[biofuel] Gentlemen, set your filters
I'm going to write up my promised response to Keith sometime tomorrow when I get a chance. Since there are several issues being, ahem, 'discussed', it's quite likely to come in to the Biofuel list at the end of the day as several long messages, with lots of quoting back and forth. Those of you who mentioned that this should be offlist or is upsetting to you, may want to set your filters to miss these messages. I will add the subject heading 'for Keith' to the beginning of these, so you can filter it if it's 'offtopic' for you. Mark Yahoo! Groups Sponsor ~-- Make a clean sweep of pop-up ads. Yahoo! Companion Toolbar. Now with Pop-Up Blocker. Get it for free! http://us.click.yahoo.com/L5YrjA/eSIIAA/yQLSAA/FGYolB/TM ~- Biofuel at Journey to Forever: http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html Biofuels list archives: http://infoarchive.net/sgroup/biofuel/ Please do NOT send Unsubscribe messages to the list address. To unsubscribe, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Yahoo! Groups Links * To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/biofuel/ * To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] * Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
Re: Fwd: Re: take down my articles from journeytoforever.org was Re: [biofuel] Re: Love Those
doubt that you would upload an updated version from me. Why do you doubt that? I've always done so in the past, as indeed with the Appleseed update at the beginning of June. That's not usually, or sometimes, it's ALWAYS - every time. I don't care about the occasional other lists-based material that is attributed to me (ie safety stuff, industrial biodiesel quality problems quotes, etc)- but no author likes to lose control of his material to a website, and if you are unwilling to work with me on my material, don't publish my work on your site. Give it full attribution or take it down. Is that an ultimatum? Mark --- End forwarded message --- By the way, in the circumstances, having just been told by the list owner to stop spamming other groups, this sig is impudent: * www.LocalB100.com www.veggieavenger.com/media- open-design homebrew biodiesel equipment plans www.groups.yahoo.com/group/local-b100-biz-biodiesel co-ops and biodiesel small business discussion forum www.groups.yahoo.com/group/biodieselbasics -the alternative Yahoo biodiesel list Remove it next time or your post will be stopped. Right, so let's have a real look at all this nonsense, as that's all it is. It started long ago when you wanted to have your Cheapass Weldless Processor plans uploaded to JtF, and I agreed, but it never happened. Your Bubblewashing 101 piece did happen. Then you proposed this, and I agreed, but it didn't happen. 7 Oct 2003 I want to edit up my anti-plastic-processor post to Biofuel and submit it to you for Journeytoforever )with biosmell's photos of onbe of the plastic processor fire meltdowns, or at least have him send you photos of the meltdown for some use or another)... mark This was next: 14 Nov 2003 Enclosed are some preliminary chicken scratches of the water heater processor. I thought it'd be OK for Veggieavenger because many of the locals have seen it in action already, but I'm worried about confusing the wider internet community... Some of the raw material for the plans is attached... mark parts list LABELED PROCESSOR.JPG So in fact you offered it to me while apparently still considering it for Veggieavenger, and I accepted it. You also promised better graphics, and then sent me some graphics. But they got mangled in transit and I couldn't open half of them because you were having transmission problems at the time (you offered to send me a CD, but never did so). No further mention of Veggieavenger, but I think you had posted some stuff there. You made no suggestion at any time that JtF should credit Veggieavenger, as there was no basis for that - Veggieavenger was not the source, you were. I corrected the copy you'd sent me and returned it to you for approval, and on 11 Nov 2003 I uploaded the article to the site with enough info and pics to be going on with, and asked you to check it before I released it. Also: Will you take lots of nice piccies at the Los Angeles area biodiesel meeting processor build tomorrow? That'd help. Upload them to the veggie avenger site and I can pick them up from there, if you think that's okay, or maybe use this site and send me the url: http://www.imagestation.com/member/join_upload.html Your response: Date: Fri, 21 Nov 2003 23:57:27 -0800 (PST) From: girl Mark [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Re: Processor upload To: Keith Addison [EMAIL PROTECTED] Bravo, wonderful, release it. Yay, thank you! finally! With a promise of more pics, no mention of veggieavenger, and no reply to my question about getting pics of yours from there because of your transmission problems. On 27 Nov 2003 you wrote: Hi Keith, I finally got around to editing out the photos in the veggieavenger thread, just a little. They're cropped and have more info, I believe. I still need to sit down and turn it all into more of an article. But depending on how much of a pain in the ass it is for you to add them to the JtoF article, there's a new visual or two on the thread... and I tried to add more (the stuff I tried to send you I think, of processor under construction, which is useful visuals) but ran into more issues with format and 'what veggieavenger reads as how' and more of the portability of files issue that's ruling my life right now. So in fact your only interest in veggieavenger vis-a-vis JtF was in using it as a way-station, a means of getting me better pics because of your computer problems - NOTHING about crediting veggieavenger, nor any basis for such a thing. Not quite the way you remember it, eh? Nothing further happened until this: Date: Mon, 10 May 2004 11:09:41 -0700 To: Keith Addison [EMAIL PROTECTED] From: girl mark [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Re: What you're doing is DANGEROUS! by the way I finally have the water heater reactor article finished. Might be a great launch time for it. Mark I agreed: It might indeed. Want to send it to me? Keith You: Date
take down my articles from journeytoforever.org was Re: [biofuel] Re: Love Those
I'm reversing the order of messages here, so that it is obvious to everyone what Im talking about in my reply. so the latest is at the bottom... Mark ** --- In biofuel@yahoogroups.com, bioveging [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: All this came about by following your recommendations and hints, G Mark. (snip) I then wrote: Hey, thank you very much for the kind words, but it's not just me who designed that system by any stretch. Lots and lots of people's ideas have been creeping into the water heater processor design and helping it evolve, and that's why you should also add to it by posting your own photos in the veggieavenger.com open-source biodiesel equipment forum, to add to the general knowledge (or even post descriptions if you dont have a camera). Thanks for the positive feedback anyway, even though it should go out to everybody who contributed! I really hope the other people who have contributed realise how much their contributions have helped newcomers. mark ** then Keith Addison wrote: At 10:27 PM 8/23/2004 +, you wrote: --- In biofuel@yahoogroups.com, Keith Addison [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Mark You're not a newcomer to Internet forums, and I'm sure you know that it's very bad Netiquette to post messages to one forum promoting another. That's generally accepted as a no-no and the online resources on Netiquette are quite clear about it. There are quite a few lists where doing that will get you instantly banned. At the very least you should ask first. You've now done this here repeatedly. Of course it's okay to point to a particular item at another forum if it's of relevance to a discussion, but this is outright promotion, which is not okay at all. Not only that, you've more or less demanded that I put the thing on Journey to Forever. You'd already asked me that three times offlist and didn't get a response. Quite obviously that WAS the response - you think I didn't notice or something? Three times? I'm not exactly famous for not noticing such things. So you bring it onlist? Keith, please add to my Appleseed article that you have posted on journeytoforever, the link to the original material that it's derived from: www.veggieavenger.com/media or at least a link to the Appleseed thread on veggieavenger.com/media . I'm planning on cleaning up that thread pretty soon here so it'll be more legible. Anyway, it didn't come from veggieavenger.com, it came from a piece you wrote for Homepower, or so you said at the time. And also from your 'zine. Whatever, I've my own good reasons for not doing so and I'm not about to defend them to you, nor to anybody. You certainly shouldn't have raised it here. As for your pushing people to post info and pics about their processors there, and all this stuff about Open Source homebrew equipment and so on, the Biofuel list and Journey to Forever have been doing that for a long time, rather adequately, and I see absolutely no need or benefit in taking it somewhere else. Let it happen as it will, naturally and of its own accord, no problem - but stop touting for it. Previous from me, onlist, to you: That said, we've been at least as much as anyone else at the forefront of open-source technology development and its basic philosophy of sharing - it's exactly why we started the Biofuel list in the first place four and half years ago. We constantly acknowledge it and we're kind of tireless in promoting it, one reason for that being that it works so well. The very term open source in connection with biofuels technology was first mentioned here. But we've discussed all this before, haven't we? Keith Addison Journey to Forever http://journeytoforever.org/ Biofuel list owner * Then my response below, specifically about the authorship and attribution issues: Keith, I would like you to remove my article about the Appleseed processor from the journeytoforever site, unless you add the proper attribution which I as the author ask for, to the material's home website, www.veggieavenger.com/media . Other people's articles at journeytoforever (dale scroggins' for instance) contain the home URL of the original site, what is wrong with veggieavenger?. It's one of the most apolitical, nonpartisan forums in online biodiesel, it's populated by your fans, and it provides a service that something the size of yahoo biofuel list cannot (ie photo files hosting). There is nothing wrong with it. It's a photo resource more than a discussion forum, it's not a competitor to the biofuel list, and it's basically been my home page (though it's not my site) until recently. As the author I don't see the reason for being denied the proper attribution of the source material in my journeytoforever.org article. Although I don't bother to keep all emails I send back and forth, I dont think that the Appleseed material that is posted at your site came from my proposed Home Power article, because it preceded the
list netiquette and the [biofuel] list Re: Fwd: [biofuel] Re: Love Thos
Keith, Actually, I can't say I've EVER spent any time reading online resources about Netiquette, or have run into this 'dont' promote other forums' rule anywhere. Perhaps the [biofuel] list introductory file should include a link to your online resources about Netiquette (since it's a large membership with varying experience with computers and Netiquette), or include a link to more obvious list rules. I think other forums do just that- post list rules when you sign up. I could be wrong, but I dont' think your list has such a file, or at least not on the yahoogroups files section. The only online list participation I've ever been involved in, has been only these _biodiesel_ lists and forums. Much of what I know about moderatorship and participation has come from reading some of Keith's posts , for instance. just as an example, Keith- back when you used to regularly participate on the ill-fated yahoo [biodiesel] list, you quite often promoted the [biofuel] list and the nnytech archive. There's nothing wrong with that, and it was quite helpful to those who didn't know about it. I know that when a new list comes up I find it useful that someone's announced it (Eva Pierce started a Northwest biodiesel list and announced it at the biofuel list for instance) , and it seems that the same would hold true for forum features that aren't obvious, like the existence of photo upload at veggieavenger.com and the fact that someone could go further with sharing their design than just talking about it in words. It doesn't mean that they'd leave your list or anything, as the two are complementary, and it doesn't mean that someone's trying to upstage you. The only related Netiquette topic-ban that I've ever heard about from my experience on lists or forums, is that some forums or lists have rules posted prominently, against any commercial advertising. Thedieselstop.com Ford truck forum is one of them for instance- I feel weird posting classes listings for instance there, even though I own a Ford and it's on-topic (they have a biodiesel section), because I don't know if that technically violates the 'no-advertising' rules there (I assume that an event announcement isnt' the same thing as advertising a new style of truck doodads). It's always useful to post rules publically. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't think there's a 'dont mention other forums' rule posted anywhere at [biofuel]. I use all the forums, I try and get along with all the 'factions' in biodiesel, and unless it's been against the written rules to mention other forums, I don't think it's reasonable to assume that someone should gag themselves about their participation in more than one forum. You might think that I'm netiquette-savvy, but you shouldn't make such assumptions about anyone- write rules (if you have and I missed them, then I'm sorry to have done so)- as I've obviously not run into this piece of etiquette before. You also seem to be upset about my use of the term open source biodiesel equipment designs'- I think I picked up the 'open source' terminology from Lyle Estill's blog at biofuels.coop, where he was throwing it around to describe this sort of online sharing of information about biodiesel, plans, or other information. It doesn't take away from what you're doing at biofuel list! I didn't notice it at Biofuel list, since I only read maybe 10% of the huge volume of things that get posted here. From what I can tell (wired magazine article on open design, etc), the use of the term 'open source' is taking off like wildfire when describing all kinds of invention formats, even though it's not quite 100% right for us to use it to describe design outside of computer source code I suppose. I don't think that the term 'open source homebrew equipment' is anyone's intellectual property, and therefore dont' think you should be acting upset about someone else using it at the biofuel list. I really dont' think it upstages the work you've done. At the Biofuel list, you are discussing an extremely wide variety of topics, and the fact that someone started a project that's much more single-topic focused and specific to open-source design via equipment photos (which you can't do at a yahoo list as easily) isn't a slap in the face to the fact that you discussed this among other things, at the biofuel list first or something. They complement each other. I mean, we discuss topics from journeytoforever there (see recent 'bucket processor help' post at veggieavenger) or point people there when appropriate, it's not like it's got anything to do with competition. Mark At 11:06 PM 8/23/2004 +, you wrote: --- In biofuel@yahoogroups.com, Keith Addison [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Mark You're not a newcomer to Internet forums, and I'm sure you know that it's very bad Netiquette to post messages to one forum promoting another. That's generally accepted as a no-no and the online resources on
[biofuel] Biodiesel orientation, Portland, OR, 8/31
Biodiesel Orientation, Portland Oregon Presented by: Loren Fennell Oregon Bio-Diesel Workshop Tuesday Evening, Aug. 31st, 6:30-8:30 p.m. 2223 N. Randolph off Interstate Ave., Portland, OR $5 - $15 donation (based on ability to pay; no one turned away for lack of funds) Learn about: History early experiments of Bio-Diesel, chemical components, being part of a co-op, processor design/safety, making fuel for personal use MORE! - SVO: (Straight Vegetable Oil) its use as vehicle fuel - - Bio-diesel: Up coming alternative fuel source - - Home Heating: Thousands of home owners have kept their oil furnaces converted to WVO (Waste Vegetable Oil) as fuel - - Glycerin: By-products used for: soap, automotive household degreasers/cleaners - Join us for an Evening of information, questions learning in a fun environment! *** Call Loren at: 503-493-0087, 503-806-3013 (cell) or E-mail back at: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Directions to this event will gladly be given by E-mail or phone. * www.LocalB100.com www.veggieavenger.com/media- open-design homebrew biodiesel equipment plans www.groups.yahoo.com/group/local-b100-biz-biodiesel co-ops and biodiesel small business discussion forum www.groups.yahoo.com/group/biodieselbasics -the alternative Yahoo biodiesel list [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] Yahoo! Groups Sponsor ~-- $9.95 domain names from Yahoo!. Register anything. http://us.click.yahoo.com/J8kdrA/y20IAA/yQLSAA/FGYolB/TM ~- Biofuel at Journey to Forever: http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html Biofuels list archives: http://infoarchive.net/sgroup/biofuel/ Please do NOT send Unsubscribe messages to the list address. To unsubscribe, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Yahoo! Groups Links * To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/biofuel/ * To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] * Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
[biofuel] Loren Fennell's biodiesel workshop- Portland, September 11/12
OREGON BIO-DIESEL WORKSHOP Loren Fennell, Research Design, Facilitator, Workshop Co-founder David McMahon, Cloudburst Recycling, Inc., Workshop Co-founder Jim Mittelstedt, Diesel Mechanic, Consultant Presents: STRAIGHT VEGETABLE OIL (SVO) VEHICLE CONVERSION BIO-DIESEL PRODUCTION WORKSHOP WHEN: Saturday Sunday, September 11th 12th 10am - 5pm, Sat.--11am - 3pm, Sun. Potluck Social Following! WHERE: 2223 N. Randolph, Portland, OR (directions available upon registration) DONATION: $25 - $50; based on sliding scale ability to support Alternative Fuels energy research Learn: How to convert a diesel vehicle to run on Straight Vegetable Oil (SVO) The complete process of how to make Methyl Ester (B-100) Bio-diesel processor design safety More About Alternative Fuel How We Can Create an Environmentally Sustainable Future!! REGISTER TODAY! Contact Loren Fennel at: 503-493-0087 or [EMAIL PROTECTED] --- Tell Your Friends too! * www.LocalB100.com www.veggieavenger.com/media- open-design homebrew biodiesel equipment plans www.groups.yahoo.com/group/local-b100-biz-biodiesel co-ops and biodiesel small business discussion forum www.groups.yahoo.com/group/biodieselbasics -the alternative Yahoo biodiesel list [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] Yahoo! Groups Sponsor ~-- Make a clean sweep of pop-up ads. Yahoo! Companion Toolbar. Now with Pop-Up Blocker. Get it for free! http://us.click.yahoo.com/L5YrjA/eSIIAA/yQLSAA/FGYolB/TM ~- Biofuel at Journey to Forever: http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html Biofuels list archives: http://infoarchive.net/sgroup/biofuel/ Please do NOT send Unsubscribe messages to the list address. To unsubscribe, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Yahoo! Groups Links * To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/biofuel/ * To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] * Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
[biofuel] long! Re: Fwd: Heating element
At 06:10 AM 8/23/2004 +, you wrote: --- In biofuel@yahoogroups.com, josephputzer [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Hello all, I've just begun to build a processor out of two 55 gallon drums. I am having a 1 bushing welded to the drum so that I can put a screw- in heating element into the processor. I wanted the bushing so that I can take out the element for cleaning and whatnot. My trouble is that I'm not much for electrical components. I have a 4.5 kw 240 v element. How do I safely attach a power cord with the given wattage and voltage? Is 4.5 kw to high? Should I find a 1.5 or 2.0 kw element instead? Any help would be great! --- End forwarded message --- I think I described this at www.veggieavenger.com/media in the 'appleseed processor- open source plans' thread. Without going into all the details of how normal wiring is done (please go buy a $10 book on wiring, it'll help a lot with the basics of wire stripping and how to make connections) here are a few pointers on water heater heating elements: 4.5 KW is fine, assuming that the wiring you use is adequate and that the circuit is designed for it. 4.5 KW is 4500 watts, and divided by 240 volts you will be drawing 18.75 amps. That amperage isn't too bad- so use 12 gauge wire/cable or heavier (like 10 gauge) (i use something that we generically call 'spa cable' - black waterproof flexible cable sold at Home Depot, but I'm not sure what it's technical name actually is!). You can also use 12 gauge extension cord wiring- make sure it's actually 12 gauge, not just some kind of so-called 'heavy-duty' extension cord (this is a form of wire sold by the foot at hardware stores, you don't have to cut up an existing extension cord which you might not know the gauge of) Don't draw any other loads on that wiring if it's only 12 gauge (which is designed for 20 amps maximum, assuming it's under 100 feet in length). 10 gauge is designed for up to 30 amps. Presuming that you have 240 service at the site where you will be installing the processor, yOu will need to wire the cord to a plug that matches your 240V outlet (there many types of plug configurations for 240v), or wire the cord into a disconnect box (grey subpanel looking thing which has a sort of big on-off Frankenstein switch on the side) and then wire that disconnect into a plug or somehow into your 240V service (ie see the wiring book you should buy if you want to go fancy like this). modern 240V plugs come with either a four-wire or a three-wire configuration. YOu only need three wires, but if your existing outlet is a four-wire (ie like from a dryer or range), go buy that same type of plug and don't wire anything to it's fourth 'neutral' terminal (the box directions should explain which is what). four-wire 240 plugs are meant for appliances that have both a 240V heater and a 120V timer or clock, so missing the neutral in this case won't do any harm. The actual heating element end gets wired like this: black and white wires are wired to the two terminals of the heating element. Here's the confusing part: in 240V service, what you're supposed to be using for the element is a black and a red, but we're using a black and a white because that's all our hardware store cord gives us. In our case, if you just bought some spa cable or extension cord type cable, you don't have a black and a red. SO you use the black and the white, and pretend that the white is a red (electricians are supposed to paint red the ends of the white if doing something similar to this so that future electricians dont' get confused). You will also have a green wire in the cord, and that must get grounded to the drum. If you're welding anyway, add yourself a little tab to the drum, near the heating element, then use a sheet metal screw to make a ground terminal for the green wire to land on. If you're done with your welding and it's too late, then make yourself a c-clamp with a little threaded hole in it, and use a screw to make a terminal for the green wire. Then clamp it securely to the bottom lip of the drum or some other secure location. The plug end: your plug terminals are labeled either on the box or on the plug itself. You should wire the black and the white (supposed to be red actually) to the 'load' terminals (they might be brass colored), and the green to the 'ground' terminal (might be green colored). If you have a fourth terminal for 'neutral', ignore it. Normally the neutral is where the white wire goes in a four-wire cord (three plus a ground), but that's not what you're using it for in a three-wire (two plus ground) cord. It's OK to leave it blank. The other thing you could do, is to run that heating element at 120V- just wire a normal 120V plug onto it (which some hardware store clerks can tell you how to do). At 120V, the element will run at 1`/4 the wattage, which will make it a 1000 watt approximately, which will be a little low-power for a 55 gallon
[biofuel] correction priming Clearwater pump- stuff from Biofuel list
sorry, I realised I wrote gibberish and that it maybe didn't quite make sense: exerpt: the www.veggieavenger.com/media thread on the Appleseed (keith please link this thread from the journeytoforever article it's derived from) what I meant to say was: Keith, please add to my Appleseed article that you have posted on journeytoforever, the link to the original material that it's derived from: www.veggieavenger.com/media or at least a link to the Appleseed thread on veggieavenger.com/media . I'm planning on cleaning up that thread pretty soon here so it'll be more legible. Mark www.LocalB100.com www.veggieavenger.com/media- open-design homebrew biodiesel equipment plans www.groups.yahoo.com/group/local-b100-biz-biodiesel co-ops and biodiesel small business discussion forum www.groups.yahoo.com/group/biodieselbasics -the alternative Yahoo biodiesel list Yahoo! Groups Sponsor ~-- Make a clean sweep of pop-up ads. Yahoo! Companion Toolbar. Now with Pop-Up Blocker. Get it for free! http://us.click.yahoo.com/L5YrjA/eSIIAA/yQLSAA/FGYolB/TM ~- Biofuel at Journey to Forever: http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html Biofuels list archives: http://infoarchive.net/sgroup/biofuel/ Please do NOT send Unsubscribe messages to the list address. To unsubscribe, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Yahoo! Groups Links * To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/biofuel/ * To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] * Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
[biofuel] Chicago B100 bulk buy- anyone interested?
