Biodiesel co-ops sound good to me.
Report on my VW Jetta Wagon from last stop at Tye Truck Stop:
Miles driven 537
Gallon used 12.763
Miles per Gallon 42.0747
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Biodiesel flowing at San Mateo County co-ops
By Julia Scott, STAFF WRITER <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
HALF MOON BAY — When Anne Ryckebusch needs to add biodiesel to her
Volkswagen Golf, all she has to do is back it into her driveway. Her
home is the headquarters of a small Coastside biodiesel co-op. At $3.40
a gallon, it's comparable to the going rate for diesel.
Half Moon Bay's single pump station, a 250-gallon tank of treated
vegetable oil that sits in Ryckebusch's garage, is an offshoot of a
larger biodiesel co-op in Pacifica with 30 members; it was created after
the closure of Highway 1 at Devil's Slide cut Coastside commuters off
from each other.
Another biodiesel co-op was quietly established at a Mercedes-Benz
garage in San Mateo two months ago. It already has 50 members.
Were it not for the odd, sweet smell of cooking oil that Ryckebusch's
car emits, no one would ever guess that it is run on fryer oil —
recycled vegetable oil or animal fat collected from restaurants
throughout the Bay Area, and converted into engine-friendly biodiesel by
a local company through a simple glycerin extraction process. The
resulting fuel can be used alone in any diesel engine without any
further modification, or mixed in with regular diesel fuel.
The Bay Area's handful of co-ops and distributors are part of a growing
grassroots movement of drivers who have embraced biodiesel as a
low-emissions alternative to fossil fuels. Carbon monoxide emissions are
47 percent lower than regular diesel emissions, and total hydrocarbons
are lowered by 67 percent.
Businesses, city governments, farmers and construction workers have also
begun to use the fuel to cut costs.
"We went from eight to 30 members in the past year and a half," said
Nancy Hall, an avid member of Pacifica's biodiesel co-op. "Now that our
price is comparable (to regular diesel), people are looking at us
differently. Suddenly, their ethics are affordable."
Since launching her biodiesel co-op in a garage in San Mateo, Janet
Migliore said the side business has grown by word-of-mouth.
"I have hardcore people who won't use anything else," she said.
From now on, biodiesel users won't have to. In a testament to how
widely available the fuel has become, Ryckebush will leave this week on
a cross-country road trip to New Hampshire, stopping
to fill up at biodiesel stations every 350 miles (her car gets 35-40
miles per gallon).
On a national scale, major biodiesel processors have proliferated
alongside local grassroots co-ops. Newly built factories convert virgin
soybean oil into biodiesel in an extraction process similar to that used
for fryer oil; according to Biodiesel Magazine, 59 such plants presently
exist in the U.S., mostly in the Midwest, where soybeans are grown. At
least 65 more reportedly are in the works.
Between 2004 and 2005, American biodiesel production tripled to 75
million gallons, and is expected to double again in 2006 to 150 million
gallons, according to the National Biodiesel Board, a trade organization.
At present, that's a fraction of the 55 to 60 billion gallons of
petroleum U.S. consumers use every year. Nevertheless, the industry
continues to attract major investors: In May, Chevron announced that it
had taken a 22 percent share in a Texas-based biodiesel company, and
that it plans to build what will be the nation's largest biodiesel
plant. The company predicts it will eventually produce as much as 100
million gallons a year.
Several states also have taken steps to promote the use of biodiesel.
Minnesota, Washington state and Louisiana all have passed laws mandating
a minimum standard of blended use with diesel.
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger issued an executive order establishing a
target of 20 percent renewable fuel use (ethanol and biodiesel) by 2010
and San Francisco will use a minimum 20 percent biodiesel blend in its
city workers' fleet by 2007.
San Mateo County currently has no such requirement, but Pacifica has
plans to run its city vehicles entirely on biodiesel it will generate at
its own waste water plant by the end of the year.
Staff writer Julia Scott covers the coast and the environment. She can
be reached at 348-4340 or at [EMAIL PROTECTED]
<mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]>.
http://www.insidebayarea.com/localnews/ci_3956862
or
http://tinyurl.com/mprcr
#------------------------------------------
Regards,
LelandJ
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