adding a tank just for my fleet. For my tractors at home, I buy from a couple of gas stations who sell diesel. I doubt they are going to switch to biodiesel just so I can get a few 5 gallon cans a month filled.

I'm just venting, I doubt anyone has the real answer to any of this. I'd love to use it, but I see no practical way to do so. Not unless there is a lot of pressure from a lot of sources to push the oil companies toward it.


ON A SIDE NOTE, did anyone see where country singer Willie Nelson is now in partnership with a biodiesel supplier to try to get their brand of biodiesel into some truck stops?

 

[cowboydoc]

I'm surprised you can't even get it from your fuel supplier. Except in winter we run it all the time. You can get it at a # of stations here too. If you want it it's readily available here.

 

[Bob_Skurka]

Doc, I don't have my own fuel tanks at the warehouse because my property is sandwiched between two drainage ditches/creeks. When I bought the property the EPA had a major snit-fit about some underground diesel tanks being within 20' of the creek. We could not take possession of the property until it was cleaned up. The building insurance is contingent upon NOT putting tanks so close to a regulated waterway. Believe me, if I could have my own tanks I would! I have a contract with a retail gas station where we get our fuel, he is also a customer who buys products from our warehouse.

 

[PBinWA]

Check out this site for BioDiesel Retailers:
Retail BioDiesel Sites

 

[Bob_Skurka]

Great link. Unfortunately for me, the closest source is 2 counties away /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif

 

[johan3400]

Good information! I have been looking for a source close enough to pick up in my portable tank. Thanks to this post I have a source between me and the location of my farm. I have been talking with local University proffesor to produce our own and will continue those talks, but now I have a source for biodiesel. Thanks

 

[Holzster]

Willie Nelson is basically a spoksman for B2 - there is a few Truck stops here in TX that carry it. More all the time.

 

[dmccarty]

Bob,

My guess is that its only a matter of time before more places sell BioDiesel. One of the local papers had an article about a station that had started selling B20 and was getting quite a bit of traffic specifically to get the BioDiesel.

The Community College that is two miles from my house has a class on making BioDiesel. In another paper this past weekend there was a blurb about a Coop that was making BioDiesel.

I think its just going to be a matter of time. My guess is that availability will increase at a faster rate if the fuel prices stay at the current level. If the auto makers start putting out diesel powered cars in a few years I'm sure that will sell BioDiesel as well.

Later,
Dan

 

[lrunge]

I stopped at the BP station to get some diesel this weekend and they had switched to bio-diesel (Northern KY). Since I didn't know much about it I left and went to another station to get regular diesel. I guess I need to do some research. Is there any negative effects to bio-diesel use (I have a BX 22)? Also, there is a big political fight going on locally as a company wants to build a bio-diesel mfg plant here and some of the local residents are fighting them. They want to put it in a fairly populated area so they may be in for a fight.

 

[cowboydoc]

There is absolutely no negative effect to using biodiesel. The only thing biodiesel will do is make your tractor run better. It has increased cetane #'s, increased soot control and pollution from burning, increased lubrication, renewable, etc.

 

[Bob_Skurka]

cowboydoc . . . while my prior research into biodiesel does confirm all the good things you pointed out, there is one very minor issue to consider with biodiesel. That is the gel point of the fuel is about a degree or two higher than regular diesel. I don't consider this a real drawback as I treat my fuel against gelling in the winter anyway and I think the positive effects of biodiesel far outweigh this one very minor issue.

However, I think in the interest of being informed, people should be aware of it.

I just wish we could get it! Maybe soon?!?

 

[CTyler]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( There is absolutely no negative effect to using biodiesel. The only thing biodiesel will do is make your tractor run better. It has increased cetane #'s, increased soot control and pollution from burning, increased lubrication, renewable, etc. )</font>

I don't claim to be an expert on this but Biodiesel had less BTU's than regular diesel thus less power. This is probably not enough to notice but... how is the tractor going to run better?

 

[cowboydoc]

Burning diesel fuel creates soot and contaminants in the engine and thus the oil. Most diesel oils are formulated to help with this. As good as the oils of today are it's still a problem in hp and longevity. Biodiesel burns much cleaner than diesel. Also the newer engines are configured to burn more of the fuel, keep the fuel in the combustion chambers longer, route the gases through filters, etc. This creates alot of problems in the motors over time, especially in the newer tractors and vehicles.

Next is lubrication. A diesel engine relies on the diesel for lubrication. The older diesels lubrication is critical. The newer diesels it's still important but they can take less lubrication a little better than the older diesels because of design. Many of the diesels today, especially some of the cheaper machinery is still running on old technology and the diesel lubrication is critical for long life of the engine and the pumps.

 

[Egon]

And chances are the production byproducts will make good animal feed.

Egon

 

[CTyler]

I agree that it will run cleaner.

 

[wd45]

My understanding was that biodiesel yields better milage than regular diesel, but because it cost more the energy yield per dollar is probably less. I'm not sure of these facts, just what I've gleaned from biodiesel forums and they might be slanted in favor of biodiesel. Mr. Diesel designed the first diesel engines to run on vegetable oils I believe. Setting up a small co-op so that locals could contribute oil producing produce (crops) to be converted to oil, with the contributor getting back his contribution in oil (fuel) with the co-op taking a percentage to cover operating cost seems like an American thing to do! I just dont know what the scale of a production plant needs to be to be viable. Also oil producing crops would not need to be food grade and who cares if the fuel crops are bio-engineered or not. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

Mike