Hi all, there is someone posting on the tdiclub forum, who is looking for others to purchase tote-quantities (275 gallon IBC containers) of B100. I know that I have heard a few people grumbling in the past about the fact that they didn't know any other biodieselers in Chicago but wanted to get some kind of bulk buy group or coop together. I unfortunately dont' have y'alls contact info anymore. here's the link if you are interested, or know of a location to stage the distribution of the fuel: http://forums.tdiclub.com/showflat.php?Cat=Number=809335page=0view=collapsedsb=5o=7fpart=1#Post812558 I think if you click on the guy's name on the left of the page, a way to contact him off-list comes up (click to send private message). Or maybe you'd have to register as a forum member first, I can't tell... Mark * www.LocalB100.com www.veggieavenger.com/media- open-design homebrew biodiesel equipment plans www.groups.yahoo.com/group/local-b100-biz-biodiesel co-ops and biodiesel small business discussion forum www.groups.yahoo.com/group/biodieselbasics -the alternative Yahoo biodiesel list Yahoo! Groups Sponsor ~-- $9.95 domain names from Yahoo!. Register anything. http://us.click.yahoo.com/J8kdrA/y20IAA/yQLSAA/FGYolB/TM ~- Biofuel at Journey to Forever: http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html Biofuels list archives: http://infoarchive.net/sgroup/biofuel/ Please do NOT send Unsubscribe messages to the list address. To unsubscribe, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Yahoo! Groups Links * To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/biofuel/ * To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] * Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
[biofuel] Biodiesel Workshop in Salt lake City, September 1 and 2
Homebrew Biodiesel Comprehensive Workshop Two evenings: September 1 and 2, 6-9 pm Salt Lake City, Utah for more information, to register, and for directions, please email [EMAIL PROTECTED] cost: $20-$50 sliding scale of your choice. Can be paid at the door, or to the instructor via PayPal optional 85-page textbook available at the class for $8 try and come for both days- the subject material is spread out over two evenings- although you're welcome to attend either date if for some reason you can't make it to both. ** Come learn to make quality alternative diesel fuel out of waste restaurant fryer oil or other oils. Biodiesel burns cleanly, is a renewable fuel, and can be used in unmodified diesel or heating oil equipment- as 100% biodiesel, or as a mixture with existing petroleum diesel. There is a successful biodiesel industry in the US and Europe, but the production process is simple enough that many hobbyists make 'homebrew' biodiesel in their back yards, using simple equipment. This class will cover every step of the 'homebrew' biodiesel production process, as well as several of the 'variations' on the basic techniques. Class will be hands-on, and we will concentrate on giving students a comprehensive understanding of the chemistry and 'engineering' of biodiesel systems. The class will cover both lab-scale and full-size, hands-on biodiesel experiments, and we will demonstrate making a full-size batch of homebrew biodiesel and washing it. We will cover quality control and quality testing, bubblewashing and mistwashing, acid-base two-stage biodiesel, ethanol biodiesel, and much more. there will be a short equipment discussion. I recommend reading the www.journeytoforever.org and www.me.iastate.edu/biodiesel online biodiesel course first. We won't be covering 'straight vegetable oil conversions' in great detail but can touch on this topic as well, depending on class interest. Wear closed toe shoes and long pants/long sleeve shirts, bring safety glasses if you have them, and bring something to take notes with. Other online resources for the class: * www.utahbiodiesel.org local biodiesel co-op/educational organization www.LocalB100.com instructor's homepage www.veggieavenger.com/mediaequipment discussion/photo forum www.groups.yahoo.com/group/biodieselbasics discussion forum www.journeytoforever.org online homebrew tutorial and biofuels library http://biodiesel.infopop.cc discussion forum www.me.iastate.edu/biodiesel commercial biodiesel research, excellent online course [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] Yahoo! Groups Sponsor ~-- Make a clean sweep of pop-up ads. Yahoo! Companion Toolbar. Now with Pop-Up Blocker. Get it for free! http://us.click.yahoo.com/L5YrjA/eSIIAA/yQLSAA/FGYolB/TM ~- Biofuel at Journey to Forever: http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html Biofuels list archives: http://infoarchive.net/sgroup/biofuel/ Please do NOT send Unsubscribe messages to the list address. To unsubscribe, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Yahoo! Groups Links * To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/biofuel/ * To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] * Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
[biofuel] Biodiesel Solutions FuelMeister user testimonial- Not Ready For Prime Time!
For a number of weeks, there's been a discussion at tdiclub about the Biodiesel Solutions FuelMeister- the $3,000-$4,300 plastic processor that's being foisted on newcomers with somewhat inaccurate (and scaremongering) advertising. A nice guy named Larry Larson in Illinois bought a FuelMeister and was really excited about it (and was posting about it on tdiclub in advance of actually seeing this Biodiesel Solutions FuelMeister). A number of us were sort of criticising him, or more importantly the machine- and he was defending the thing. Well, a month has gone by and Larry just posted in a couple of other places, a somewhat more critical view about his experiences as a Biodiesel Solutions FuelMeister owner. This is really big news, mostly because we almost never hear from anyone who owns one of the things, and they are marketed almost exclusively to newbies who dont' have much experience (ie via Tickell's website which gets mostly newcomer traffic (at least on the forum), via RealGoods- which nets traffic from outside the biodiesel community, and via those infomercial sorts of workshops that the various FuelMeister dealers do. Most of what has been posted online, which has been supportive of the Biodiesel Solutions FuelMeister, was written by peopel who just so happened to be FuelMeister dealers- Chuck at DrDiesel for example and the gentleman who is the president of RealGoods. The only user I can think of to post anything who has not also been a dealer, has been Eric Henry of TS Designs in North Carolina, who modified it beyond recognition, to the point where his FuelMeister now looks just like a home-built metal-plumbing processor. I keep trying to make the point (Larry refers to it below) that people are prone to defend their decision when they are criticised for spending huge amounts of money. But in general you would think that you'd hear from tons of peopel who've bought the machine, and that has somehow not been the case. But here is some of Larry's post: posted at Josh Tickell's forum: Hi Folks, Since my last post I have made about 5 more batches. I am less enthusiastic about the Fuelmeister. It takes considerable practice and technique to make it work well. The main issues are 2: 1) it is difficult to get the methanol and lye to mix completely in the mix tank. It can be done, but there needs to be more detail in the instructions to make it clear. A Fuelmeister representative at an energy fair told me it helps to pound the top of the tank to get it to mix. He's right, but this is not indicative of an industrial grade quality processor as they advertise it to be. 2) When emptying the mixing tank into the larger tank, it is difficult to get the small tank to empty completely. With 2 gallons left the oil in the big tank tends to start backing up into the smaller tank. That causes a big mess that I had to clean out by hand. Again, with proper technique, that problem has gotten better, but not completely solved. Customer service is excellent. When my mister assembly began leaking, I called Rudi and I had a new improved one within 24 hours. I think I've called 4 times with various problems, and he always takes time to help solve the problem. But overall, I think it's way overpriced. It's not junk, but it's not industrial grade either. When people see it in my garage, they typically say so where's the $3000 worth of parts? I feel that they should have perfected the machine before putting it out on the market. After paying $3000 I did not expect to be a beta tester for a machine that is not ready for prime time. The company is responsive, and they intend to make ongoing improvements, but that should have been done way before they started marketing it. If I wanted to fiddle and tinker, I would have made my own Appleseed processor for $200. From what I've learned in the last month, I think they work better too. Larry Larson * there's more, in more detail, over at biodieselnow.com (the entire thread is here: http://www.forums.biodieselnow.com/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=3285 ) quote: Greetings. I am the Larry Larson Girl_Mark referred to in paragraph 9. I have been using a Fuelmeister for about a month, and have made 6 batches. I have mixed feelings about the machine. I bought it because I was anxious to get started making biodiesel and I didn't want to mess with making my own processor. At the time I thought there were too many design options out there and I wasn't knowledgeable enough to know which one would be best to build. Plus, I didn't feel like taking all the time to hunt down parts and then build the thing. Since then i have found out that that whole process would not have been as difficult as I thought. More about that later. As far as the machine goes, it's a mixed bag. It is expensive, considering what it's made of. Most people who come over and look at it say where's the $3000 worth of parts? It is not junk, but I wouldn't consider it industrial grade
[biofuel] Biodiesel Classes-Tour dates
Biodiesel Appleseed Tour: Biodiesel Homebrewing and Equipment Building Workshops: I'm going on tour, teaching homebrew biodiesel classes in the next two months, in the Midwest and East Coast US. Here's a quick writeup of the confirmed or tentative dates. For more info or to register, please write to me offlist (with the location of the class you're interested in in the subject line), to [EMAIL PROTECTED] After this weekend I will post tour updates on www.LocalB100.com, please keep checking back. Classes: Most of the classes I'm teaching are either a 6-hour Homebrew Biodiesel Comprehensive Course (usually runs 10-5 except Salt Lake City, Utah and the very tentative Boone, NC class), and a 6-hour Equipment Building Class. There is no prerequisite for either class and you do not have to attend both. The Equipment Building class is a combination of lecture and hands-on building, and you can build your own system for about $150-$200 in parts, plus the cost of any water heaters or tanks which you have to provide. It is possible to build just the 'plumbing assemblies' at the class without bringing the tank along- they're easy to add to the tank at home. I need to make arrangements with any potential processor builders about 10 days 'in advance' because I do the parts shopping for you. Assorted money logistics: Registration for the classes is done by emailing me [EMAIL PROTECTED] no deposit necessary to register. Class fees are sliding scale of your choice, and no one is turned away for lack of funds. You can either pay at the door on the day of the class, or if you wish, you can send me the class fee in advance (or a donation for that matter, though Im not 501(c)3 (I'm taking suggestions on a potential nonprofit umbrella for this project since Im going to do it again after this year). Paying in advance would help with my complex logistics in getting there, since Im doing this on a tiny shoestring budget, need to find a more reliable laptop for the trip, and am purchasing a friend's van to do this trip. For the processor building classes, I can take the 'parts costs' fee (or any other fees) through PayPal, just be sure and work it out with me 10 days before the class you're attending. I will have 85-page Biodiesel Homebrew Guide books available for $8 at the classes or $10 by mail in advance (at the moment Im horribly 'back ordered' on them until next week). As another way to pay for this trip, I can also build a homebrew biodiesel processor for anyone who is 'along the way' for $200 plus the cost of parts, if you aren't going to one of the workshops. I would like to repeat this whole circus next summer as well, so write me if you want to host a class then, or have ideas on an event (fair, festival, etc) in your area at which I could co-ordinate demonstration of biodiesel. Next summer I'd like to go back to the Northeast for classes also. Biodiesel Appleseed Tour dates: September 1 and 2: Salt Lake City, Utah: Comprehensive Homebrew Class, (one seminar split up into two evenings): 6-9 pm each night. Hosted by www.utahbiodiesel.org $20-$50 sliding scale of your choice covers both nights. September 4 and 5: Denver, Colorado, hosted by Lorance Romero and Denver Biodiesel co-op ( www.Denverbiodiesel.com): More firm details coming soon: we're talking about having a homebrew class, an SVO demonstration/car show, and perhaps an equipment building and equipment design class on this weekend session. You do not have to attend both days. Please email me by August 26 if you're interested in building a processor at this class, so we can arrange to have your processor parts ready. September 10-14th, Pittsboro, NC: Five-day Biodiesel Intensive Course with Rachel Burton and Maria 'Mark' Alovert hosted by Piedmont Biofuels (www.biofuels.coop), $100. Attend all (five days) or part (first three days) of this immersion course. One of the weekday dates is an opportunity to build your own equipment, if you would like to build a processor or system, please email me by September 3 to arrange for equipment parts purchase. September 18 Berlin, Maryland (Eastern Shore): Biodiesel Homebrew Comprehensive Class $20-$50 sliding scale September 19 Berlin Maryland: Biodiesel Homebrew Equipment Building Class $20-$50 sliding scale, please let me know by September 9 if you would like to build biodiesel equipment at this class so we can arrange parts purchase. September 22 or 23 (very tentative and dates are unconfirmed) : Boone, NC September 25 and 26th (dates are unconfirmed): Asheville NC: Biodiesel Homebrew Comprehensive Class, and Biodiesel Homebrew Equipment Building Class, same situation as above, please email me by Sept 16 to make arrangements for parts purchase once this class date is confirmed. Sometime during the week of Sept 27-oct 1 (tentative): some kind of shorter evening presentation in Cincinatti, possibly on the 29th October 2
[biofuel] Five-day Biodiesel Intensive Course, North Carolina, September 10-13
Please forward to any other relevant lists... ** Biodiesel Homebrew Intensive Course September 10-13, 2004 Pittsboro, North Carolina (near Chapel Hill) $100 With Rachel Burton of Piedmont Biofuels and Maria 'Mark' Alovert of www.LocalB100.com For more information please email [EMAIL PROTECTED] Join us for all or part of an intensive five-day immersion course in biodiesel production techniques. This unique course is entirely hands-on and you will gain hours of homebrew biodiesel production and testing experience. Students will make biodiesel with different feedstocks, techniques, alcohols, and catalysts, test resulting fuel for quality, perform experiments to troubleshoot 'problems', build equipment and processors, and see a variety of technologies in use. We will discuss the biodiesel industry, appropriate-technology applications for biodiesel, and biodiesel co-ops. The solar-heated homebrew demonstration facility where the course takes place- Piedmont Biofuels Co-op, conducts small-scale oilseed research, acts as a distribution point for commercial biodiesel, and is a central information clearinghouse for biodiesel users in this area. Rachel Burton is head of the automotive department at Central Carolina Community College and co-teaches the 's Biofuels program www.biofuels.coop Maria Mark Alovert teaches biodiesel homebrewing courses, co-organized a conference on sustainability within commercial biodiesel, and is the author of a selfpublished book on homebrewing, the Biodiesel Homebrew Guide. www.localB100.com This is a five-day class, although it is possible to attend just the Friday-Sunday classes. Info on area accommodations is available, with some limited free camping possible. Below is the syllabus that we are covering. More details will be available at www.localB100.com soon. Introduction to biofuels Fuel properties Diesel engines overview Safety Simple lab equipment and small reactors Titration 1-liter batches Failures and recovering failed batches Ethanol and KOH Quality testing Bubblewashing and mistwashing Troubleshooting and fixing emulsion Acid-base biodiesel Site tour of two homebrew 'plants' (Piedmont Biofuels and Mark's portable demonstration system) Equipment: materials compatibility Safety in equipment design Build a water heater-based reactor 'Bring your own tank'- universal plumbing design Wash tanks, standpipe and dip tube separations vessels Separation factors for glycerol 'Glycerol-water remix' prewash method (University of Idaho glycerol remix) Build a methanol recovery system for Piedmont Biofuels Ventilation basics and site safety Oil collections and grease handling/straining/pumping Dewatering oil Solar heat for biodiesel process (working example on site) Composting glycerol, other uses and safe handling of glycerol byproduct Chemical purification of glycerol Materials handling- options for moving barrels and other weight, pumping fluids, drum grounding, handling methanol safely Suppliers for equipment Hands-on diesel fuel filter change and fuel system hose discussion Oil burners, heat exchangers, and safe heating with burners Oil crops discussion (on-site feedstock growing research) * www.LocalB100.com www.veggieavenger.com/media- open-design homebrew biodiesel equipment plans www.groups.yahoo.com/group/local-b100-biz-biodiesel co-ops and biodiesel small business discussion forum www.groups.yahoo.com/group/biodieselbasics -the alternative Yahoo biodiesel list [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] Yahoo! Groups Sponsor ~-- Yahoo! Domains - Claim yours for only $14.70 http://us.click.yahoo.com/Z1wmxD/DREIAA/yQLSAA/FGYolB/TM ~- Biofuel at Journey to Forever: http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html Biofuels list archives: http://infoarchive.net/sgroup/biofuel/ Please do NOT send Unsubscribe messages to the list address. To unsubscribe, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Yahoo! Groups Links * To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/biofuel/ * To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] * Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
[biofuel] Correction: course is September 10-14
I had a typo error on the Pittsboro NC class announcement. It is taking place September 10-14th, not 13th. If you forward the original announcement, please correct the date. Thank you! mark ** Biodiesel Homebrew Intensive Course September 10-13, 2004 Pittsboro, North Carolina (near Chapel Hill) Yahoo! Groups Sponsor ~-- Yahoo! Domains - Claim yours for only $14.70 http://us.click.yahoo.com/Z1wmxD/DREIAA/yQLSAA/FGYolB/TM ~- Biofuel at Journey to Forever: http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html Biofuels list archives: http://infoarchive.net/sgroup/biofuel/ Please do NOT send Unsubscribe messages to the list address. To unsubscribe, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Yahoo! Groups Links * To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/biofuel/ * To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] * Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
[biofuel] Re: [local-b100-biz] why BD over straight oil?
Someone asked about svo versus biodiesel on another list so I took a crack at answering... *** At 07:24 AM 8/14/2004 -0600, you wrote: I have run across a few people that have modified their vehicles to run on straight vegetable oil, at about $800, as opposed to converting it to BD first. What are the pros and cons? James McDougal I wrote: ** The cost of a conversion varies, but in my area it's commonly much more expensive for a non-mechanic to get their car converted than just the cost of an $800 kit- so it depends on whether you're installing your own or not. At one point, Craig Reece of Neoteric was actually running the numbers for some customers who couldnt' really afford a professional installation, and showing them that it was more economical for some of them to stay unconverted and to use commercial biodiesel instead. Of course, with the very high cost of commercial biodiesel now, this is probably no longer economical, though I dont' know quite what formula he was using. Some people do their own junkyard svo conversions for less than the $800 of a kit. A pro installation here costs about $2000 if I recall correctly. That obviously depends on the kit used also. Biodiesel processors vary in cost but the 'readymade' ones are universally inferior to a cheap homebuilt, and homebuilts are easy to build even with no mechanic background. Some vehicles have had problems with improperly done SVO conversions- in my case I don't want to try it on my Stanadyne injection pump because many of these have seized in my area when the experimental or 'homebuilt' conversions didn't go well (I think mostly because oil didn't get hot enough and the owners weren't monitoring temperature properly, but there were other cases where that's not completely obviously the problem). ALso, there are emissions questions about SVO that have been answered about biodiesel: Many tests that have been done to look at the emissions of SVO were flawed studies- they looked at unheated SVO and concluded that it produces atrocious emissions (see http://bengal.missouri.edu/~pavt0689/Review_Utilization_of_Rapeseed_Oil.pdf ) but there have been very few, if any, comparable studies on 'properly done' heated two-tank SVO. Steve Howell of the NBB (anti-SVO people) told me recently that there were new studies on 'raw oil' (see University of Idaho website for a writeup of some of these flawed studies by the way) which showed high formaldehyde and aldehyde emissions. I didn't find out from him if this was a 'cold SVO' study or not. Charlie Anderson from Greasel supposedly participated in a study in Japan on 'properly done' SVO (I think) which showed higher NOx supposedly but lower overall emissions if the second hand info I was told was correct. (somebody correct me please). based on the 'cold SVO' studies, it seems to me logical that SOMEWHERE along the continuum of 'biodiesel' (good emissions) to 'properly done SVO' (not enough data) to 'cold unheated SVO' (poor emissions), you should start to see differences in emissions. No one has properly studied yet what those emissions differences are accounting for all the different factors, and I suspect that they will vary depending on the type of fuel system and engine and operating conditions and SVO technology used. However, if you are only looking for the benefits of the 'renewable energy' aspect of biofuels, then by all means SVO comes out on top of biodiesel, assuming that you are NOT spending too much of your time burning petrodiesel from your two-tank system (ie what's called the 'shorttrip problem', not all kits have this problem). If you're looking at the costs of the two technologies, it is usually cheaper to build your own biodiesel processor (anything from $50 to $250 produces good processors) than to buy a kit (though junkyard SVO conversions are comparable at times) and it is easier for someone with no mechanical knowledge to build a processor than to do a conversion well. Biodiesel won't usually disrupt your driving while you go through the building process or the learning curve. I don't know how much time Ive spent talking to SVOers whose vehicles were broken down (or whose SVO systems weren't working temporarily) as a result of problems with junkyard conversions. Some of them are competent mechanical geniuses (for instance my friend Jess Burge who kept the Julia Butterfly SVO tour bus going last year, is right at this moment 'stuck' trying to figure out why his VegTherm is putting out air bubbles when hot, and whether or not this air did some damage on several vehicles he's used the same exact VegTherm in- and the man is brilliant at SVO matters and diesel mechanics in general) and the troubleshooting was still tricky (Im an auto mechanic as well so I'm not writing this with a 'technophobia' perspective) . In homebrew biodiesel you're likely to have a high learning curve and
[biofuel] More homebrew biodiesel processors for sale, Berkeley Ca
(San Francisco Bay Area:) I'm gearing up for a teaching tour- I'll be doing biodiesel homebrewing classes in the Midwest for the next two months. I'm fundraising for the trip (trying to buy a van and a new computer in the next two weeks) by selling biodiesel processors built from barrels or water heaters- the cost is parts costs plus $200 labor. The deal is as follows: You provide a new or used water heater (I might know of ONE that's available) and I shop for the plumbing parts, I find you a wash tank barrel, and I put it all together- the result is a processor plus wash tank. The system is pretty much ready-to-go other than your lab ware- it fills itself from buckets or from 5-gallon oil jugs- and one pump does all tasks if needed (it's more efficient to eventually buy an additional utility pump, but for a starter you'll be fine with the one-pump philosophy). The processor looks something like this one http://www.journeytoforever.org/biodiesel_processor8.html and comes with the same standpipe wash tank diagrammed at the bottom of that page. For extensive details on building your own, please see the original material in the open-source biodiesel equipment plans forum at: http://www.veggieavenger.com/avengerboard/viewtopic.php?t=332postdays=0postorder=ascstart=0 . Cost: The cost of parts: $180 labor: $200 water heater if you can't get a free used one: $200 approx. So maximum cost is about $580, but if you can find a free electric water heater you're looking at $380. Barrel processors ($440): The other possibility is that of barrel-based processors. I can weld up a 55-gallon drum into a decent processor (not cone bottom though, but with two drains that minimise the need for a coned tank). These are $440 for the whole system (because the welding adds a tremendous amount of time, and because I need to buy additional electric parts to convert it to a heatable tank) Also a heads-up- I think that a few biodiesel activists locally and nationally are forming a collective business to sell partially-assembled, 'bring your own tank' processor plumbing kits in the next few weeks (something I really encourage)- for a similar labor cost (ie parts plus $200). Once you have a plumbing assembly, it's easy to attach to a tank. So if you miss the Girl Mark Fundraising Fire Sale, someone else should be able to provide you a similar service later on and because it's a kit it could be mail-ordered. Stay tuned. Thank you, Mark * www.LocalB100.com www.veggieavenger.com/media- open-design homebrew biodiesel equipment plans www.groups.yahoo.com/group/local-b100-biz-biodiesel co-ops and biodiesel small business discussion forum www.groups.yahoo.com/group/biodieselbasics -the alternative Yahoo biodiesel list Yahoo! Groups Sponsor ~-- Make a clean sweep of pop-up ads. Yahoo! Companion Toolbar. Now with Pop-Up Blocker. Get it for free! http://us.click.yahoo.com/L5YrjA/eSIIAA/yQLSAA/FGYolB/TM ~- Biofuel at Journey to Forever: http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html Biofuels list archives: http://infoarchive.net/sgroup/biofuel/ Please do NOT send Unsubscribe messages to the list address. To unsubscribe, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Yahoo! Groups Links * To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/biofuel/ * To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] * Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
[biofuel] Accusorb beads- fraud?
After much online speculation about Acusorb beads and the overblown advertising they were hawked with, I finally met someone who bought the package- and it didn't work at all. Acusorb was the company that claimed that you only need to run oil through their magic beads and it'll turn into something resembling biodiesel (my words). Here's what the unfortunate buyers had to say: In our experience, the beads do NOT work. We are trying to resolve this issue with the manufacturer after getting the run around for 7 weeks with the distributor (Survival Unlimited). We just yesterday received an email address for the manufacturer and are pursuing them now so will post any additional results regarding our problem here. I was attempting to get the water out of some WVO with their system to run my oil hot water heater on it (Meredith wouldn't let me near the VW TDI). Long story short we didn't have any hot water for a few days; the oil was actually cloudier coming out of the beads than going in! So, looks like I'm the big fool. We threatened Survival Unlimited with bad publicity on multiple websites so here we go . STAY AWAY FROM THE BEADS..the pumps work well but you can find them cheaper elsewhere, same with the biopass filter...STAY AWAY FROM THE BEADS..!!! -Adlai Meredith Here is a link to a discussion in which these folks talk about what happened and the lame excuse from the manufacturer: http://www.forums.biodieselnow.com/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=3243 Mark * www.LocalB100.com www.veggieavenger.com/media - open-design homebrew biodiesel equipment plans www.groups.yahoo.com/group/local-b100-biz-biodiesel co-ops and biodiesel small business discussion forum www.groups.yahoo.com/group/biodieselbasics -the alternative Yahoo biodiesel list Yahoo! Groups Sponsor ~-- Make a clean sweep of pop-up ads. Yahoo! Companion Toolbar. Now with Pop-Up Blocker. Get it for free! http://us.click.yahoo.com/L5YrjA/eSIIAA/yQLSAA/FGYolB/TM ~- Biofuel at Journey to Forever: http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html Biofuels list archives: http://infoarchive.net/sgroup/biofuel/ Please do NOT send Unsubscribe messages to the list address. To unsubscribe, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Yahoo! Groups Links * To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/biofuel/ * To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] * Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
[biofuel] Re: Increasing methanol
--- In biofuel@yahoogroups.com, [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: I have recently increased methanol to 25 percent by volume and have had an easier time with the wash, it cleared in three washes. I used to use about 20 percent methanol. I hate to waste the methanol but it seems to have improved fuel quality. The color is the same, amber. Process is 60 min stirring 42 gallons WVO with a 1/3 hp motor and recirculation from bottom of tank to top at about 3 gal per minute (from the bottom of a cone bottom tank)Temp is 130 degrees F. Is there an easy way to determine exact methanol needed? Trial and error mini batches before committing to your main batch... and testing the resulting fuel from the mini batches. It adds another day to the process (to let batches settle properly enough to test I suppose) but it's usually not a great hassle to do lab work one day and biodiesel another day. ALso, take into account that it's very hot where you live, and that can help washes clear faster. Are you comparing your new results to washes from before the hot season by any chance? mark Yahoo! Groups Sponsor ~-- Make a clean sweep of pop-up ads. Yahoo! Companion Toolbar. Now with Pop-Up Blocker. Get it for free! http://us.click.yahoo.com/L5YrjA/eSIIAA/yQLSAA/FGYolB/TM ~- Biofuel at Journey to Forever: http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html Biofuels list archives: http://infoarchive.net/sgroup/biofuel/ Please do NOT send Unsubscribe messages to the list address. To unsubscribe, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Yahoo! Groups Links * To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/biofuel/ * To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] * Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
[biofuel] Permaculture Course in Nevada City California, ethanol book update: 9/11-9/26
This is a multi-part message in MIME format. Hello Friends, farmers, permies, and alternative energy colleagues! As many of you may know, I have been working hard since 1993 heading up the International Institute for Ecological Agriculture (IIEA), a non-profit based in Aptos, California. Our two main projects continue to be offering Permaculture Design Certification courses and finishing our book on ethanol as an alternative to oil for transportation titled, Alcohol Can Be A Gas!. For the next year, we will be focusing most of our attention on finishing Alcohol Can Be A Gas! and on the subsequent book tour scheduled for late 2005. This year's permaculture design course is being operated as a benefit for the Alcohol Can Be A Gas! Project. I'd like to ask your help in getting the word out about this course. We are encouraging folks to take advantage of the upcoming Permaculture Design Certification Course being held in Nevada City, CA from September 11-26, 2004. We will be designing a 200+ acre site, which currently houses a residential Quaker high school. We plan on designing the site for food, energy and income self-sufficiency, along with creating a biological endowment fund to stabilize the economic base of the school. So if you have been considering taking a Permaculture Design Course yourself you may want to take this upcoming course since next year's schedule is uncertain at this time as we work on book tour commitments. This course is a great opportunity to learn every facet of Permaculture and ecological agriculture from the best in the field. Whether you want to add Permaculture skills to your already existing landscaping, farming, ranching, environmental, teaching or building business, start a Permaculture business, help communities to feed themselves efficiently, earn a decent income on your own land or just garden and live this lifestyle in your own backyard, this class promises to be life-changing! This course is rich enough in material for professionals, yet presented in an easily comprehended format for the lay student. This course includes a one-day intensive workshop on Livestock in Permaculture Design on September 18 taught by Joel Salatin, an ecological farming pioneer. You may remember Joel Salatin as the keynote speaker of the Ecological Farming Conference at Asilomar this past winter. A few of our many other excellent course leaders are Bob Theis (international expert on Green Building), Ernest Callenbach (author of Ecotopia), Larry Korn (editor of the One Straw Revolution) and Jeffrey Smith, author of Seeds of Deception. I would like to share with folks that we welcome work trade and other creative trades to cover the course tuition. If you are interested in this amazing permaculture opportunity and would like to do work trade, we are open to creative suggestions (for example, massage for the course instructors). Please don't hesitate to contact us to discuss this option. We also are offering a limited number of two for one deals on tuition (the second person will still be responsible for their food and lodging.) We only have a tiny advertising budget for this course and we could really use your help in getting the word out. I have included an email announcement below. Feel free to cut and paste this into your own email and send it to those on your list you think ought to see it. Also, if you would be interested in posting flyers around your community to aid in getting the word out about this amazing opportunity, let us know and we will send them out to you as soon as possible. The flyer is also available for download on our website at: http://www.permaculture.com/newsletter/woolmanflyer.pdf. We would also be happy to send a hard copy brochure about the courses to anyone you think might be interested. Simply contact us with an address. Thanks in advance for any help you can extend us in getting the word out about this great course opportunity. I look forward to bringing you news of the upcoming book tour in the next year. If you are interested in learning more about our organization and the courses, check our website at: www.permaculture.com. For the Earth, David Blume Director- International Institute for Ecological Agriculture. P.S. You can catch me speaking on Alcohol Fuel at SolFest in Hopland this year on Saturday, August 21st at 4 pm. I also am doing an introduction to Permaculture course in Nevada City on August 15th at 4 pm at the main library. PERMACULTURE DESIGN CERTIFICATION COURSE Nevada City, California -- 9/11-9/26 Get your Permaculture Certification...it will change your life! What: 15-Day Permaculture Design Certification Course: You will learn all aspects of Permaculture and use these skills to design a 200+ acre site for food, energy and income self-sufficiency. When: September 11-26, 2004 Where: Sierra Friends Center, Nevada City, California Why:
[biofuel] Fw: Re: [local-b100-biz] fire safety and biodiesel regulations
following message is from our local small-business biodiesel distributor- who only sells B100, not diesel blends. - Forwarded message follows - Jennifer myself have been in conversation with the Berkeley fire dept. for 7 months or more. Following local practices we purchased flourinated polyethylene above ground tanks for use in our indoor wood frame facility. The fire dept - although located in a city that is running most of its diesel vehicles on B100 - was at first alarmed about everything from simply hearing the word fuel and making explosive associations to biodiesel's petroleum counterparts. After doing a show and tell where we brought down several MSDSs and a sample of biodiesel for them to experience first hand, and after paying a fire prevention specialist to interpret the CA Fire code for them (which is almost identical to the national code language) -we have (finally) received written approval that we can use the above containers in our location. This is simply for the storage of finshed commercial fuel. however, I believe it does set precident for such things in the state at least. They have not officially stated that they are viewing us differently than they would another type of fuel, but their actions seem to imply this. SaraHope Smith Partner BioFuel Oasis 2465 4th Street @ Dwight Berkeley, CA 94710 510.665.5509 www.biofueloasis.com Yahoo! Groups Sponsor ~-- Make a clean sweep of pop-up ads. Yahoo! Companion Toolbar. Now with Pop-Up Blocker. Get it for free! http://us.click.yahoo.com/L5YrjA/eSIIAA/yQLSAA/FGYolB/TM ~- Biofuel at Journey to Forever: http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html Biofuels list archives: http://infoarchive.net/sgroup/biofuel/ Please do NOT send Unsubscribe messages to the list address. To unsubscribe, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Yahoo! Groups Links * To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/biofuel/ * To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] * Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
[biofuel] Fw: Re: [local-b100-biz] fire safety and biodiesel regulations
following message is from our local small-business biodiesel distributor- who only sells B100, not diesel blends. - Forwarded message follows - Jennifer myself have been in conversation with the Berkeley fire dept. for 7 months or more. Following local practices we purchased flourinated polyethylene above ground tanks for use in our indoor wood frame facility. The fire dept - although located in a city that is running most of its diesel vehicles on B100 - was at first alarmed about everything from simply hearing the word fuel and making explosive associations to biodiesel's petroleum counterparts. After doing a show and tell where we brought down several MSDSs and a sample of biodiesel for them to experience first hand, and after paying a fire prevention specialist to interpret the CA Fire code for them (which is almost identical to the national code language) -we have (finally) received written approval that we can use the above containers in our location. This is simply for the storage of finshed commercial fuel. however, I believe it does set precident for such things in the state at least. They have not officially stated that they are viewing us differently than they would another type of fuel, but their actions seem to imply this. SaraHope Smith Partner BioFuel Oasis 2465 4th Street @ Dwight Berkeley, CA 94710 510.665.5509 www.biofueloasis.com Yahoo! Groups Sponsor ~-- Yahoo! Domains - Claim yours for only $14.70 http://us.click.yahoo.com/Z1wmxD/DREIAA/yQLSAA/FGYolB/TM ~- Biofuel at Journey to Forever: http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html Biofuels list archives: http://infoarchive.net/sgroup/biofuel/ Please do NOT send Unsubscribe messages to the list address. To unsubscribe, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Yahoo! Groups Links * To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/biofuel/ * To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] * Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
[biofuel] Biodiesel Class in Marin County, California, Aug 15th
Comprehensive Homebrew Biodiesel Workshop with Maria 'Mark' Alovert Sunday, August 15th, Mill Valley, California, 10 am -5 pm sliding scale $20-$50, your choice. Come learn a wide range of techniques to make homebrew biodiesel fuel, with hands-on practice, and an opportunity to see a brand-new, mid-sized homebrew site. In this fastpaced class, you will make several small batches of biodiesel, learn safety and basic lab processes, test oil and biodiesel for quality, and work with ethanol and possibly acid-base biodiesel process. We will also make a fullsize batch of biodiesel in a homebrew reactor, demonstrate washing processes, demonstrate purification of glycerol and it's uses, discuss biodiesel equipment, washing equipment, and methanol recovery equipment, briefly discuss heat exchangers and solar heating, safe glycerol/waste oil burners for process heat, biodiesel co-ops and production groups, and more. Please wear long pants and closed toe shoes, and bring long sleeved shirts. The class is held entirely outdoors (carport) so please bring extra layers in case it's chilly. Bring a potluck lunch dish to share (also, Whole Foods is one block away). An optional 85-page Biodiesel Homebrew Guide book is available for $8 at the class or $10 by mail beforehand (see www.localB100.com for details) For more information, driving directions, and to register, please email [EMAIL PROTECTED] with 'Mill Valley Class' in the subject line. Mark Yahoo! Groups Sponsor ~-- Make a clean sweep of pop-up ads. Yahoo! Companion Toolbar. Now with Pop-Up Blocker. Get it for free! http://us.click.yahoo.com/L5YrjA/eSIIAA/yQLSAA/FGYolB/TM ~- Biofuel at Journey to Forever: http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html Biofuels list archives: http://infoarchive.net/sgroup/biofuel/ Please do NOT send Unsubscribe messages to the list address. To unsubscribe, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Yahoo! Groups Links * To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/biofuel/ * To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] * Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
[biofuel] fire safety and biodiesel regulations
I just had a talk with a public information officer from a fire department in Washington who has been assigned to write a press release on biodiesel homebrewers and on any safety issues that we present to fire fighting personnel. She researched the topic extensively on the internet and came to the conclusion that homebrewing wasn't as dangerous as they were concerned it would be. She contacted Keith at journeytoforever who referred her to Mike Pelly and to me, and we gave her some more information concerning 1. common practices 2. what safety information is generally given out to homebrewers through the usual internet sources 3.the few accidents that have occurred and what caused them Essentially what started this project at their fire department was the fact that the local press published an article on someone who is making biodiesel with a drill-mounted stirrer (which practice has, by the way, actually caused a couple of serious accidents!), which scared her supervisor, who assigned her to research just what it is that we are doing and assess whether we a hazard. The fire department was concerned about two big things: 1. medical: what to do if they show up and someone is 'overcome' by fumes (she concluded that this wasn't really likely to happen and researched the specific kinds of personal injuries that are likely (longterm effects possible, chemical burns possible, inhalation injuries (presumably lye mostly for the last two?)) 2. what might happen to fire department personnel if they're facing a structure fire at a homebrew site. I learned from the conversation that there is a new International Fire Code that was adopted in the past year to unify the formerly divergent regional ones (and local jurisdictions can't adopt 'less stringent' regulations than the code). This fire code says rather specifically that in a residence, you can have up to 10 gallons of methanol in storage, and that bigger quantities of stored methanol would have to have commercial-type regulatory requirements regarding storage, sprinklers, etc (I'm going to find out what those are when she sends me the relevant code sections). Unfortunately, some homebrewers purchase methanol from operations which only sell full barrels. I am waiting to hear if there is a way to store barrel quantities 'correctly' by complying with those more commercial-types of regulations (ie in a separate cinderblock shed just guessing here) as that's a pretty limiting factor to some people. She is trying to decide what to do with the research she just did- she was originally assigned to write a press release but has decided it might not be the most effective thing. I told her I would at least post her safety article to the homebrew lists, which I think would be a very good piece of information for us to see. The position she is in, is not as a policymaker- ie she's not going to cause regulations to be enacted- so there's no real 'bad' (ie more restrictive) outcome of this project possible and it is of course very good to have trained personnel take a look at our practices (and, apparently, come out of it thinking we're not doing anything all that terribly wrong). She is concerned about sloppy practices and about less-educated brewers cropping up as the hobby gets more popular. She also described a concern about co-op type situations where people are making larger quantities of fuel and start to enter a more 'commercial' level of regulatory classification. Does anyone have anecdotes about fire department contact or other regulatory oversight at their homebrew locations, especially those of you with the larger-scale homebrew coop sites? Mark Yahoo! Groups Sponsor ~-- Yahoo! Domains - Claim yours for only $14.70 http://us.click.yahoo.com/Z1wmxD/DREIAA/yQLSAA/FGYolB/TM ~- Biofuel at Journey to Forever: http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html Biofuels list archives: http://infoarchive.net/sgroup/biofuel/ Please do NOT send Unsubscribe messages to the list address. To unsubscribe, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Yahoo! Groups Links * To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/biofuel/ * To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] * Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
[biofuel] Fwd: [wastewatts] Planning a Trade show.
reply direct, he's probably not on this list. Mailing-List: list [EMAIL PROTECTED]; contact [EMAIL PROTECTED] Delivered-To: mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] List-Unsubscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Date: Mon, 19 Jul 2004 09:37:04 - Subject: [wastewatts] Planning a Trade show. Reply-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Fellow listers: My partner and I are in the initial planning stages to have a trade show on any and all things to do with Alternate Energy and Off-Grid living. Our first show will be held in Toronto, Ontario (we are, after all, Canadian). However, if there are any manufacturers, vendors, etc., that are on the lists (especially with Canaidan reps/dealers) and would like to receive an Exhibitor information package, please feel free to email me off-list with postal information. We expect the package to be ready by mid-september with an April 2005 show date. Also, folks like Marc Cardoso that would be willing to be paid for lectures, please also send me your postal information and the field (s) you are able to speak on. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first show of it's specific kind in Canada (if not North America). A well rounded show coving Wind, Solar heat/electric, Woodgas, Fuel Cells, EVs and Hybrids, inverters/converters, integrators The list is endless. I think it is about time that large public shows of this nature start happening. The price of a barrel of oil will likely top $75 next year. The general public at-large will want to be knowing this stuff real soon. Lastly, if you are a member of other lists/groups that this notice may be beneficial, please let me know so I may join and post this, or forward this to that list. Many thanks. John Mullan [EMAIL PROTECTED] Yahoo! Groups Sponsor ~-- Yahoo! Domains - Claim yours for only $14.70 http://us.click.yahoo.com/Z1wmxD/DREIAA/yQLSAA/FGYolB/TM ~- Biofuel at Journey to Forever: http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html Biofuels list archives: http://infoarchive.net/sgroup/biofuel/ Please do NOT send Unsubscribe messages to the list address. To unsubscribe, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Yahoo! Groups Links * To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/biofuel/ * To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] * Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
[biofuel] a biodiesel/SVO class in Oregon August 7-8
OREGON BIODIESEL WORKSHOP, LLC, Portland, OR Loren Fennell, Biodiesel Producer, Fabricator, Co-founder David McMahon, Cloudburst Recycling, Inc., Workshop Co-founder Jim Mittelstedt, Diesel Mechanic Consultant Presents: STRAIGHT VEGETABLE OIL (SVO) VEHICLE CONVERSION, BIODIESEL PRODUCTION WORKSHOP Learn About: Converting a diesel vehicle to a Straight Vegetable Oil (SVO) system/Mark Lakeman's truck How Biodiesel is made from Waste Vegetable Oil (WVO) Biodiesel processor design safety More About Alternatives for an Environmentally Sustainable Future!! WHEN: Saturday Sunday, August 7th 8th TIME: 10am - 5pm, Sat.--11am - 3pm, Sun. Potluck Social Following! WHERE: 2223 N. Randolph, Portland, OR (directions available at registration) COST: $25 - $50; (Sliding Scale Ability to Support Alternative Fuels Energy Research) REGISTER TODAY! Contact Loren Fennell at: 503-493-0087 or [EMAIL PROTECTED]; Tell Your Friends too! Businesses supporting biodiesel production: Kettle Foods, OTA Tofu, Produce Row CafÂŽ, The Goodfoot CafÂŽ, Laurelwood Public House Brewery, Blanchet House of Hospitality, Gravy CafÂŽ, Mint CafÂŽ, Burgerville, McMenamins, Bon-Appetit, Inc., Rose and Raindrop Restaurant [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] Yahoo! Groups Sponsor ~-- Make a clean sweep of pop-up ads. Yahoo! Companion Toolbar. Now with Pop-Up Blocker. Get it for free! http://us.click.yahoo.com/L5YrjA/eSIIAA/yQLSAA/FGYolB/TM ~- Biofuel at Journey to Forever: http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html Biofuels list archives: http://infoarchive.net/sgroup/biofuel/ Please do NOT send Unsubscribe messages to the list address. To unsubscribe, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Yahoo! Groups Links * To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/biofuel/ * To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] * Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
[biofuel] discussions of the new NBB small producer decision
I was surprised that there wasn't more discussion of the new NBB small producer membership policy. Here's the two places where the commentary I got is found: http://www.forums.biodieselnow.com/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=3030 also Lyle wrote up his journalistic version and it's inspired some commentary in his 'blog': http://www.biofuels.coop/blog/archives/000107.html#more Mark Yahoo! Groups Sponsor ~-- Make a clean sweep of pop-up ads. Yahoo! Companion Toolbar. Now with Pop-Up Blocker. Get it for free! http://us.click.yahoo.com/L5YrjA/eSIIAA/yQLSAA/FGYolB/TM ~- Biofuel at Journey to Forever: http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html Biofuels list archives: http://infoarchive.net/sgroup/biofuel/ Please do NOT send Unsubscribe messages to the list address. To unsubscribe, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Yahoo! Groups Links * To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/biofuel/ * To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] * Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
[biofuel] ANyone along I-80 want to buy a biodiesel processor?
Hello, I'm traveling across country this month, 'by accident'- I really didn't intend to take this trip!, and I'll be going from DC to Maine and then back to California, taking Interstate 80 back. My partner and I are driving a couple of vans back here which he and another friend had purchased on eBay (it's a bit difficult to find a cheap diesel van in California these days), and I got drafted to help get one of the vehicles running. ANyway, this July trip is somewhat of an accident, and cuts into my planning for my 'real' biodiesel class tour at the end of the summer/fall (details coming up shortly). In my quest to fund the fall class tour, and since I'll be missing work to do this July thing, I'm once again offering to build biodiesel processors for people along the route of my trip (same offer applies to my travels in the fall): The processors would be the water heater-based Biodiesel Appleseed reactors from www.veggieavenger.com/media , which in general I encourage you all to build yourselves (it's easy). However if you want a processor built for you, and you are 'along the way' of the route of my July trip, I'll build you one for the cost of parts and $200 for labor, which will go into funding my August-November biodiesel class tour (ie taking my own vehicle, a reactor and a bunch of other gear on the road from August through November and teaching classes). The total cost for these units including my labor charge is either $380 or $580 depending on whether you can find a free used electric water heater or whether you have to buy a brand new one (they're about $200 usually). If you can find a closed-head barrel somewhere, I'll throw in a wash tank for the same cost. I'll be putting together a list of the fall classes tonight and emailing it out. Some of those class dates are also for 'equipment building' classes, which are opportunities for participants to build their own reactor. mark Yahoo! Groups Sponsor ~-- Yahoo! Domains - Claim yours for only $14.70 http://us.click.yahoo.com/Z1wmxD/DREIAA/yQLSAA/FGYolB/TM ~- Biofuel at Journey to Forever: http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html Biofuels list archives: http://infoarchive.net/sgroup/biofuel/ Please do NOT send Unsubscribe messages to the list address. To unsubscribe, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Yahoo! Groups Links * To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/biofuel/ * To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] * Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
[biofuel] Washington DC area: July 11 homebrew class, July 12th get-together after NBB meeting?
Just re-posting some info about the homebrew class four of us are doing next weekend near DC, and also an invite to meet the next day: There's still space in the class, so any of you who can make it 'at the last minute' are welcome to come- just drop me an email so I can keep track of how much lab gear we need to bring. It';s looking like a lot of fun with the people who are coming already. ALso for DC area people who are not interested in the class- a few of the locals, and us biodiesel visitors are meeting for a dinner at a restaurant later on on Monday the 12th, after the National Biodiesel Board meeting on Capitol Hill. The NBB meeting runs till 7 so it'll be around 7:30 or so, a bit late. I'll post details of the July 12 dinner get-together as soon as we know where we're meeting- drop me an email if you want to find out. Here's the July 11 class info again: ** Biodiesel Homebrew Comprehensive, July 11, 10-6 pm, Pasadena, Maryland (about an hour from Washington DC) an east-coast/west-coast biodiesel teachers collaboration: taught by Rachel Burton and Leif Forer of Piedmont Biofuels (Pittsboro North Carolina) and the Central Carolina Community College Biofuels Program and Jennifer Radtke of Biofuel Oasis and the East Bay Biodiesel Internship (Berkeley California) Maria 'Mark' Alovert of East Bay Biodiesel Internship (Berkeley California) Come to a full-day hands-on seminar on making quality biodiesel, taught by four of the most experienced biodiesel homebrewing instructors in the US. This is a quick-moving, hands-on class, where you will make several small batches of biodiesel, learn safety and basic lab processes, test oil and biodiesel for quality, and work with ethanol and acid-base biodiesel processes. We will also make a fullsize batch of biodiesel in a homebrew reactor, demonstrate washing processes, demonstrate purification of glycerol and it's uses, discuss biodiesel reactors and other biodiesel and methanol recovery equipment, talk about our experiences with solar heating for the process, discuss heat exchangers, safe glycerol/waste oil burners for process heat, biodiesel co-ops and production groups, and more. The workshop is in Pasadena Maryland, about an hour away from Washington DC. To register please send an email with your name to [EMAIL PROTECTED] Class cost: $20-$50 sliding scale, no one turned away for lack of funds. There is an 85-page homebrew text book available at the event for $8. If you wish to, you can order it in advance ($10 includes book and shipping, $14 for orders outside North America): http://www.veggieavenger.com/store/propaganda.shtml Because this is a fast-paced class, we suggest that you also see the following websites for some background material: www.me.iastate.edu/biodiesel (online course and technical papers section) www.journeytoforever.org (especially the 'how to make biodiesel', 'ethanol biodiesel', and 'processors' pages) www.veggieavenger.com/media (photo archive of homebrew equipment) http:biodiesel.infopop.cc (discussion forum on homebrewing) + Class will be held at Gardner, OâConnor Inc, 4433 Mountain Road suite 1, Pasadena, MD (directions below). Class runs from 10 to 6 pm, with an hour lunch. Please bring a brown bag lunch so we can eat together. Please wear closed-toe shoes and long pants and bring a long-sleeve shirt. Bring safety glasses if you have them. For more info about the workshop please email [EMAIL PROTECTED] If you're lost on the day of the workshop or otherwise need to call the site, the phone number at the warehouse is 410/437-0800- but they can't really answer questions about the class content. Directions: Southbound: -695 (beltway) or 895 tunnel thruway to I97 Southbound -MD 100 East towards Gibson Island (go all the way to the end of 100) -MD 100 merges with Mountain Road eastbound. -Go about ¸ mile: we are on the right just past Wolfordâs Well Drilling, -4433 Mountain Road, if you see Phelps Liquors or the Exxon station, you have gone too far. Northbound: -I-97 North to MD 100 Eastbound -MD 100 East towards Gibson Island (go all the way to the end of 100) -MD 100 merges with Mountain Road eastbound. -Go about ¸ mile: we are on the right just past Wolfordâs Well Drilling, -4433 Mountain Road, if you see Phelps Liquors or the Exxon station, you have gone too far. From BWI Airport: -Aviation Blvd to Dorsey Road eastbound -As you turn left on to Dorsey Road, stay in the right lane. -Exit onto I-97 Southbound -Stay in the right lane and exit onto MD 100 East bound -MD 100 East towards Gibson Island (go all the way to the end of 100) -MD 100 merges with Mountain Road eastbound. -Go about ¸ mile: we are on the right just past Wolfordâs Well Drilling, -4433 Mountain Road, if you see Phelps Liquors or the Exxon station, you have gone too far. Yahoo! Groups Sponsor ~-- Make a
[biofuel] wanted: someone to videotape Greasing the Wheels' event in San Francisco June 30
The Berkeley Biodiesel Co-op is organizing an evening presentation in San Francisco at the end of the month, entitled Greasing the Wheels: Firing Up San Francisco's Biodiesel Movement'. The event will be an evening of presentations about the Northern California biodiesel movement, where we will share experiences from the past three years, on the topic of co-ops, bulk purchasing coops, retail outlets, biodiesel advocacy and lobbying, public events, small scale/demonstration production, education, and regulations encountered in the promotion of biodiesel in the Bay Area. We will also have a discussion hour for people interested in organizing these activities in San Francisco, and a parallel 'general' discussion forum for those without the organizing desire. ---We are looking for someone who can make a good quality digital video of the event, for free distribution to others who can't make it to the June 30 event. We would also like to find someone who can edit this footage, into a useful video. These do not have to be the same person.--- The Berkeley Biodiesel Coop is non-funded and works entirely on a volunteer basis, and we cannot pay someone to do this, although we will take donations at the door and we hope to donate some of the proceeds to the cameraperson/editor. The Berkeley Biodiesel coop has been working at many aspects of biodiesel co-op work and biodiesel advocacy and education in the Bay Area for the past three years. We organize quarterly educational events for the general public, a monthly FAQ session for the general public, answer email/phone calls on biodiesel questions, write educational materials to distribute, have advocated for biodiesel use in local fleets, run a bulk buy program, and have in the past operated a demonstration homebrewing site. Please see www.berkeleybiodiesel.org for our current programs. Please contact [EMAIL PROTECTED] for more information about this event or to volunteer. Mark Yahoo! Groups Sponsor ~-- Make a clean sweep of pop-up ads. Yahoo! Companion Toolbar. Now with Pop-Up Blocker. Get it for free! http://us.click.yahoo.com/L5YrjA/eSIIAA/yQLSAA/FGYolB/TM ~- Biofuel at Journey to Forever: http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html Biofuels list archives: http://infoarchive.net/sgroup/biofuel/ Please do NOT send Unsubscribe messages to the list address. To unsubscribe, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Yahoo! Groups Links * To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/biofuel/ * To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] * Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
[biofuel] some biodiesel classes on the East Coast, Biodiesel Appleseed tour update?
Apologies for the big crosspost, and for the size of this email. I'm teaching or co-teaching a few biodiesel classes coming up on the East Coast, and have dates for a few of them set. I am working on a few other class dates in the Midwest as well, which is why this got posted to some Midwest biodiesel groups. It looks like I will be out on the road for three months teaching between August and October. I'm still trying to set dates for the classes Id like to do in the Midwest. I'll send out a separate email about this in a few days. To make this post even more confusing, I will also be traveling across the country in Mid-July (helping two California people buy vans from the East Coast), and though I have not scheduled any classes for that trip, I would be willing to teach people, if you could organize something on this short notice (would be weeknight presentations, probably a pretty local sort of event) Here's a few details: * 1. Biodiesel Intensive, North Carolina: The biggest news is that we're doing a three-day Biodiesel Homebrew Intensive extravaganza the weekend of September 10,11,12, , at Central Carolina Community College and at Piedmont Biofuels near Pittsboro NC (Chapel Hill area). The course will cover several kinds of biodiesel processes, building biodiesel system equipment, washing and other processing, quality testing and quality control, ethanol biodiesel and acid-base biodiesel reactions, testing for soap and glycerides, disposal and use of coproduct, some discussion of commercial techniques, and methanol recovery processes. We will build reactors for a few students in the equipment portion of this course. Please email me if you would like to come to this class and build a reactor or a system (cost is about $200 for parts if you supply a water heater and a closed-head barrel) There will be a lot of hands-on practice making and testing biodiesel, and the class will include a session at Piedmont Biofuels homebrew 'refinery'. The class is taught by Rachel Burton of and Piedmont Biofuels, Leif Forer of Piedmont Biofuels (please see www.biofuels.coop), and Maria 'Mark' Alovert ( for my work please see www.berkeleybiodiesel.org and www.biodieselconsumers.org, along with www.veggieavenger.com/media ) The cost of this class is $50-$100 sliding scale of your choice depending on ability to pay, no one turned away for lack of funds. To register, please email [EMAIL PROTECTED] and put 'pittsboro class' in the subject line. * 2. September 18 and 19: Homebrew Biodiesel Comprehensive class and Biodiesel Equipment Building class: Berlin, Maryland, 7 miles west of Ocean City: All of the above material will be covered, with less hands-on practice than the Intensive in Pittsboro. I will split it roughly into Homebrew Comprehensive Workshop on Saturday and Equipment Building on Sunday, and you do not have to attend both days,. although some advanced homebrew material will be covered on Sunday. Class fee: $40-$100 sliding scale for both days. Please email me if you would like to build a reactor as part of this class, costs will be about $200 and you will need to procure an electric water heater and a closed head barrel. * 3. Asheville, NC, October 9 and 10: Comprehensive Biodiesel workshop and Equipment Building Workshop in Asheville NC See 'maryland workshop' for details. 4. Midwest class dates: I'm also speaking with folks in a few places in the Midwest about doing some classes there ** 5. It is also possible that there will be a Washington DC area biodiesel class on July 11, email me for details. This class would be cotaught by Rachel Burton, Leif Forer, Jennifer Radtke, and me. ** 6. possible spur-of-the-moment, shorter classes/equipment building opportunity in mid-July?: I am flying out that weekend to pick up a friend's new van, and driving it back to California from Maine. (we're that desperate for diesel vans in California). I would be available to talk to/teach groups along I-80 (we think that's the route) the week of July 19-23 on our way back. I will have built a reactor for my fuel for the trip back, so you would see a system in action. I've posted in the past that I am willing to build Appleseed reactor systems for people, for $200 labor, $200 parts, and whatever the cost of your water heater tank is (might be free, might be another $200 or so) is, as a fundraiser for my fall trip (like helping me get my own van for the August-October tour so I don't have to do it in a smoky pickup truck). This same offer stands for this July trip. Please email me if you are along I-80 and are interested in some kind of class/reactor built for you/short weeknight presentation for groups, that week. Piedmont Biofuels is
[biofuel] Fwd: Greasing the Wheels presentation on biodiesel activism, June 30, San Francisco
Subject: [Biodieselcouncil] Greasing the Wheels, SF, June 30 Greasing the Wheels Firing up San Francisco's Biodiesel Movement Wednesday, June 30th 6:00 – 9:00 p.m. In San Francisco. The Berkeley Biodiesel Collective, and the Ecology Center, along with several San Francisco businesses, is hosting an evening of presentations and discussions to bring together biodiesel enthusiasts and activists from around San Francisco. First -- Experienced biodiesel activists and users from around Northern California will discuss their experiences with: · co-op models and community outreach. · bulk purchasing coops – leveraging our buying power. · retail outlets. · organizing public events around biodiesel. · small-scale demonstration and production sites. · biodiesel advocacy and lobbying; the Biodiesel Council of California. · State Regulations and the Biodiesel Industry; an overview. Then -- San Franciscans interested in working together to increase biodiesel access in their city will meet up to share their resources and brainstorms ways to organize ourselves and our interests. All in one jam-packed evening! Event Logistics Wednesday, June 30, 6:00 – 9:00 p.m. 521 8th Street, San Francisco, CA at the Incredible Adventures Office - 415-642-7378 For further information email [EMAIL PROTECTED], or see www.berkeleybiodiesel.org, or call 510-549-4000 ext. 777 Schedule: 6:00 - 6:30 Registration and Reception (Food will be provided) 6:30 – 7:00 Getting Up To Speed: The Local Biodiesel Movement, an overview. Presentation by several long-time biodiesel scenesters. 7:00 – 8:15 Hot Topics within the Biodiesel Movement: 10 minute presentations on seven topics from experienced activists. 8:15 – 8:25 Comedic Biodiesel Interlude! 8:25 – 9:00 Getting Active - San Francisco community members, businesses, and non-profits share resources, interests, and opportunities. Facilitated discussion. [There will be a parallel biodiesel question and answer session for those without the organizing bug.] Yahoo! Groups Sponsor ~-- Yahoo! Domains - Claim yours for only $14.70 http://us.click.yahoo.com/Z1wmxD/DREIAA/yQLSAA/FGYolB/TM ~- Yahoo! Groups Links [EMAIL PROTECTED] __ Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! Mail is new and improved - Check it out! http://promotions.yahoo.com/new_mail Yahoo! Groups Sponsor ~-- Yahoo! Domains - Claim yours for only $14.70 http://us.click.yahoo.com/Z1wmxD/DREIAA/yQLSAA/FGYolB/TM ~- Biofuel at Journey to Forever: http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html Biofuels list archives: http://infoarchive.net/sgroup/biofuel/ Please do NOT send Unsubscribe messages to the list address. To unsubscribe, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Yahoo! Groups Links * To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/biofuel/ * To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] * Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
[biofuel] Fwd: [local-b100-biz] Membership Coordinator Needed For New Biodiesel Nonprofit
Date: Tue, 15 Jun 2004 22:10:07 -0700 Subject: [local-b100-biz] Membership Coordinator Needed For New Biodiesel Nonprofit Reply-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Membership Coordinator Needed For New Biodiesel Nonprofit The Biodiesel Council of California is in need of a membership coordinator / administrator to increase our effectiveness. The Biodiesel Council of California's mission is to inspire socially, economically, and ecologically sustainable development of the biodiesel industry in California by educating and organizing the public, by lobbying for governmental acceptance of neat biodiesel, and by developing and protecting the public biodiesel supply. This position is currently unfunded. The successful applicant will be capable of procuring grants to cover their salary (part or full time as appropriate). This job will entail the following. Please note that there will be considerable flexibility in the position as you will be creating and funding this position for yourself, but these are minimum needs at the moment: Membership coordination: Creating and maintaining a membership list. Outreach and Education: Production and dissemination of educational materials. Administration: Maintain a central contact point for the outside world and for coordination of members. The bottom line is that if you are willing to write up and propose a position for yourself that is along these lines to the current membership of the BCC, we will gladly consider this proposal and work with you to more clearly define the role. Once this has been accomplished, you will work to get grants to pay your salary. Please reply to Carl Lenox - [EMAIL PROTECTED] Yahoo! Groups Links Yahoo! Groups Sponsor ~-- Yahoo! Domains - Claim yours for only $14.70 http://us.click.yahoo.com/Z1wmxD/DREIAA/yQLSAA/FGYolB/TM ~- Biofuel at Journey to Forever: http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html Biofuels list archives: http://infoarchive.net/sgroup/biofuel/ Please do NOT send Unsubscribe messages to the list address. To unsubscribe, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Yahoo! Groups Links * To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/biofuel/ * To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] * Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
[biofuel] Berkeley, CA, tuesday- Slideshow: OAKLAND to ARGENTINA on VEGGIE OIL
Hi, I know this got posted here last week already, but anyone in the Bay Area should come check out this amazing presentation! Mark OAKLAND to ARGENTINA on VEGETABLE OIL: 5 months, 11,000 miles via a 1980 VW Dasher running on veggie oil with a DIY 2-tank conversion Tuesday, June 15th at 7pm, Free Location: BioFuel Oasis, 2465 - 4th Street @ Dwight Way, Berkeley (510-665-5509) David, Mali, and their son Emilio tell amazing stories of their veggie oil trip adventure from Oakland to Argentina in their 1980 VW Dasher this past winter. As David says, We made it all the way on veggie oil, barely... They'll do a presentation/slideshow/discussion about their trip, and have entertainment for kids as well. Here's David's postings from the trip as it progressed: http://biodiesel.infopop.cc/6/ubb.x?a=tpcs=447609751f=159605551m=936602174 _ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor ~-- Make a clean sweep of pop-up ads. Yahoo! Companion Toolbar. Now with Pop-Up Blocker. Get it for free! http://us.click.yahoo.com/L5YrjA/eSIIAA/yQLSAA/FGYolB/TM ~- Biofuel at Journey to Forever: http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html Biofuels list archives: http://infoarchive.net/sgroup/biofuel/ Please do NOT send Unsubscribe messages to the list address. To unsubscribe, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Yahoo! Groups Links * To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/biofuel/ * To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] * Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
[biofuel] passive 'carboy' methoxide mixer method for homebrewers- photos
I posted this a while ago at veggieavenger but I don't think I announced it here (I apologise for double posting if I did). a link to the how-to- http://www.veggieavenger.com/avengerboard/viewtopic.php?t=403 It's a photo how-to on mixing up methoxide using the passive carboy methoxide mixer method. That technique is called 'methoxide the easy way' on Journeytoforever and it's a good start for small systems (ie reactor tanks under 50 or 60 gallons). I think that the biodieselgear readymade reactor also used something like this for a methoxide mixer. I added to the 'methoxide the easy way' technique when I found that it is possible to add threaded plumbing to the lids of carboys- it makes the whole process very hands-off and eliminates contact with methanol, especially if the local methanol distributor is willing to pump directly into carboys (ERC in San Lorenzo in the Bay Area will do this). mark Yahoo! Groups Sponsor ~-- Yahoo! Domains - Claim yours for only $14.70 http://us.click.yahoo.com/Z1wmxD/DREIAA/yQLSAA/FGYolB/TM ~- Biofuel at Journey to Forever: http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html Biofuels list archives: http://infoarchive.net/sgroup/biofuel/ Please do NOT send Unsubscribe messages to the list address. To unsubscribe, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Yahoo! Groups Links * To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/biofuel/ * To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] * Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
Re: [local-b100-biz] Re: [biofuel] You ought to write a book.
Hi all, I';m on the road with extremely limited internet access (am in fact about to go hike in the mountains for three days so Ill really be out of touch) so I haven't been participating in this discussion. But... I'd love it if someone, someday, videotaped one of my 'how-to' presentations and made it available for free on the net. The main problem is that setting up something like that is a phenomenal amount of work and I have _NO_ free time to take it on after I get back to California next weekend. Last week in Albuquerque my friends and I built a system (and made liter batches and a fullsize batch of fuel)- and someone made a bad-quality home video of the process. it's too low-quality to edit into something presentable for public use, but watching it made me realize that a video of one of the classes would be a good tool for the public. It'd be good if it were possible to make it available on the internet, though I'm not sure what this takes in terms of bandwidth or other downloading issues. As far as what Murdoch says about it potentially causing a drop in attendance at my workshops, I don't think that's a concern at all (and it would be fine if it did anyway, I'm not doing this to make money). The main problem for me is just the time involved in putting together a quality video sometime, and the large amount of work that goes into editing something like that (video production skill is something I completely lack and am not interested in learning at this time...) Anyway I'll put some thought into making this happen someday. I don't have any time to deal with it for the next couple of months but will keep my ears open for some way to make an internet video available. mark At 08:00 AM 5/24/2004 -0700, you wrote: On Sun, 23 May 2004 22:03:55 -, you wrote: Hey Keith, After lurking and occationally posting on this list, I gotta agree with you guys about Fryer to the Fuel Tank. I use it mostly these days for doing test batches. But, considering the wealth of info you and Todd Swearington and Girlmark have, you ought to collectively write something that would at least give Fryer to the Fuel Tank a run for its money. 'specially considering your background in journalism. And it would be a great way to help support the work you guy are doing at JTF. What say we all? :o) I said to girl mark before I went to that intro class, and am saying now, that I think at the least it would be a good idea to document some of her presentation by shooting a video and editing it and making it available on the net (yes, I know, some folks don't have the bandwidth, but some do). That would be less work than sitting down to write a book I guess, but on the downside, attendance and payment might slip if more folks were able to get her info for free. She did actually have an $8 book (about 80 pages she'd printed out it was not published with a hard cover or by a publishing house) that she had written that she was selling at the end of class, as well. I don't know if she has posted a spot online where you can order this (plus shipping, etc.). I'm sure some of us would rather see her rake in payment-for-valuable information than watch Mr. Tickell rake in money for his work. That book that she wrote might fit your description, or if she collaborated to have people like Todd or Keith add their own areas in it, or introductions to it, it might help add an extra level of anti-FTFT capability to it maybe just brief essays discussing the importance of countering the bad info that is getting out there. That would add a lot of work though. Fact is, she seemed to be selling something that might fit your suggestion. MM Yahoo! Groups Links Yahoo! Groups Sponsor -~-- Make a clean sweep of pop-up ads. Yahoo! Companion Toolbar. Now with Pop-Up Blocker. Get it for free! http://us.click.yahoo.com/L5YrjA/eSIIAA/yQLSAA/FGYolB/TM -~- Biofuel at Journey to Forever: http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html Biofuels list archives: http://infoarchive.net/sgroup/biofuel/ Please do NOT send Unsubscribe messages to the list address. To unsubscribe, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Yahoo! Groups Links * To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/biofuel/ * To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] * Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
[biofuel] Biodiesel Equipment Workshop, Berkeley, May 30
Biodiesel Equipment Class May 30, 12-6 At Tinkers Workshop Shorebird facility, 80 Bolivar Dr, Berkeley (please note: this is not the Tinkers' Workshop better-known main site) No pre-registration needed, please come! Cost: $20-$50 sliding scale Optional 85-page homebrew biodiesel guidebook available for $8. Directions to site: I-80 to University exit Go east on University to 6th st (which is the first right you can make) Turn right on 6th st Go right on Addison Go to the waterfront, and make a left Go one block, site will be on your right Address: 80 Bolivar Dr. This is a class on the equipment needs for homebrewing biodiesel fuel. Please see www.journeytoforever.org to familiarise yourself with the homebrewing process. I am also teaching a comprehensive homebrewing class at Solar Living Institute in Hopland the day before- please see http://store.solarlivingstore.com/bifufrve2920.html for registration to the Hopland class. Biodiesel equipment at the May 30th class will be an 'Appleseed' water heater-based biodiesel reactor, a standpipe wash tank, methanol recovery condensers and a counterflow heat exchanger, gear pump built out of an engine oil sump pump, mistwashing equipment and homemade polyethylene bubblewash aerator. We will discuss the biodiesel reaction, compatible materials, engineering and designing a system, other kinds and sizes of tanks, plumbing tools, safety, basic plumbing and wiring, basics of pumps, methoxide mixer options, methanol recovery and vacuum-assisted methanol recovery. [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] Biofuel at Journey to Forever: http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html Biofuels list archives: http://infoarchive.net/sgroup/biofuel/ Please do NOT send Unsubscribe messages to the list address. To unsubscribe, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Yahoo! Groups Links * To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/biofuel/ * To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] * Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
[biofuel] Biodiesel Equipment Class, berkeley, Ca, May 30
Homebrew Biodiesel Equipment Building and Design Class May 30, 12-6 Berkeley CA email me for directions to the workshop site: [EMAIL PROTECTED] $20-$50 sliding scale optional 80-page biodiesel homebrewing guidebook available $8 I am teaching a one-day biodiesel equipment building workshop in Berkeley. At this class we will build a no-weld water heater-based 'Appleseed' biodiesel reactor, a standpipe wash tank, a methanol recovery condensor, and assemble basic wash gear. There will be a lot of discussion of reactor and system needs, engineering original systems, using any kind of tank you might come across, plumbing tools, materials compatibility, safety, basic plumbing and wiring, basics of pumps, and more. This will be slightly less hands-on than the two-day reactor building class I did in April but the same material will be covered. I am looking for ONE person who wants their equipment built as part of this class- if you would like your system built in class, please email me. You would need to provide a water heater and transport it to class (new they cost $200, used- perhaps free) and $225 for the other parts, which I would be able to pick up and bring to the class. Someone who only wants a reactor is also OK - the parts for a reactor only are approximately $150 plus however much your water heater costs you. For more info on the equipment, please look around at www.veggieavenger.com/media . If you are new (ish) to biodiesel homebrewing info, please familiarise yourself with the process by doing some reading at www.journeytoforever.org . If you are looking for a basic homebrewing class in the area, I am also doing my Comprehensive workshop on biodiesel homebrewing at Solar Living Institute in Hopland the day before, May 29. Here's a link to SLI's workshop info: http://store.solarlivingstore.com/bifufrve2920.html please note: I'm teaching in the New Mexico/Arizona this week, have poor internet access, and won't be checking list email as often as usual- it may take me a few days to respond to registration or to questions about the class. I apologise for any delay. Mark [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] Yahoo! Groups Sponsor -~-- Yahoo! Domains - Claim yours for only $14.70 http://us.click.yahoo.com/Z1wmxD/DREIAA/yQLSAA/FGYolB/TM -~- Biofuel at Journey to Forever: http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html Biofuels list archives: http://infoarchive.net/sgroup/biofuel/ Please do NOT send Unsubscribe messages to the list address. To unsubscribe, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Yahoo! Groups Links * To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/biofuel/ * To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] * Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
[biofuel] Testing for Soap In Unwashed Biodiesel and Glycerol
Here is an article I just wrote for my zine, trying to make sense of the standard US lab method for testing for soap in oils (I Am Not A Chemist). A couple of years ago a bunch of us were looking pretty hard at the Leonardo european vocational training website ( http://koal2.cop.fi/leonardo/ ) and this titration and other good testing info was on there- in German unfortunately. I'd love it if someone who speaks German could tell me the the difference between the methods. My objective was to write this up for homebrewers. If you can test batches of biodiesel conclusively for soap, you can then eliminate one of the two major factors when troubleshooting and doing quality control. Yipp!! I would like some feedback from chemists on whether I got the information correct, especially the conversions back and forth from weight to volume for unwashed biodiesel versus the number I listed (which is for commercial washed biodiesel), and the stock solution/ normality instructions. I want to thank Kalib Kersch for explaining the simple concept of normality to me and for writing me the formulas for converting from variable strength hardware store hydrochloric acid to something that the titration can use. Please dont' reprint this until we hear if I got it correct or not... Here it is: Testing for Soap In Unwashed Biodiesel and Glycerol: The standard titration for soap in oil, unwashed biodiesel, or glycerol, uses hydrochloric acid solution as a reagent, bromophenol blue as an indicator (.4% in water), and acetone or isopropyl alcohol as a solvent. Bromophenol blue turns from blue to yellow at an acidic pH (4.5 if I recall correctly). This is the point at which all the soap in a sample has been neutralized by the hydrochloric acid. Solvents that work for this are either acetone in water or isopropyl- which needs to be absolutely neutral. If it's acidic, you will need to add some of your old lye/water solution (which you'll have on hand from your free fatty acid titration) until it is neutralized. Do this in the presence of the bromophenol blue indicator, and add lye/water solution until it just barely turns yellow again. Otherwise, use acetone and distilled water: make up a solvent of 980 ml of acetone and 20 ml of distilled water. Procedure: 100 ml of the acetone/water solution or isopropyl .5 ml of the bromophenol blue solution Neutralize this by titrating to yellow using your lye/water solution that you have in your acid value (ie free fatty acid) titration equipment Add 100 grams of the unwashed biodiesel or 10 grams of the melted glycerol that you are trying to determine the soap content of. Titrate using .01N HCL solution until it reaches the yellow endpoint. This is the amount of .01N solution that is needed to neutralize all the soap in this sample. Calculations: soap in parts per million= (ml of .o1N HCL solution)/weight of sample*30.44 residual catalyst in parts per million= (ml of .01N HCl)/weight of sample*561 You should also do a blank titration and subtract any HCl needed for the blank titration from the weight of the HCL needed for the actual soap test in your calculations. To convert from the weight measurements above to volume measurements that we use, use the following: Biodiesel: approx .97 kg/liter (I'm not sure if this applies to unwashed though) Glycerol: approx 1.26 kg per liter (not sure if this applies to glycerol byproduct). You can always weigh some of your product and do the conversion from the results you find * 'sidebar:' Using Hardware store 'Muriatic Acid' as your source of hydrochloric acid: 'Muriatic acid' is HCL, sold in hardware stores for swimming pool maintenance and for concrete etching, about $3 a gallon. Muriatic acid varies slightly in strength. It is labeled on the bottle with the percentage concentration, usually somewhere around 30%. Here's how to make a .01N concentration of this acid for the titration (assuming the label is correct and you've kept the bottle sealed): 1N- 1 mol HCL/liter (ie 1 mole of H+) 1 mol HCL is 36.5 grams To make 1 liter of the .01N HCL solution that we need, we want to have .01 moles of HCL in 1 liter of solution .01 moles of HCL is .365 grams (.01mol/L) (1L) Find the percentage concentration on the bottle (it'll be close to 30%). We want to know how much volume in milliliters to use of this (approximately 30g per 100 ml) hardware store acid to make up .365 grams for our .01N solution. The formula is for finding the number of milliliters is: X [which is milliliters to use] = .365g / ( (percentage HCL in g) (100 ml)) Substitute the actual percentage from the bottle (ie 30.7 or 29.24 or whatever it says) This will tell you a very tiny number, like 1.88 mililiters. You can do one of two things: 1. Measure out the x of hydrochloric acid, and make up a solution of 1 liter of distilled water and
[biofuel] first correction: Testing for Soap In Unwashed Biodiesel and Glycerol
Typo: I wrote this and it's wrong: To convert from the weight measurements above to volume measurements that we use, use the following: Biodiesel: approx .97 kg/liter (I'm not sure if this applies to unwashed though) Glycerol: approx 1.26 kg per liter (not sure if this applies to glycerol byproduct). You can always weigh some of your product and do the conversion from the results you find Biodiesel actually weight .87 kg/liter approximately, that was a typo. I think. if I understood 'density' correctly anyway Biofuel at Journey to Forever: http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html Biofuels list archives: http://infoarchive.net/sgroup/biofuel/ Please do NOT send Unsubscribe messages to the list address. To unsubscribe, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Yahoo! Groups Links * To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/biofuel/ * To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] * Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
[biofuel] Upcoming Biodiesel Events Newsletter- May edition (mostly California)
Here are the classes and biodiesel events (mostly in northern California) that I know about in the next few months. This listing is from the california biodiesel events list, www.groups.yahoo.com/group/norcal-biodiesel-events . More details will be posted there for some of these events. If you know of other classes or demonstrations that will feature biodiesel or SVO, please send me the info for announcement. If you know of events (like fairs or festivals) that want a biodiesel demo presence, or know of places that would like to host workshops or talks about biodiesel, please send me their contact info. There are a number of people interested in presenting at these events. *** Biodiesel Mixin' Mixer at Path To Freedom: Sunday, May 16, 2004, 3:00 to 8:00 p.m. WHERE: Path to Freedom 631 Cypress Ave Pasadena, California 626.795.8400 RSVP: htttp://www.pathtofreedom.com/outreach COST: Small donations ($5-$10) At this demo, you will see how to make your own Biodiesel, become familiarized with a fumeless water heater processor, and last but not least ãsmell the tailpipeä exposition. 3:00 WELCOME ÷ Open Garage 3:15 BIODIESEL 101 ÷ Learn about biodiesel, its history and benefits as an alternative fuel. A 10 page Introduction to Biodiesel will be handed out. 5:00 POTLUCK ÷ Please bring healthful foods and drinks (non-alcoholic) to share and contribute to the Potluck. 5:30 HOMEBREW BIODIESEL÷ Become familiar with the compact fumeless water heater processor as Jules demonstrates the process of safely brewing biodiesel. 7:00 - 8:00 Bio-VIDEO SHOWING *** CHANGE YOUR FUEL FILTER Tuesday, May 18, 6-9pm Our first hands-on workshop at the Biofuel Oasis, Berkeley BioFuel Oasis - 2465 4th Street @ Dwight, Berkeley, CA 510.665.5509 [EMAIL PROTECTED] --We'll have you change your fuel filter so you know exactly how to do it, but we'll be there to instruct you the whole way. It's a good thing to proactively change your fuel filter every 3-6 months, so you don't end up having to do it on the road. If it's time to change it, email us to sign up for this free workshop. Let us know what kind of car you have and what time would be convenient for you. We'll make up a schedule, and send you an email reminder. Bring a fuel filter (German Auto Salvage on 4th St is a good place to get one), a couple screwdrivers, and possibly a clamp or visegrips and an oil/fuel drip pan. You can also just come and watch. * Biodiesel Homebrew Class! DATE: May 22, 2004, 10am to 6pm LOCATION: Lyle Center for Regenerative Studies, CalPoly Pomona COST: $20 to 50, sliding scale. if you don't have the cash, and you want to come, you are welcome. We'll go over theory, do trial tests, do test batches of your own, all kinds of talk on quality (how to be sure you got the good stuff to put in your lovely engine), wash techniques, and tons of talk on equipment... including how to make your own reactor. Brought to you by Kalib Kersch RSVP to [EMAIL PROTECTED] ** May 22, Oakland, Homebrew Biodiesel Class, taught by Jennifer Radtke- class enrollment closed already ** May 15th - informal biodiesel demo in Albuquerque, NM contact [EMAIL PROTECTED] by Friday the 14th with your phone number for more details * May 22, Tucson, AZ, 10-5 Homebrew Biodiesel Comprehensive Workshop, At Toole Ave Studios, 197 E Toole, downtown Tucson $20-$50 sliding scale taught by Maria Îmarkâ Alovert Email [EMAIL PROTECTED] for details May 23rd, Tucson, AZ- 10-5 Biodiesel Equipment Building Class 197 E Toole Ave, $20-$50 sliding scale If you would like to build a reactor at this workshop please contact me with your phone number by May 18th. [EMAIL PROTECTED] Saturday May 29th Hopland, CA Comprehensive Homebrew Biodiesel Class at Solar Living Institute with Maria 'Mark' Alovert http://store.solarlivingstore.com/bifufrve2920.html ** May 30th 12-6 Biodiesel Equipment Workshop (Berkeley) taught by Maria ÎMarkâ Alovert contact: [EMAIL PROTECTED] cost: $20-$50 sliding scale If you would like to build a reactor at this workshop (full biodiesel system cost is $200 for parts, bring your own water heater as reactor tank), please email me with your phone number by May 18th. ** July 2 Homebrew Biodiesel Class Hopland CA at Solar Living Institute with Jennifer Radtke http://store.solarlivingstore.com/bifufrve220h.html * July 3rd Straight Vegetable Oil Fuels Class Hopland CA Solar Living Institute Jennifer Radtke and co-instructor to be announced http://store.solarlivingstore.com/veoi320hoca.html July 12 and 13th National Biodiesel Board meeting, Washington, DC (?) www.biodiesel.org
[biofuel] The Tucson Biodiesel Workshops, May 22 and 23
Here are the details of the two Biodiesel workshops in Tucson this month: May 22- Homebrew Biodiesel Comprehensive Workshop, 10-5 Wear closed toe shoes and long pants, bring safety glasses if you have them, and be prepared for being in a no-air-conditioning building most of the day (the bad news). bring something to take notes with. I'll have lab coats for when you do hands-on 'lab' work. Also, we will take an hour lunch- please bring your brown bag lunch and some snacks/refreshments to share if you can. The food co-op and restaurants are also nearby. Bring your drinking water! The class will cover both lab-scale and full-size, hands-on biodiesel experiments, and we will demonstrate making a full-size batch of homebrew biodiesel. We will cover quality control and quality testing, bubblewashing and mistwashing, acid-base two-stage biodiesel, ethanol biodiesel, and much more. there will be a short equipment discussion although the optional equipment class on the second day will go into much more of this in detail. I recommend reading the www.journeytoforever.org and www.me.iastate.edu/biodiesel online biodiesel course first. We won't be covering straight vegetable oil conversions but I can answer some questions about that topic at lunch. May 23, Biodiesel Homebrew Equipment Building Workshop, 10-5 Come help build a simple water heater-based biodiesel reactor and a barrel-based wash tank. This is a simple, no-welding design but we will also discuss metalworking skills and how to work with other types of tanks you might find. We will build one or two full systems and will go into detail about pumps, methanol recovery, wiring and heating, basic plumbing, some metalworking info, and other useful information for building your own small or large biodiesel system. Some of the equipment we are building is seen at www.veggieavenger.com/media . Please keep checking that link as I will update it shortly with more of the design we're building. If you are interested in building your own system at the workshop, please contact me with your phone number before May 18 at [EMAIL PROTECTED] to discuss parts and materials (parts cost is $180 plus a water heater ($200) for the full system approximately, also I would need to find closed-head barrels for the wash tanks which shouldn't cost much at the scrapyard. Let me know if anyone has leads on where to find these for free in town). You do not have to attend the previous day's class, or have biodiesel experience to come to the equipment building workshop. I recommend first reading www.journeytoforever.org , the www.me.iastate.edu/biodiesel 'course' , and www.veggieavenger.com/media ** Registration details: Each class is $20-$50 sliding scale, with no one turned away for lack of funds. I also have for sale a 100-page guide to making homebrew biodiesel, which is an additional $8. Drop me an email if you think you are coming- but there is no 'firm' preregistration required. If you would like to, you can prepay by sending me the class fee through PayPal (which will make my trip down here easier)- my paypal account is [EMAIL PROTECTED] . Otherwise, you can just pay what you wish at the workshop. Directions: The location is 197 E. Toole ave in downtown Tucson. The cross street is 6th Ave. Most of the class will be conducted indoors but it is not an air conditioned building- again, bring plenty of drinking water! If you get lost, the phone number of Dave Lewis at Toole Ave Studios is 520 622 3735 . for any info on the workshop itself please contact me by email [EMAIL PROTECTED] Here's the yahoo maps link: http://maps.yahoo.com/dd_result?ed=4yd1GeV.wimSIxJtE.d5HybOY9aGmj2rPI7EvLQKSfCAkQ--csz=Nogales%2C+arizonacountry=ustcsz=Tucson%2C+AZ+85701-1210tcountry=usoerr=3005 Directions according to Yahoo Maps: From the West on I-10: 4. Take the ST MARYS RD exit, exit #257A - go 0.2 mi 5. Continue on N FREEWAY - go 0.1 mi 6. Turn on W ST MARYS RD - go 0.4 mi 7. Continue on W 6TH ST - go 0.3 mi 8. Turn on N STONE AVE - go 0.1 mi 9. Turn on E TOOLE AVE - go 0.2 mi 10. Arrive at 197 E TOOLE AVE, TUCSON From I-19/ from the east on I-10 (please check this with a roadmap as I might be missing something here) exit #101B - go 2.0 mi 12. Take the CONGRESS ST exit towards BROADWAY, exit #258 - go 0.2 mi 13. Continue on S FREEWAY - go 0.1 mi 14. Turn on W CONGRESS ST - go 0.3 mi 15. Turn on W PENNINGTON ST - go 0.3 mi 16. Continue on E PENNINGTON ST - go 0.2 mi 17. Turn on N 6TH AVE - go 0.1 mi 18. Turn on E TOOLE AVE - go 0.1 mi 19. Arrive at 197 E TOOLE AVE, TUCSON shameless sales pitch: I'm trying to afford to do more of these classes outside of California this
[biofuel] OT: anybody have a 1.6 VW diesel head or motor for sale?
offtopic: Does anyone on these lists in the US have for sale: any of the following Volkswagen diesel engines or engine parts from the Rabbit/Jetta/Golf family: 1. functioning (or at least not cracked) 1.6L, non-turbo cylinder head (12 mm bolts), 2. or a 1.6 turbodiesel motor in any condition 3. or a 1.9 (nonTDI) turbo motor/trans for sale, 4. or a crashed, cheap, parts VW with functioning engine from post-1981-ish that is located within a day's hauling distance from San Francisco?? I'm working on my biodiesel site's landlord's truck (s brother';s cousin's girlfriend's boss's cousin's) and we're a little stumped on how to proceed with it, affordably, especially since we don't have a good core to use if we're buying a rebuilt head. He cracked the head on a nice engine in a truck he was planning on eventually doing a major restoration job to, and he was additionally planning on someday putting a turbo engine into this old little vehicle. It's a tough call on where to proceed with it with the premature demise of the current engine, and he is now considering an engine swap to a turbo or 1.9 canadian turbo engine if we can find one quickish. Cheap turbo engines needing a rebuild= work for me. also, does anyone in the SF Bay Area have VW injection pump timing tools that I could rent from you (or buy from you) for the job? Mark Yahoo! Groups Sponsor -~-- Buy Ink Cartridges or Refill Kits for your HP, Epson, Canon or Lexmark Printer at MyInks.com. Free s/h on orders $50 or more to the US Canada. http://www.c1tracking.com/l.asp?cid=5511 http://us.click.yahoo.com/mOAaAA/3exGAA/qnsNAA/FGYolB/TM -~- Biofuel at Journey to Forever: http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html Biofuels list archives: http://infoarchive.net/sgroup/biofuel/ Please do NOT send Unsubscribe messages to the list address. To unsubscribe, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Yahoo! Groups Links * To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/biofuel/ * To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] * Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
[biofuel] article on Biofuel Oasis in Oakland Tribune
County's first biodiesel station cooks up alternative to gasoline Berkeley venture offers vegetable oil recycled as environmentally friendly fuel By Kristin Bender, STAFF WRITER BERKELEY -- BioFuel Oasis, the first biodiesel station in Alameda County, doesn't have a pump or those handy packaged wet wipes for your hands like a typical filling station. There's no squeegee to wash your windshield. And no place to buy coffee. What BioFuel Oasis of Berkeley sells is biodiesel and nothing but biodiesel -- recycled vegetable oil from restaurants and potato chip factories that's making a second appearance as an alternative fuel. Available in only 10 retail spots in the state, biodiesel powers any car or truck that will run on diesel, including any Mercedes Benz, old Volkswagens and new Volkswagen TDIs and trucks, said BioFuel Oasis founders Jennifer Radtke, 33, of Oakland and SaraHope Smith, 37, of Berkeley. At $2.90 a gallon, the fuel still isn't cheaper than gas. But it's far better for the environment, producing 50 percent fewer emissions than standard diesel, studies show. It's a little more expensive, but it runs clean and I find that it performs in the engine. I have a little more torque, said biodiesel user Michael Caldwell, who sells cars and drives a 2002 Volkswagen Golf Turbo Diesel GL. Caldwell averages about 40 miles to the gallon with biodiesel, far better than what a similar car with a gas engine gets, he said. In January 2003, Berkeley became the first city in the nation to convert to biodiesel for 200 municipal cars used by firefighters, police, Health and Human Services workers and Public Works crews. Last week, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency awarded the city the environmental award for outstanding achievement in efforts to protect the environment. Biodiesel is generally made from domestically produced vegetable oil, often soy oil. Some biodiesel users claim the fuel gives off an aroma like French fries or donuts. Radtke said it smells like an oil fryer. Studies show that burning biodiesel significantly reduces the impacts on global warming, smog and asthma. The cleaner-burning fuel produces 80 percent less greenhouse gasses than gasoline. It's simple: You can touch it, it's non-flammable, it's really safe. It's this totally amazing thing to use as fuel, Radtke said. It's totally unlike anything you think of as fuel. But even in the green and clean Bay Area, biodiesel isn't widely available. According to Radtke and Smith, both members of the Berkeley Biodiesel Collective, and a check of https://shannon.permutation.net/cgi-bin/nph-proxy.cgi/010110A/http/www.biodiesel-www.biodiesel- .org, the site of the National Biodiesel Board, there are fewer than a dozen retail fueling sites in California. Golden Gate Petroleum in Martinez and West- ern States Oil in San Jose both provide biodiesel to the public. We want to make biodiesel a legitimate alternative for whomever -- for soccer moms, for business people, for anyone whose values are aligned with ours, and who thinks it's the right thing to do, Smith said. One of the factors (for supporting biodiesel) was we are going to war for oil. That does not compute in my sense of logic, added Smith, who runs an after-school program and does landscape gardening when she's not working at BioFuel Oasis. Both women drive cars that run on biodiesel. Although the partners said they are only covering their rent with the money they're making, greenbacks can be had in sustainable fuel, said Pat O'Keefe, vice president of Golden Gate Petroleum, a fuel distributor. Compared to regular petroleum, it's a very small demand, O'Keefe said. But our volume seems to be doubling every year. But it still has a long way to go. It's a small portion of our business. O'Keefe said there is enough demand for his company to open a second retail outlet in Richmond this summer. Radtke and Smith hope to install a pump this summer and generate more business. For now, they sell the biodiesel in 5-gallon plastic carboys. The women are currently working to secure city permits and raise a few thousand dollars to upgrade the business. To that end, they have designed a founding members program to fill the piggy bank. Our founding members program is our answer to non-venture capitalism, Smith said. A donation buys a spot in the founding members program, the chance to autograph a future pump, a founding members membership card and a keepsake bottle of boutique biodiesel, possibly in a rosemary or cilantro flavor. Biodiesel and Sustainability panel discussion 7 to 9 p.m. today at BioFuel Oasis, 2465 Fourth St. A $5 to $15 donation is requested. For more information on BioFuel Oasis or its hours, call 665-5509. Kristin Bender covers Berkeley. E-mail her at https://shannon.permutation.net/cgi-bin/nph-proxy.cgi/010110A/mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED][EMAIL PROTECTED] . [Non-text portions of this message have been
[biofuel] Women's Homebrew Biodiesel Class, May 6 and 7th, Berkeley CA
Real Women Make Biodiesel: Women's Homebrew Biodiesel Workshop Thursday, May 6 and Friday, May 7th, 6-9 pm (On May 7th, come with snack food at 5:30, for an optional question and answer discussion on topics from the previous day) With Maria 'Mark' Alovert and Pamela Beitz Space limits the class size at this site. for directions and to register, please email [EMAIL PROTECTED] $20-$50 sliding scale, no one turned away for lack of funds. Come to a backyard based biodiesel homebrew site in north Berkeley to see biodiesel homebrewing in action with an all-women's biodiesel class. We will make a batch of fuel and will get to see several of the steps of post-reaction processing, as this class takes place over two evenings and we will be able to do our batch of fuel in 'real-time'. We will also discuss equipment building, and will partially build a water-heater-based reactor to illustrate. Co-taught by a metalworker, there will be an emphasis on the mechanical and equipment fabrication side of homebrew biodiesel, geared towards women who are complete novices at plumbing/fabrication. This fast-paced class will demonstrate oil testing, biodiesel reaction chemicals and safety, test batches you can do at home, biodiesel processing using the site's reactor, materials handling, quality testing, washing, acid-base two-stage biodiesel and biodiesel equipment. There will be a lot of student practice during the class. Bring closed-toe shoes and long pants/long sleeves, and safety glasses if you have them. Later in the fall we will run this class as a longer four-day Intensive at another Bay Area site. Please email me if interested. [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] Yahoo! Groups Sponsor -~-- Buy Ink Cartridges or Refill Kits for your HP, Epson, Canon or Lexmark Printer at MyInks.com. Free s/h on orders $50 or more to the US Canada. http://www.c1tracking.com/l.asp?cid=5511 http://us.click.yahoo.com/mOAaAA/3exGAA/qnsNAA/FGYolB/TM -~- Biofuel at Journey to Forever: http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html Biofuels list archives: http://infoarchive.net/sgroup/biofuel/ Please do NOT send Unsubscribe messages to the list address. To unsubscribe, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Yahoo! Groups Links * To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/biofuel/ * To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] * Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
[biofuel] nice biodiesel reactor photos from Maine
Hi, As some of you know, we have a homebrew biodiesel equipment photo and plans archive at www.veggieavenger.com/media - the home of the 'water heater'-based reactor as well as many others. If you have any photos of your biodiesel gear (or svo or waste oil burners for that matter!) and equipment or plans for building some, please feel free to post them there. There is, at that link, also a place for putting up 'files' - and I have a file of San Francisco Area biodiesel users' resources (ie where to buy commercial biodiesel and where to get more information) and another such file of SF area Homebrewers' resources (methanol and tanks and all that kind of thing). It would be nice to have more such files for other regions or for other areas in California as well. These files are something that you can print and give out to people while doing biodiesel demos (earth Day type stuff) or other educational opportunities. There is also an events photos page, for posting pictures of biodiesel/SVO events you've put on. Right now I'm working feverishly at finishing a new and updated article on my $150 Fumeless Reactor, and that long thread will be updated soon as well. The latest entry in the equipment forum is really beautifully built- by someone from Maine. Wow. http://www.veggieavenger.com/avengerboard/viewtopic.php?p=1020#1020 Yahoo! Groups Sponsor -~-- Buy Ink Cartridges or Refill Kits for your HP, Epson, Canon or Lexmark Printer at MyInks.com. Free s/h on orders $50 or more to the US Canada. http://www.c1tracking.com/l.asp?cid=5511 http://us.click.yahoo.com/mOAaAA/3exGAA/qnsNAA/FGYolB/TM -~- Biofuel at Journey to Forever: http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html Biofuels list archives: http://infoarchive.net/sgroup/biofuel/ Please do NOT send Unsubscribe messages to the list address. To unsubscribe, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Yahoo! Groups Links * To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/biofuel/ * To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] * Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
[biofuel] Biodiesel Class in Tucson, Arizona, May 22, possibly equipment class May 23?
Hello all, Biodiesel homebrewing Class, Tucson, May 22: I'm doing a homebrew biodiesel class in Tucson Arizona on May 22nd, and will be sending out more info about this workshop in a couple of days. The homebrew class will be a 10-5 event, and will cover basics of biodiesel process. I will be demonstrating a home-size reactor for a fullsize batch, and the students will be making and testing smaller 'test batches', with lots of hands-on practice. The cost will be my usual sliding scale $20-$50, no one turned away for lack of funds, etc. if you are interested in more information on this class, please watch the biofuel and biodiesel yahoogroups lists in the next few days when I'll put out more details, or contact me [EMAIL PROTECTED] Possible Equipment Building Class, May 23: If there is interest, I would also like to run a reactor-building class the following day- May 23. In order to schedule this class, I would like to find someone in that area who wants a homebrew system built so that we have a 'subject' for the class. The system is a water heater-based reactor and a standpipe wash tank plus peripheral gadgets. The cost to you for parts, not counting the used or new electric water heater which you would have to provide, is about $250 for an entire system including reactor and wash tank, bubblewashing and/or mistwashing equipmeent, filter, and methanol recovery condensor. Since I will be traveling, I can't find the water heater for you, and if you can't find a used one, buying a new one usually costs about $200 for a 50 gallon unit. If you are interested in having some equipment built at this class, please contact me [EMAIL PROTECTED] . If we schedule this class I will also be announcing it through the above lists. Thanks! mark Yahoo! Groups Sponsor -~-- Buy Ink Cartridges or Refill Kits for your HP, Epson, Canon or Lexmark Printer at MyInks.com. Free s/h on orders $50 or more to the US Canada. http://www.c1tracking.com/l.asp?cid=5511 http://us.click.yahoo.com/mOAaAA/3exGAA/qnsNAA/FGYolB/TM -~- Biofuel at Journey to Forever: http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html Biofuels list archives: http://infoarchive.net/sgroup/biofuel/ Please do NOT send Unsubscribe messages to the list address. To unsubscribe, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Yahoo! Groups Links * To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/biofuel/ * To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] * Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
[biofuel] possible Albuquerque biodiesel class, and correction to: Biodiesel Class in Tucson
two more things, 1. the biodiesel homebrew reactor system I'm proposing for the equipment building class below can be seen at www.veggieavenger.com/media under $150 fumeless reactor plans and Sean Parks' Standpipe Wash Tank' threads 2. I am also planning on coming to Albuquerque New Mexico the weekend before, and am hoping to do a class there on may 15th. I will post more info if this class happens which it most likely will. Just like the Tucson message below, I am interested in also having a separate class on biodiesel homebrew equipment building there- If anyone in Albuquerque is interested in building a reactor for an equipment workshop on the 16th of May, please let me know. See Tucson message for further details. 3. If there's a group of folks anywhere along the way from SF to ALbuquerque who wants to host a workshop, particularly shorter evening ones (the 6-hour class can be broken up into two evenings as well), I'm willing to come to Flagstaff or Phoenix or any other towns along the way and do a presentation. I'll be leaving SF on the 10th of May and coming back to SF on the 29th of May, and would love to do more classes in addition to Tucson and ALbuquerque. Please contact me at [EMAIL PROTECTED] mark Hello all, Biodiesel homebrewing Class, Tucson, May 22: I'm doing a homebrew biodiesel class in Tucson Arizona on May 22nd, and will be sending out more info about this workshop in a couple of days. The homebrew class will be a 10-5 event, and will cover basics of biodiesel process. I will be demonstrating a home-size reactor for a fullsize batch, and the students will be making and testing smaller 'test batches', with lots of hands-on practice. The cost will be my usual sliding scale $20-$50, no one turned away for lack of funds, etc. if you are interested in more information on this class, please watch the biofuel and biodiesel yahoogroups lists in the next few days when I'll put out more details, or contact me [EMAIL PROTECTED] Possible Equipment Building Class, May 23: If there is interest, I would also like to run a reactor-building class the following day- May 23. In order to schedule this class, I would like to find someone in that area who wants a homebrew system built so that we have a 'subject' for the class. The system is a water heater-based reactor and a standpipe wash tank plus peripheral gadgets. The cost to you for parts, not counting the used or new electric water heater which you would have to provide, is about $250 for an entire system including reactor and wash tank, bubblewashing and/or mistwashing equipmeent, filter, and methanol recovery condensor. Since I will be traveling, I can't find the water heater for you, and if you can't find a used one, buying a new one usually costs about $200 for a 50 gallon unit. If you are interested in having some equipment built at this class, please contact me [EMAIL PROTECTED] . If we schedule this class I will also be announcing it through the above lists. Thanks! mark Yahoo! Groups Sponsor -~-- Buy Ink Cartridges or Refill Kits for your HP, Epson, Canon or Lexmark Printer at MyInks.com. Free s/h on orders $50 or more to the US Canada. http://www.c1tracking.com/l.asp?cid=5511 http://us.click.yahoo.com/mOAaAA/3exGAA/qnsNAA/FGYolB/TM -~- Biofuel at Journey to Forever: http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html Biofuels list archives: http://infoarchive.net/sgroup/biofuel/ Please do NOT send Unsubscribe messages to the list address. To unsubscribe, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Yahoo! Groups Links * To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/biofuel/ * To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] * Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
[biofuel] details of Biodiesel Equipment Intensive, Santa Cruz, April 10 and 11
We are hosting an intensive biodiesel equipment building class/workparty in April in Santa Cruz, California, aiming to make homebrew systems for several people by the end of the two-day class/workparty. Additionally, there'll be a showing of some biodiesel documentaries and a barbeque potluck on the first night, for those coming in from out of town. Below are some more details on the class, and some info on the (optional) logistics of making your own gear at this class. ** Biodiesel Equipment Building Workshop Logistics: Date: April 10th and 11th, 10 am-5 pm Santa Cruz, California (directions will be sent when you register) registration: [EMAIL PROTECTED] cost: $40-$100 sliding scale, no one turned away for lack of funds Logistics: In this long workshop, we will build a very complete set of equipment for making homebrew biodiesel. There will be at least one example built of each item from the list below. I encourage workshop participants to use this opportunity to make their own equipment. The approximate costs of parts are listed below after each item (more details below on payment for parts also). If you are not ready to build your gear at this time, please, please come to the class anyway! Prior experience: We will not be making biodiesel at the class, just working on the equipment, although I will give a brief overview of homebrewing at the beginning so we all understand what it is we're building! You do not need any plumbing or metalworking experience. Please see www.journeytoforever.org , http:://biodiesel.infopop.cc, and www.veggieavenger.com/media for more information about the basic processes involved in homebrew biodiesel. There will be an optional biodiesel homebrew guidebook available at the class for $7, however, I do not have copies to send you ahead of time as I am in the process of updating and revising the book and will not be finished before the date of the class. system sizing (ie, frequently asked questions by people in co-ops): this $150 reactor design works up to about a 60 gallon tank, at which point you probably want to use a bigger, more expensive pump (but can reuse the same plumbing that we'll be assembling). The wash tanks will be based on a 55 gallon drum. If you want to upsize to something bigger, you will want more than one wash tank. I have one huge oddball 80 gallon water heater available, please let me know if you want it (free, you pick up in downtown Oakland) Costs: The class fee is sliding scale, with no one turned away for lack of funds. I request $20-$50 per day (ie $40-$100 for the weekend) I encourage everyone to come for both days of the build if you can, as 'instruction' and discussion of equipment principles will take place throughout the two days. Registering: email me for more information and to register: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Tools: if possible, please bring any pipe wrenches or large channel-lock pliers you may have. If anyone has a pipe yoke vise that you could bring, please let me know. Please wear closed-toe shoes. Workshop will be held outdoors (under a shed roof in case of rain), please dress for the weather. Building your own equipment at the workshop: We will create at least one of each piece of equipment from the list below. If you would like to build one of these to take home, please contact me at [EMAIL PROTECTED] , to make arrangements for covering equipment costs by April 5th . I will pick up parts for almost all of the gear to be built at the class, and I ask that you pre-pay for the cost of parts as early as possible so I can get all the parts shopping done and minimise the complexity of the 'logistics' involved in organizing this big workshop. Reactor tanks (water heaters): If you are building a water heater-based reactor, I ask that you make arrangements to find or purchase your electric water heater tank yourself (about $200 new for a 50 gallon version, less commonly, they are free if you can manage to find one used). When I look for a water heater tank, I generally call plumbers and try and find someone who is taking out an old electric water heater (to give us for free) or has a dented model for sale at a discount. Hardware stores, Sears, OSH, Yardbirds', and Home Depot, also sometimes sell off floor models or dented heaters. Check Craigslist.org as well. I can also make a barrel-based reactor which works similarly to the electric water heater reactors, but it is not a safe methanol recovery unit as barrels aren't rated for pressure or vacuum. The same plumbing that is installed on the barrel reactor can be later transferred to a water heater tank if you find one later. If you cannot bring a water heater tank to the workshop location, there is also the option of building just the plumbing assemblies to take home, and attaching them to the tank once you acquire one. THE EQUIPMENT (again, contact me by April
[biofuel] Biodiesel Coops
Sorry about the somewhat redundant info, but here's a coops-only version of my solicitation to join the local-b100-biz list. mark Hi all, I've had the busiest winter of my life, learning all sorts of annoying lessons by making a 200 gallon per day plant in my spare time (to the point where I had absolutely no spare time!). It's part of an ambitious homebrew co-op. I've been in three or so of these things in the past three years, and we've tried all sorts of strategies for organizing them and for organizing the equipment involved. I'd like to have a discussion online about other people's experiences with biodiesel coops or other biodiesel groups, as I see lots of other folks struggling with the function of their coops and I thnk it'd be helpful for us all not to reinvent the wheel (s) everytime we set such a large homebrew plant up. It's also somewhat related to small scale biodiesel commercial production. To this effect, I invite people interested in the issue, to join us at www.groups.yahoo.com/group/local-b100-biz, which is my newish biodiesel small producers and biodiesel coops-themed list. Some of my past experiences with this subject: I've been in the Berkeley biodiesel coop, www.berkeleybiodiesel.org (30 people trying to do god knows what for three years), and in Team Canola, (which is a much more manageable affair of 4 people, a reactor, and a barbeque). The new coop (Oakland Biodiesel Brigade) that's been eating up all my time in the past 6 months is a bit more of a cross between a business and a research project. All of these are 'under the radar' largescale backyard affairs and are not to be confused with businesses in general. (I'm not actually making this much (200 gallons per day) fuel (because I don't want to collect that much oil at the present time), mostly developing the equipment and the technology necessary for someone to work on this scale!!!). I do believe that on this scale it is necessary to take up some cross between commercial techniques and homebrewing, and that the type of stuff we've been working on at OBB and at Team Canola has some application for smallscale commercial producers and for appropriate technology/farmscale operations. The Berkeley coop has morphed from a homebrew group with a tiny reactor, to a bulk buy (of commercial fuel) group (with no reactor), to an education group (with no reactor and no more bulk buying for a while). Team Canola is a work of love by a group of mostly women biodiesel/low-tech-fabrication nerds- though last year it also met most of our fuel needs as well as providing us with a fun hobby and me and Jennifer with an educational site. Team Canola has been on hiatus for the past 6 months (it's located outdoors and we have rain all winter, plus Pamela had a baby, Jennifer had a business (biofuel Oasis), and I got dragged into building someone else a 'plant'). We used Team Canola for classes in biodiesel - the two three-month East Bay Biodiesel INternship courses that I ran with Jennifer Radtke used our site pretty nicely last spring and summer. I'll post some photos of that Team Canola site soon- we of course have no website or other public face, since we're a homebrewing 'cell' of only four people. other groups doing stuff on this scale are Piedmont Biofuels (www.biofuels.coop) which are very similar to Team Canola in size, educational mission, etc. You guys (Lyle and co) owe us some pictures of that place! There are also many more coops out there which are a bulk buying situation. In places where commercial fuel is not available at the pump, many people have banded together to buy large deliveries and distribute the fuel to members. SOme of these are businesses, or fun like businesses (Boulder coop, at boulderbiodiesel.com, is one very successful example) and some of them are less formal (berkeley biodiesel coop's bulk buy program didn't look like a business at all). And lastly, the word coop misleads people- I often hear folks asking questions about the difference between a coop and another kind of a group. anyway, more later. Please join me at www.groups.yahoo.com/group/local-b100-biz as well so we can start an archive of this sort of information. I will also crosspost here when interesting discussion comes up there. mark [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] Biofuel at Journey to Forever: http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html Biofuels list archives: http://infoarchive.net/sgroup/biofuel/ Please do NOT send Unsubscribe messages to the list address. To unsubscribe, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Yahoo! Groups Links * To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/biofuel/ * To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] * Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
[biofuel] Biodiesel Car Show, March 27th, downtown Berkeley
::**::**::Biodiesel Car Show::**::**:: Saturday March 27, 2004 10 am- 3 pm - FREE! Downtown Berkeley Farmer's Market Allston Way between Milvia Street and Martin Luther King Jr. Way Get inspired to end your petroleum addiction! Say goodbye to foreign oil dependence and spewing greenhouse gases with a biodiesel vehicle the like of which you'll see on display by the dozen at the Biodiesel Car Show. Mercedes, Volkswagens, schoolbuses and fire trucks and more will be there to show off the power of vegetable-based fuel. While seeing, smelling and experiencing the magic of combusting grease in state-of-the-art machines and classic rides, mechanics will be on hand to demystify the diesel engine. The demonstrations on biodiesel basics, production and troubleshooting your vehicle will satisfy your curiosity about the nation's fastest growing alternative fuel at this event hosted by the Berkeley Biodiesel Collective. Biodiesel fuel has many advantages to petroleum diesel- its renewable, recycled, non-toxic, biodegradable, and domestically produced. 100 % biodiesel fuel reduces emission of greenhouse gases by 78.3%, particulate matter by 55.4%, hydrocarbons by 56.3%, mutagenicity by 80-90% and sulfur by 100%. And this fuel can operate in any diesel engine without any major modifications. A little known fact is that the diesel engine was designed to run on a variety of fuels including vegetable oil. At the 1898 World's Exhibition in Paris, inventor Rudolph Diesel demonstrated his new combustion engine-- running on peanut oil. Over 100 years later we return to Dr. Diesel invention as a solution to global warming and energy independence. The Berkeley Biodiesel Collective celebrates Rudolph Diesel's birthday- March 18, 1858- with this car show with a twist! Saturday, March 27, 2004 Time: 10 am- 3 pm Location: Allston Way between Milvia Street and Martin Luther King Jr. Way, Berkeley Costs: Free Demonstrations Schedule: 10 am The Blender Batch- the basic process and chemistry of biodiesel 11 am Fuel Filter Change 11 am Diesel Engine Basics 12 pm Biodiesel 101- intro to homebrewing 12 pm Straight Vegetable Oil Conversion 1 pm Trouble-shooting your biodiesel vehicle Free valet bike parking DIESEL VEHICLES BY INVITATION ONLY. TAKE BART TO THE DOWNTOWN BERKELEY STATION, BIKE OR WALK AS PARKING WILL BE LIMITED Info: Berkeley Biodiesel Collective www.berkeleybiodiesel.org 510-594-4000x 777 [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] Biofuel at Journey to Forever: http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html Biofuels list archives: http://infoarchive.net/sgroup/biofuel/ Please do NOT send Unsubscribe messages to the list address. To unsubscribe, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Yahoo! Groups Links * To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/biofuel/ * To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] * Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
[biofuel] updates to reactor and wash tank info on Veggieavenger
Hi folks, I post photos and plans for various biodiesel equipment over on the www.veggieavenger.com/media forum and encourage any of you to post photos or diagrams of their biodiesel or SVO equipment there as well. If you register as a user to the veggieavenger forum, there's a handy 'topic reply notification' feature whereby you would get one (and only one) email notification if any more updates/replies to the topics you're interested in, are posted. I just put up some updates to the bung-side-down-barrel standpipe wash tank article, and an update to the one of the water heater reactor topics: Sean Parks' Standpipe Wash Tank: http://www.veggieavenger.com/avengerboard/viewtopic.php?p=999#999 Water heater-based reactor: http://www.veggieavenger.com/avengerboard/viewtopic.php?t=332start=30 Yahoo! Groups Sponsor -~-- Buy Ink Cartridges or Refill Kits for your HP, Epson, Canon or Lexmark Printer at MyInks.com. Free s/h on orders $50 or more to the US Canada. http://www.c1tracking.com/l.asp?cid=5511 http://us.click.yahoo.com/mOAaAA/3exGAA/qnsNAA/FGYolB/TM -~- Biofuel at Journey to Forever: http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html Biofuels list archives: http://infoarchive.net/sgroup/biofuel/ Please do NOT send Unsubscribe messages to the list address. To unsubscribe, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Yahoo! Groups Links * To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/biofuel/ * To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] * Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
[biofuel] Biodiesel Equipment Building workshop, Santa Cruz, CA, April10 and 11th
I'm running a biodiesel equipment building Intensive class two days- April 10th and 11th, 10 am-5 pm, Santa Cruz. To register and for location, please email me at [EMAIL PROTECTED] this is a hands-on class where we'll build: -A `fumeless' enclosed processor which can be converted to a methanol recovery still. Parts cost is $120-$150 for this unit -A standpipe wash tank built out of a drum. Parts cost: $30 -A utility or mixing pump built out of a washing machine motor and an automotive oil pump. Parts cost: $10 -A couple of methanol recovery condensors- a counterflow heat exchanger cooled by water, and a coil-type condensor coil built with flare fittings. Parts cost: $20 or so. -A polyethylene tube 'aerator' for use with bubblewashing in place of breakdown-prone aquarium air stones(parts cost: $5) -possibly a barrel-based reactor for those unable to find a cheap electric water heater -mistwashing equipment -pressure testing rig for equipment experiments -inline electric heater In addition there will be a full discussion and a demonstration of biodiesel equipment design parameters. The syllabus will cover: heating (including solar heating discussion) pumps and material handling agitation separation methanol recovery heat exchangers and heat integration washing techniques secondary containment materials compatibility with the processes used in biodiesel making welded versus non-welded designs reactor design that can be adapted to any style of tank dewatering of oil and washed biodiesel beginner 5-gallon reactor ideas elementary wiring elementary plumbing This is a two-day class and both discussion and equipment building will take place both days. Those who wish to build their own equipment at this workshop should get in touch with me now to arrange parts availability (to prevent logistical nightmare for me later in collecting all this complicated stuff). I can pick up all of the hardware, but you would have to arrange your own vehicle to pick up of your reactor or other large piece from the workshop site. Bring a pipe wrench if you have one or other plumbing/wiring tools. Contact instructor by April 5th if you are interested in building your own unit at this workshop: [EMAIL PROTECTED] A general biodiesel instruction manual is also available for an additional $7 at the workshop For photos of the processor designs, please see: www.veggieavenger.com/media [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] Biofuel at Journey to Forever: http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html Biofuels list archives: http://infoarchive.net/sgroup/biofuel/ Please do NOT send Unsubscribe messages to the list address. To unsubscribe, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Yahoo! Groups Links * To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/biofuel/ * To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] * Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
[biofuel] San Francisco area- used homebrew reactors for sale
I was planning on dismantling two of my old reactors and wash tanks because I am now using bigger equipment, but I thought I'd offer them for sale first before scrapping (and reusing) the parts. They're built from an upside down barrel, with a heating element, drain and separate dip tube for removing clean biodiesel, and have a removable lid with silicone gasket. They are flat-bottom, not conicals, but there is a dip tube for doing separations 'off the top' of the glycerol so they work about as well as a conical. They come with a wash tank that uses a 'standpipe' for separating water and biodiesel so that you can re-use your last wash water for the next batch. They make about 42 gallons per batch and use 42 gallons of oil and 8.5 gallons of methanol. The tanks are heavily insulated with recycled bubblewrap. I want $350 for the system. I don't have very good photos of these posted on the internet- but here's a link to a photo of one of these two-barrel (reactor and wash tank) systems in it's newer shinier days- http://www.journeytoforever.org/biodiesel_bubblewash2.html People who have been to Jennifer Radtke's homebrew workshops have also seen this exact design- it's simple and if you build it yourself, the parts for the reactor are about $120 or so, plus another $30 for the wash tank parts). I'm selling mine for more than that of course. If you prefer to build your own and save some cash, I've got instructions for a few different reactors at www.veggieavenger.com/media. Plans for and photos of the wash tank are at http://www.veggieavenger.com/avengerboard/viewtopic.php?t=333 I'm teaching an equipment-building Intensive class in Santa Cruz on April 10 and 11 as well. The Price: I'm selling these used reactors/wash tanks along with some new 'extras' for $350 This gets you a reactor and a new standpipe wash tank, a pair of carboys for methoxide mixing, and a polyethylene air bubbler tube (ie a bubblestone that won't dissolve) for bubblewashing. If you prefer mistwashing, I can make you a misting head instead. You will also need to buy a pump (can be a drill pump or a $25 barrel pump from Harbor Freight), will need access to electricity and a water hose, some milk crates or a stand for the tanks to sit on, as well as a scale (flea market) and some simple titration gear ($10), and an aquarium air pump (about $10)), and a filter ($20) ( I can help you find some of this stuff locally). Make up your own mind on whether this is worth the money or not- its' not a 100% complete system but it's close.. mark [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] Biofuel at Journey to Forever: http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html Biofuels list archives: http://infoarchive.net/sgroup/biofuel/ Please do NOT send Unsubscribe messages to the list address. To unsubscribe, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Yahoo! Groups Links * To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/biofuel/ * To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] * Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
[biofuel] homebrew education tour?
I'm flirting with the idea of doing a Biodiesel Homebrew Education tour this summer. It's still in the 'whim' stage and Im not completely committed to doing this- I might try and find a real job instead, or intensify my search for a sailboat, or something similar that might take up my summer instead or make it impossible to go. But I'm putting out feelers to see if it's possible to organize a tour on this short notice. What: The tour would be me with a pickup truck full of homebrew equipment, and possibly one or two of my Bay Area cohorts showing up to some of the stops as well. I can do anything from 2-hour intros to biodiesel for the general public, to five-day Intensive trainings. The most common class I teach currently, is a 7 or 8-hour comprehensive class. Most of the details of that class and the syllabus were in another email I sent here a few days ago. I would also be interested in taking my setup to festivals, demonstrations, or fairs, with local people who are already doing biodiesel work. I've got lots of literature and 'tabling' stuff for the general public. How: For a longer class, the deal would be: you or your organization: find a location that can hold 10-30 people, with indoor and outdoor areas (ie there's usually indoor lecture and 'lab' and also outdoor full-scale equipment demo. Quite often this is just somebody's back yard, driveway, or the parking lot of a business). I'd like to have access to running water and 115V electric, though it could be done without the grid electricity. me: I've got all the equipment to do the classes, any literature needed, and all the supplies including flyers and promotional material. where: I'm thinking of going to the Midwest Renewable Energy Fair in Wisconsin in late June, and I am helping with a class at Solar Energy International in the end of July. I'm also considering going to Tucson or further (Albuquerque) in late spring as well, as a separate trip. If I do this tour I will also go 'home' to North Carolina for a few weeks at the end of the summer. These places are all over the map and one of these stops lend themselves well to a logical itinerary. so: let me know offlist if you've got an interest in organizing a stop if I can come to your area, or if there are interesting events that I could 'table' at or otherwise promote biodiesel at (if I do decide to go on tour, that is). my address is wrench at tinkersworkshop dot org I am also very much interested in meeting people who are actively forming small commercial biodiesel production businesses, to talk about small producer EPA options and small producer technologies. Thanks! mark Yahoo! Groups Sponsor -~-- Buy Ink Cartridges or Refill Kits for your HP, Epson, Canon or Lexmark Printer at MyInks.com. Free s/h on orders $50 or more to the US Canada. http://www.c1tracking.com/l.asp?cid=5511 http://us.click.yahoo.com/mOAaAA/3exGAA/qnsNAA/FGYolB/TM -~- Biofuel at Journey to Forever: http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html Biofuels list archives: http://infoarchive.net/sgroup/biofuel/ Please do NOT send Unsubscribe messages to the list address. To unsubscribe, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Yahoo! Groups Links * To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/biofuel/ * To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] * Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
[biofuel] some upcoming biodiesel events in California
here are the classes and biodiesel events (mostly in northern California) that I know about in the next few months. There are several more 'in the works' which I don't have exact dates for yet, please keep checking at www.groups.yahoo.com/group/norcal-biodiesel-events for more details. If you know of other classes or demonstrations that will feature biodiesel or SVO, please send me the info for announcement. If you know of events (also like Earth Day fairs?) that want a biodiesel demo presence, or know of places that would like to host workshops or talks about biodiesel, please send me their contact info. There are a number of people interested in presenting at these events. Saturday, March 13th, 9-5: Comprehensive Biodiesel Class, Laytonville, CA with Maria Mark Alovert At Biofuel Station in Laytonville (northern Mendocino County, CA contact: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sunday, March 14 all day Biodiesel Council of California General Meeting at Yokayo Biofuels in Ukiah, CA Contact: [EMAIL PROTECTED] details coming soon at www.biodieselcouncil.org sometime in March/April: Biodiesel Intensive in Santa Cruz CA (one or two weekends) contact:[EMAIL PROTECTED] more info coming soon at www.groups.yahoo.com/group/norcal-biodiesel- March 27th Biodiesel Car Show hosted by Berkeley Biodiesel Co-op www.berkeleybiodiesel.org more info coming soon * Sunday April 25: Biodiesel Workshop in Pomona Ca (with Deanna Moore of Common Vision) The Lyle Center for Regenerative Studies in collaboration with Solar Living Institute, will be having a biodiesel workshop on Sunday April 25, 2004, at the Lyle Center in Pomona. Information can be found at the Lyle Center's website: http://www.csupomona.edu/~crswww.csupomona.edu/~crs or at the Solar Living Institute's website: http://www.solarliving.orgwww.solarliving.org ** Women's Homebrew Biodiesel Intensive: with Maria 'Mark Alovert and Pamela Beitz Richmond, CA, May 6-9 contact: [EMAIL PROTECTED] ** late May: Biodiesel Equipment Workshop (Berkeley) Berkeley see www.groups.yahoo.com/group/norcal-biodiesel-events for details ** Saturday May 29th Hopland, CA Comprehensive Homebrew Biodiesel Class at Solar Living Institute with Maria 'Mark' Alovert see www.solarliving.org for more details ** July 2 Homebrew Biodiesel Class Hopland CA at Solar Living Institute with Jennifer Radtke see www.solarliving.org for details * July 3rd Straight Vegetable Oil Fuels Class Hopland CA Solar Living Institute Jennifer Radtke and co-instructor to be announced see www.solarliving.org for details July National Biodiesel Board meeting, Washington, DC (?) www.biodiesel.org July 19-23 Carbondale Colorado (at Solar Energy International) Biodiesel Class Martin Stenflo with Maria 'Mark' Alovert see www.solarenergy.org * August 6th Biodiesel Workshop Pomona, CA, offered through Lyle Center for Regenerative Studies and Solar Living Institute see www.solarliving.org for more details * September 3 Homebrew Biodiesel Class Hopland CA at Solar Living Institute with Jennifer Radtke www.solarliving.org * November 14th Comprehensive Homebrew Biodiesel Class Hopland Ca at Solar Living Institute With Maria 'Mark' Alovert www.solarliving.org [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] Yahoo! Groups Sponsor -~-- Buy Ink Cartridges or Refill Kits for your HP, Epson, Canon or Lexmark Printer at MyInks.com. Free s/h on orders $50 or more to the US Canada. http://www.c1tracking.com/l.asp?cid=5511 http://us.click.yahoo.com/mOAaAA/3exGAA/qnsNAA/FGYolB/TM -~- Biofuel at Journey to Forever: http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html Biofuels list archives: http://infoarchive.net/sgroup/biofuel/ Please do NOT send Unsubscribe messages to the list address. To unsubscribe, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Yahoo! Groups Links * To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/biofuel/ * To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] * Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
[biofuel] Comprehensive Biodiesel Class, Laytonville, CA, March 13
Comprehensive Homebrew Biodiesel Class March 13, 2004 At Biofuel Station, Laytonville, CA instructor: Maria Mark Alovert Biodiesel is a renewable fuel made from any plant oil and other fats. It can be used in any diesel engine without modifications, and can be made easily in your backyard. Biodiesel greatly reduces emissions, is biodegradable, safe to handle, safe to transport and store once made, and has a very positive lifecycle energy balance. It is currently produced worldwide on a commercial and home scale. Because it is so easy to make, biodiesel is a viable alternative for local, home-scale, farm- and village- scale energy production. Come learn the ins and outs of making biodiesel fuel from used restaurant fryer oil. There will be hands-on practice in making and testing small batches of fuel, as well as demos of equipment, techniques, a discussion of the biodiesel industry, co-operatives, and a related discussion of how 'homebrew' techniques can be used as part of a solution for community controlled energy. Optional textbook available for $7 (75 pages). Bring a notebook and safety glasses if you have them, and a potluck dish to share for lunch. The following day, at Yokayo Biofuels in Ukiah, is the first meeting of the Biodiesel Council of California, an alliance of consumers, producers, and distributors for sustainable B100 biodiesel (www.biodieselcouncil.org) The class will be held at Biofuel Station in Laytonville, Ca (Northern Mendocino County, off of Hwy 101) When: Saturday, March 13th, 2004 Time: 9:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m Cost: $20-$50 sliding scale, no one turned away for lack of funds $7 for optional 75-page textbook To register: [EMAIL PROTECTED] or Kimber: 707-984 6818 Instructor contact: [EMAIL PROTECTED] For other upcoming biodiesel workshops and events, please see: www.groups.yahoo.com/group/norcal-biodiesel-events ** Previous classes have covered the following curriculum: Introduction/ overview: - Biodiesel and straight vegetable oil- two different fuels -Advantages and drawbacks of biodiesel fuel Biodiesel chemistry: - Biodiesel from virgin oil - Biodiesel from waste vegetable oil - KOH catalyst versus NaOH catalyst - Two enemies of the reaction: free fatty acids, water - Conditions and ingredients needed for reaction Safety: methanol, lye, and safety equipment Homebrew biodiesel demonstration: - how to make 1-liter test batches - washing intro Hands-on student practice: - Oil tests: testing for water content, - titration- testing for free fatty acids content - Students make liter batches - Failures and quality control: 'glop' (soap), soapy fuel, and poor conversion Troubleshooting and testing: -Acid value test (washed fuel) -Reprocess test (unwashed fuel) -Wash test (unwashed fuel) -cloud point/gel point -pH of unwashed fuel (rough indicator) -soap test and catalyst test (unwashed fuel) -Tests we don't recommend: specific gravity and viscosity Hands-on: students make full size batch Washing -bubblewashing/mistwashing -Using the wash as a form of feedback -Troubleshooting emulsification -Fixing emulsions Equipment (as seen at www.veggieavenger.com/media ): -Processor options: water heater-based, drums-based, generic plumbing for any tank you find -no-weld versus welded options -regulations, safety, and containment -Plastics and biodiesel -The problems with existing 'kit' processors -Wash tanks -Heating options -Standpipe tanks and dip tubes -Pump types -Circulating pump-based agitation, mechanical agitation -Passive methanol/catalyst mixing versus mechanical catalyst mixing -Carboy methoxide mixing systems -homebuilt bubblewash aerators -system layout for larger systems -5-gallon systems Glycerol: -Removing methanol -Free fatty acids recovery/glycerine purification -Making soap -Composting glycerine Brief discussion of advanced topics: -Acid-base two-stage method/pretreatment of free fatty acids -Methanol recovery -Additives -Ethanol biodiesel Conclusion: -The commercial biodiesel industry, the NBB, and biodiesel consumer activism -Decentralized energy production -Where to go from here? -Co-ops and homebrew 'cells' Biofuel at Journey to Forever: http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html Biofuels list archives: http://infoarchive.net/sgroup/biofuel/ Please do NOT send Unsubscribe messages to the list address. To unsubscribe, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Yahoo! Groups Links * To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/biofuel/ * To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] * Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
[biofuel] background to the B100 ban... the oil companies speak
Here's the background to the upcoming California B100 ban. Yes, its coming in response to commentary from oil companies. the following is commentary submitted to the CDFA Division of Measurement Standards , from several months ago during the public comment period. http://forums.biodieselnow.com/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=2149 The following is the current strategy discussion on how to deal with it. Berkeley coop is doing a strategy session tomorrow to figure out our response, and we'll post what we come up with as well. the main strategy discussion: http://forums.biodieselnow.com/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=2110 as you can see there aren't very easy answers or a clear strategy yet (so please don't send email saying 'but that forum didn't tell us what to write or sign... - this is still a do-it-yourself campaign at the moment) Mark Yahoo! Groups Sponsor -~-- Send the freshest Valentine's flowers with a FREE vase from only $29.99! Shipped direct from the grower with a 7 day freshness guarantee and prices so low you save 30-55% off retail! http://us.click.yahoo.com/_iAw9B/xdlHAA/3jkFAA/FGYolB/TM -~- Biofuel at Journey to Forever: http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html Biofuels list archives: http://archive.nnytech.net/index.php?list=biofuel Please do NOT send Unsubscribe messages to the list address. To unsubscribe, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Yahoo! Groups Links * To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/biofuel/ * To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] * Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
[biofuel] more reactor design plans
here's a link to a photo log of another reactor I just built with some Biofuel list members. It also contains a (perhaps confusing?) description of some pressure issues I've had with sealed reactors: http://www.veggieavenger.com/avengerboard/viewtopic.php?t=377 [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] Biofuel at Journey to Forever: http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html Biofuels list archives: http://archive.nnytech.net/index.php?list=biofuel Please do NOT send Unsubscribe messages to the list address. To unsubscribe, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Yahoo! Groups Links * To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/biofuel/ * To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] * Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
[biofuel] B100 getting banned in California
(Apologies for the crossposting and apologies if you've gotten this message multiple times in your inbox) Sales of all B100 biodiesel are about to be banned in California, on the technicality that the biodiesel specification, ASTM D-6751, is technically entitled a biodiesel 'blendstock' specification (a standalone spec for B100 does not yet exist although ASTM is just beginning the lengthy process of producing one). The argument is that biodiesel is not a legal fuel on it's own. This argument came mostly from Chevron, Western States Petroleum Association, Engine Manufacturers Association, and the Alliance of Automotive Manufacturers, all of whom have been actively campaigning against biodiesel in other venues. This ban requires all blends of Biodiesel and diesel to meet the diesel specification. This means that blends as low as 6% biodiesel will be banned, and much B20 (and all B100) will also be banned. We have about a month and a half to do something about this. Here's the strategy page- please go to http://forums.biodieselnow.com/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=2110 and read all pages of that thread for an update on the upcoming ban on B100 biodiesel in this state. Mark Biofuel at Journey to Forever: http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html Biofuels list archives: http://archive.nnytech.net/index.php?list=biofuel Please do NOT send Unsubscribe messages to the list address. To unsubscribe, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Yahoo! Groups Links * To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/biofuel/ * To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] * Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
[biofuel] Fwd: quality control issues and blendstock marketing was theRe: NBB
(crossposted from the US small producers list) --- In [EMAIL PROTECTED], skillshare [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: --- In [EMAIL PROTECTED], murdoch [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote (quoting Keith Addison): Highlights included a plant tour at Imperial Western Products' (www.biotanefuels.com) biodiesel plant in Coachella Valley - they who were distributing sub-spec fuel last year that wrecked people's motors. MM then wrote: The RTC had been selling B20 from IWP (with the other 80% being I think Ultra Low Sulfur Petro-Diesel, and not the usual stuff). They had been thinking of going to B100, but for a few reasons had not yet started to offer it. http://www.rtc4afv.com/ This seems to have meant (fingers still crossed) that the sort of damage we saw in the debacle in Northern California did not show up (so far as I've read anywhere) with the products being sold at the RTC. IWP's behaviour and product were scandalous, and I'm astonished that the NBB would go so far out of its way to highlight a manufacturer who seems to have done more, recently, to damage their nascient industry than maybe anyone else. I also wonder if any serious class-action lawsuits for punitive damages have been filed on behalf of those who suffered damage to their vehicles and-or were ripped off when that one station demanded such high purchases in advance and then renegged or changed ownership. MM Hi Murdoch, I see a few different issues mentioned above: 1. IWP and their bad fuel, 2. the NBB and whether it knew about these fuel problems (I doubt anyone at the NBB did actually) and 3. (completely unrelated) the change of ownership at Olympian gas station in San Francisco and the fact that some cardholders (it was a cardlock station) didn't get reimbursed on money they were owed for a long time (weeks or a couple of months in my recollection) and 4.(back to IWP and quality): B20 was sold at the RTC station rather than B100, and quality issues don't turn up as badly in blends as they do in pure biodiesel issue #3- I REALLY don't know what ultimately came of that- I know that a long time after the closing of Olympian some folks were still owed money from their cardlock, but I do not know if that eventually got resolved. issue #1. There is a little bit of question of whether IWP had one bad batch which a bunch of us got, or if it was a persistent problem. It seemed that it started in the spring and that the car problems really surfaced in the late summer/first two months of fall with a visibly bad shipment of fuel, so unless one bad early batch contaminated the IWP plant's storage, or that one batch got stretched to several deliveries (or something like that, a few somethings are possible), it really looks TO ME like they made more than one bad mistake. Also, rather interestingly, there was a very similarly bad batch at World Energy in the Pacific Northwest in the spring- they offered some yellow grease biodiesel (they don't usually deal with yellow grease biodiesel in my impression) and it had problems identical to the Imperial stuff. I recieved a sample of what was supposedly IWP bad fuel at the same (spring) time (we got a bunch of it donated to the Berkeley co-op and after testing it ourselves we turned it down). I'm now wondering if World Energy was simply buying from IWP (they buy from a bunch of suppliers) and whether it was the same stuff. But we'll probably never know unless it comes out in court or something (Im half-expecting to get sued by the way since Curtis Wright of IWP was telling me that I was 'slandering' his product and his company (and I told him I thought it was one for the lawyers to sort out)). But in some ways it's hard to prove exact details of quality issues, when there's a 'it's your word against ours' sort of scenario going on with IWP blaming the distributors (especially since, at least in my case with my co-op's bulk buy, we didn't really know what the heck was happening to the cars at first and I couldn't bring myself to believe it was the nice commercial fuel that could have caused the problems we saw). The picture is also complicated by people buying their fuel from several gas stations and distributors at once (the 'downside' of availability in the Bay Area?). This is the IWP spokespeople's strategy in denying it ever happened. I can't for legal reasons quite talk about all the details of stuff that was outside of my personal experience, (though I also promise to post my convention discussion with Bob Clark of IWP sometime soon, he basically blamed any problems we saw on distributors (sorry, 'bound glycerol' doesn't just appear as a result of bad handling!), he or Curtis Wright (got to check my notes) told me that they recalled some fuel as requested and their inhouse lab found no fault with it, and later, either he or Curtis from IWP tried to suggest to me that maybe Magellan Labs was at fault in their testing, which I find utterly preposterous).
[biofuel] new US small producer/distributor/co-op discussion list
hi folks, Keith Addison is deleting his Yahoogroups Biofuels-biz discussion list shortly, with the hope that the relevant discussion continues on Biofuel. I am starting a new discussion list for small producers/small distributors in the US. I was hoping to start this and to actually give the list serious attention after the upcoming California Biodiesel Consumers' Conference (www.biodieselconsumers.org, which focuses entirely on small and locally-controlled biodiesel business) and the National Biodiesel Board convention (which focuses on the exact opposite!), but because Biofuels-biz is ending today, I wanted to form the new list and announce it now so as to catch any interested Biofuels-biz members. We have a decent amount of experience with local, B100-focused , community-based distribution of biodiesel here in Northern California at this point, and I think there are probably others in the co-op and small distributor business who could benefit from a focused discussion on the topic of nontraditional biodiesel business and distribution. My other incentive in starting 'yet another list' after the closing of Biofuels-biz, is to provide more of a focus for the scattered US discussion of an upcoming legal challenge to the current NBB stranglehold over EPA registration of producers, which shuts smaller operators out of biodiesel production. I very much want the new list to focus on small producers of under 500,000 gallons per year, as well as nonprofit and local-focused ventures. To join the list, please go to www.groups.yahoo.com/group/local-b100-biz See you there (and here) mark Biofuel at Journey to Forever: http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html Biofuels list archives: http://archive.nnytech.net/index.php?list=biofuel Please do NOT send Unsubscribe messages to the list address. To unsubscribe, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Yahoo! Groups Sponsor -~-- Buy Ink Cartridges or Refill Kits for your HP, Epson, Canon or Lexmark Printer at MyInks.com. Free s/h on orders $50 or more to the US Canada. http://www.c1tracking.com/l.asp?cid=5511 http://us.click.yahoo.com/mOAaAA/3exGAA/qnsNAA/FGYolB/TM -~- Yahoo! Groups Links To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/biofuel/ To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
[biofuels-biz] new US small producer/distributor/co-op discussion list
hi folks, Keith Addison is deleting his Yahoogroups Biofuels-biz discussion list shortly, with the hope that the relevant discussion continues on Biofuel. I am starting a new discussion list for small producers/small distributors in the US. I was hoping to start this and to actually give the list serious attention after the upcoming California Biodiesel Consumers' Conference (www.biodieselconsumers.org, which focuses entirely on small and locally-controlled biodiesel business) and the National Biodiesel Board convention (which focuses on the exact opposite!), but because Biofuels-biz is ending today, I wanted to form the new list and announce it now so as to catch any interested Biofuels-biz members. We have a decent amount of experience with local, B100-focused , community-based distribution of biodiesel here in Northern California at this point, and I think there are probably others in the co-op and small distributor business who could benefit from a focused discussion on the topic of nontraditional biodiesel business and distribution. My other incentive in starting 'yet another list' after the closing of Biofuels-biz, is to provide more of a focus for the scattered US discussion of an upcoming legal challenge to the current NBB stranglehold over EPA registration of producers, which shuts smaller operators out of biodiesel production. I very much want the new list to focus on small producers of under 500,000 gallons per year, as well as nonprofit and local-focused ventures. To join the list, please go to www.groups.yahoo.com/group/local-b100-biz See you there (and here) mark Biofuels at Journey to Forever http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html List messages are archived at the Info-Archive at NNYTech: http://archive.nnytech.net/ Please do NOT send Unsubscribe messages to the list address. Yahoo! Groups Links To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/biofuels-biz/ To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
[Burnveggies] NBB fee structure discriminates against small producers
I looked at the NBB's fee structure a little more closely, and some
interesting things came up. (where I looked was the
www.me.iastate.edu/biodiesel 'online course', to be fair, rather than the
NBB website)
We keep quoting a $5,000 fee plus a royalty on every gallon produced. This
is incorrect.
The NBB fees are actually supposed to be the per-gallon royalty in it's
entirety- and the $5,000 is an arbitrary minimum that they have set,
regardless of how few gallons produced by a member. This is probably why
most of the pilot plants I have heard about are 500,000 gallons per year-
it's the minimum size at which paying your minimum NBB fees make sense.
The NBB membership fee structure is as follows:
0 gallons through 1 million gallons per year:
.01 cents per gallon produced, with a minimum $5,000 fee. $5,000 at .01
cents a gallon is what you'd pay if you made at least 500,000 gpy.
fees on the next 1,000,001, to 5 million gallons per year are lower, at
.0075 cents per gallon (though you're also still paying the .01 cents rate
on the first million gallons per year produced)
The next 5,000,001 - 10,000,000 gallons you make are charged a .005 cents
per gallon rate in addition to the 0-1 million rate on your first million
gallons and the 1-5 million rate on the next four million gallons
the next 10,000,001 gallons through 15,000,000 gallons per year that you
make are assessed at an even lower rate of .0025 plus the other rates
and anything over 15 million gallons per year would be charged .001 cents
per gallon on top of all the other fees.
(to put this into perspective, I believe most plants in the US are in the
1-5 million per year range with a few bigger ones set to come online, and
in Europe there are some 50 million gallon per year plants, and all of the
US biodiesel sales for last year was under 35 million gallons)
So- I set off to look at the costs of my plant.
I operate a small ('research') facility that can easily make 200 gallons
per day. If I operated a similarly tiny batch plant as a business 5 days a
week with no down time, I would put out 52,000 gallons per year. Not very
much fuel compared to some NBB members- but there is a good retail market
here for it (we figured out that our local Naft Gas station sold 250
gallons per day to passenger car users at one point, and I'm sure that
there would be similar community support/a market for a small commercial
operation run by someone within the community)
If I paid the NBB a .01 cents per gallon fee like all larger producers'
fees are based on, I would be handing over $522 per year check, which would
be absolutely no financial burden for a business my size.
But under the present NBB rules, I would instead have to give them 10 times
as much money per gallon as any larger producers.
This is somewhat unfair as I'm certainly not receiving 10 times the
services, and in fact I would probably be developing the local passenger
car biodiesel users' market by simply running this business.
___
Burnveggies mailing list
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
http://goblin.punk.net/mailman/listinfo/burnveggies
[biofuels-biz] minor correction to NBB fee structure post
OOPS! It got pointed out to me that I put a dollar sign in the wrong place in the NBB fee structure post, though I think it was fairly obvious what the real numbers should have been. Everywhere I said something like: .01 cents per gallon produced (one hundredth of a cent) it actually should have said $.01 (ie one cent, not a fraction of a cent) Mark by the way this fee structure info comes from http://www.me.iastate.edu/biodiesel/Pages/biodiesel24.html Biofuels at Journey to Forever http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html List messages are archived at the Info-Archive at NNYTech: http://archive.nnytech.net/ Please do NOT send Unsubscribe messages to the list address. Yahoo! Groups Sponsor -~-- Buy Ink Cartridges or Refill Kits for your HP, Epson, Canon or Lexmark Printer at MyInks.com. Free s/h on orders $50 or more to the US Canada. http://www.c1tracking.com/l.asp?cid=5511 http://us.click.yahoo.com/mOAaAA/3exGAA/qnsNAA/9bTolB/TM -~- Yahoo! Groups Links To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/biofuels-biz/ To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
[biofuel] NBB fee structure discriminates against small producers
(apologies for the crossposting..)
I looked at the NBB's fee structure a little more closely, and some
interesting things came up. (where I looked was the
www.me.iastate.edu/biodiesel 'online course', to be fair, rather than the
NBB website)
We keep quoting a $5,000 fee plus a royalty on every gallon produced. This
is incorrect.
The NBB fees are actually supposed to be the per-gallon royalty in it's
entirety- and the $5,000 is an arbitrary minimum that they have set,
regardless of how few gallons produced by a member. This is probably why
most of the pilot plants I have heard about are 500,000 gallons per year-
it's the minimum size at which paying your minimum NBB fees make sense.
The NBB membership fee structure is as follows:
0 gallons through 1 million gallons per year:
.01 cents per gallon produced, with a minimum $5,000 fee. $5,000 at .01
cents a gallon is what you'd pay if you made at least 500,000 gpy.
fees on the next 1,000,001, to 5 million gallons per year are lower, at
.0075 cents per gallon (though you're also still paying the .01 cents rate
on the first million gallons per year produced)
The next 5,000,001 - 10,000,000 gallons you make are charged a .005 cents
per gallon rate in addition to the 0-1 million rate on your first million
gallons and the 1-5 million rate on the next four million gallons
the next 10,000,001 gallons through 15,000,000 gallons per year that you
make are assessed at an even lower rate of .0025 plus the other rates
and anything over 15 million gallons per year would be charged .001 cents
per gallon on top of all the other fees.
(to put this into perspective, I believe most plants in the US are in the
1-5 million per year range with a few bigger ones set to come online, and
in Europe there are some 50 million gallon per year plants, and all of the
US biodiesel sales for last year was under 35 million gallons)
So- I set off to look at the costs of my plant.
I operate a small ('research') facility that can easily make 200 gallons
per day. If I operated a similarly tiny batch plant as a business 5 days a
week with no down time, I would put out 52,000 gallons per year. Not very
much fuel compared to some NBB members- but there is a good retail market
here for it (we figured out that our local Naft Gas station sold 250
gallons per day to passenger car users at one point, and I'm sure that
there would be similar community support/a market for a small commercial
operation run by someone within the community)
If I paid the NBB a .01 cents per gallon fee like all larger producers'
fees are based on, I would be handing over $522 per year check, which would
be absolutely no financial burden for a business my size.
But under the present NBB rules, I would instead have to give them 10 times
as much money per gallon as any larger producers.
This is somewhat unfair as I'm certainly not receiving 10 times the
services, and in fact I would probably be developing the local passenger
car biodiesel users' market by simply running this business.
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[biofuel] minor correction to NBB fee structure post
OOPS! It got pointed out to me that I put a dollar sign in the wrong place in the NBB fee structure post, though I think it was fairly obvious what the real numbers should have been. Everywhere I said something like: .01 cents per gallon produced (one hundredth of a cent) it actually should have said $.01 (ie one cent, not a fraction of a cent) Mark by the way this fee structure info comes from http://www.me.iastate.edu/biodiesel/Pages/biodiesel24.html Biofuel at Journey to Forever: http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html Biofuels list archives: http://archive.nnytech.net/index.php?list=biofuel Please do NOT send Unsubscribe messages to the list address. To unsubscribe, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Yahoo! Groups Links To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/biofuel/ To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
[biofuel] more analysis of the Bay Area B100 pumps saga
Both the individuals whose messages are below, were heavily involved in the campaign to get us the NAFT Gas B100 pump. Mark --- In [EMAIL PROTECTED], Eric Lyons wrote: Mark: Thanks for your analysis. I think the important take home points are something like: 1. Commercial fuel suppliers screwed us, and ultimately themselves. 2. NAFT failed to realize what they were selling and who their customers were. 3. Price matters (even if we know it's going to be high), and price instability -- especially when quality is an issue -- aggravates like hell. I've got a bit of other info, fwiw. NAFT were selling on the order of 250g/day in the earliest months of their introduction; as you say, more than they expected to sell in dino. From the opinion of the one employee to whom I would often talk at the station, the rate dropped radically when they switched to the second supplier (World [Energy], or someone selling World's virgin soy stuff) at $2.99. He couldn't well explain how the relationship fell apart at Yokayo (I played dumb to my knowledge that bounced checks tend not to enhance relationships), but, as you point out, they did seem to believe that it was going to go back down somehow, and this never materialized. I think that the whole problem with local commercial fuel stations selling BD is that we're not customers who are *in any sense* like the customers they've had for the past few decades. We are much more informed, understand our product much better than they do, and really care about its sources. Many companies manufacture dog food, so dog owners then have the opportunity to care about which food they give to their dogs, even though it's unlikely any of it will kill your dog. So too with us -- except that some of our suppliers appear to have been selling some deadly dog food. [I might add that our collective desire to not have BD mfg and distribution any more regulated than it needs to be can have the side effect of eating crud sometimes. Our recourse should be to hold manufacturers accountable -- companies like Yokayo get stuck with way too much of the burden if they can't hold manufacturers to their standards or get compensated for their screwups.] I haven't talked to Farook about what he feels happened, but I'm sure your analysis pretty much covers it. I was lucky not to have been caught with a sputtering, brand new (1yr old last week) TDI that choked on the batch (or two?) of bad juice. I have a bottle of that brown goo in a vodka bottle on my bar; maybe I can use it as evidence in a civil suit (yeah, like *that* would help our cause). Some hard, smokey starts, but no clogged filter (yet). I think I'm over this little disaster, and I'm looking forward to my first visit at the Oasis in Berkeley soon. I do the jerry can thing a lot anyway so a little more isn't going to kill me. I think the IJ needs to do a followup -- Marin still needs a co-op, and we need to find some copasetic land owner with a workable location (the general problem) who can help us out. I was bummed when the Sausalito outlet's landlord came down on them as well, as that location was the most convenient for me. The *good* part of the NAFT lesson is that we now have some idea of how big our actual market is. Although it's a drop in the bucket compared to gasoline usage, 250g/day surprised me. I don't know how sustainable that number is, but it seemed to me that with the right publicity and location, it could go up. Anyway, my .02; thanks again, Mark. Eric. ** --- Christo Scantland [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Thanks Mark for taking the time and the thought to produce your analysis and recent history of commercial biodiesel in Marin. This is a good time to look at what happened and see what can be learned. snip I am very disappointed that this particular attempt to introduce biodiesel into the greater market seems to have failed rather miserably. The failure seems to have been due to factors largly beyond our (the biodiesel community's) control. I don't think this failure means we shouldn't encourage similar ventures by other independent gas stations in the future. I do think that one lesson of the Naft saga is that, for such efforts to have a better chance of success, there needs to be much more communication and partnership between the seller and the biodiesel using community from the get-go. Communication and partnership would be very helpful in navigating the particular pitfalls that biodiesel can bring, such as clogged fuel filters, uneven fuel quality, intermittant supply, rotten hoses and increased cold weather problems. This does suggest to me that consumer's co-ops are probably one good way to go. It is
[biofuel] A conversation with the NBB- small producers issues
I got an interesting letter from Joe Jobe of the NBB today, which, as my other contacts in the NBB have stated, seems (to me) to be concerned with the california hostility to the NBB (MY paraphrase, read it for yourselves). I have heard from others in the NBB that they believe that California is the epicenter (my paraphrase again) of the anti-NBB sentiments. It seems to me that they have found our www.biodieselconsumers.org website, based on the language of the letter. here is what I sent back to him. Mark Hi Mr. Jobe, Thank you for your letter. Who is on the panel of the small producers' discussion at the NBB conference (my understanding from speaking with John Reed was that it would be a panel discussion in part)? I spoke with Jim Caldwell about it in December and he did not yet know if he'd be able to go-and I'm very curious to meet him in person. I would suggest that if you do not have small-scale (under half million gallons a year, with no plans for upscaling) biodiesel producers on the panel, and if the panel organizers are interested in a different perspective on the EPA registration issue, that you find someone from outside the NBB and the EPA to present their perspectives on this issues during your panel discussion. There is a movement growing nationwide to challenge the EPA's current interpretation of their own biodiesel categorization rules, and I am likely to take this on as one of the 'test cases' via arbitration with the NBB or a legal challenge if possible (and if the money exists for us to take on this challenge) . I feel like I am relatively informed on these issues. If you would like this type of perspective within the panel discussion and do not yet have anyone to cover it, I'd be happy to speak on the panel to present this perspective. quote: NBB is certainly not above criticism. Indeed criticism is sometimes needed and healthy. Therefore, it is my general policy with people who have concerns about NBB, to invite them to participate in at least one of our meetings. I can tell you that criticism of NBB is much less valid when the critic has never met us, has never been involved in our organization, or any of our events - all of which are open to the public. I hope that you can make it to our conference. Thus, I would like to invite you to come and participate in our conference with us, meet us, provide input to us, and help us explore whether there may be solutions to some of your concerns. If we fail to find any of those solutions, at least you will become a more qualified critic. I am not sure which 'events' (plural) you are referring to- I am aware of one meeting per year for the general public (the conference- which, as you say, is costly this year). My understanding (based partially on hearing John Reed speak about it, as well as other sources within the larger biodiesel industry) was that voting on NBB matters and influencing NBB policies was restricted to paid members. I am sure you are aware that some of the public criticism of the NBB is connected with the high costs incurred by this membership, and that the costs of NBB membership are beyond the means of small businesses seeking to enter the biodiesel production and distribution field. If there is a program for public or small business input, which does not involve these high costs it would be good for the NBB to publicise it widely as it is not well known. Personally, I do not consider the NBB's 'biodiesel boosters' program or it's newsletters (the other programs I am aware of) to constitute adequate involvement for non-paid members who may be interested in participating- what other programs for being involved in the organization are there, especially for those seeking to influence national-level policies within the industry? Respectfully, Maria girl Mark Alovert At 10:12 AM 1/13/2004 -0600, you wrote: urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office Dear Ms. Alovert: I don't believe I have spoken to you before, but I know you have visited with our Director of Operations, John Reed, several times. Based on my discussions with John, I understand you have concerns about the structure of NBB, our health effects access policy, our focus on blend markets, and that NBB does not represent all biodiesel stakeholders. I think that some of those sentiments may not be completely unjustified. We try to be an inclusive, responsive, and deliberative organization, and we have recently changed our structure in a way that should enhance that even further. One example is that we received input that our registration fees for our upcoming conference in Palm Springs are too high, and are prohibitive to individual users. I agree that they are too high, but the fees were established based on similar national conferences, and the cost of putting on such a conference. Believe it or not, we are hoping to break even on this conference
[biofuel]
Panel Discussion- A Critical Look at the Biodiesel Industry Tuesday, January 20, 7-9pm BioFuel Oasis, 2465 4th St @ Dwight in Berkeley $5-10 donation requested Do we want Monsanto and petroleum companies to control the biodiesel industry? Well, they already do to a certain extent. Find out why small local production of biodiesel is more efficient and sustainable, what barriers are in the way, and how we can cross them. About BioFuel Oasis BioFuel Oasis is the first public biodiesel filling station in Berkeley. We are a women-owned small business that values sustainability, local production, and community. 2465 4th Street @ Dwight, Berkeley www.biofueloasis.com 510.665.5509 [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] Biofuel at Journey to Forever: http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html Biofuels list archives: http://archive.nnytech.net/index.php?list=biofuel Please do NOT send Unsubscribe messages to the list address. To unsubscribe, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Yahoo! Groups Links To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/biofuel/ To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
[biofuel] Homebrew supplies in SF Bay area
I put a listing of homebrew biodiesel supplies and equipment sources for part of the SF Bay area up on the veggieavenger.com forum: http://www.veggieavenger.com/avengerboard/viewforum.php?f=26sid=83f889d8feb096a9bd6c78fd38c70764 These are set up as Word files to download and print, since I used them in homebrew educational classes locally. Please add to it if you have other useful suppliers for equipment and chemicals locally... mark Biofuel at Journey to Forever: http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html Biofuels list archives: http://archive.nnytech.net/index.php?list=biofuel Please do NOT send Unsubscribe messages to the list address. To unsubscribe, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Yahoo! Groups Links To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/biofuel/ To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
[biofuel] California Grassroots Biodiesel Users' Conference, Jan 31/Feb 1
California Biodiesel Consumers’ Conference Towards sustainable biodiesel for passenger car and small business B100 consumers in California January 31 and Feb 1 , 10am-5 pm Pitzer College, Claremont, CA More info coming soon at: www.veggieavenger.com/conference Email us: [EMAIL PROTECTED] ** Join us for two intensive days of education, brainstorming, and groundwork around issues facing California passenger-car biodiesel consumers, and a vision for sustainable and homegrown biodiesel businesses to serve those consumers. Conference goals: - educating biodiesel advocates about the lesser-known challenges facing local producers, consumers, and distributors - forming a CA biodiesel consumers’ organisation to provide a voice for B100 passenger car users and small business consumers of biodiesel, who are currently under-served by the biodiesel industry - to encourage small-scale, local biodiesel production and distribution - long-term action to make local biodiesel production more ecologically and socially sustainable than current practices Our mailing address: Biodiesel Consumers Conference c/oBiofuel Oasis, 2465 Fourth St Berkeley CA 94703 510-665 5509 for more info: [EMAIL PROTECTED] www.veggieavenger.com/conference Day 1: ‘Lay of the Land: the Industry Today’. Day 1 presentations: -Emissions And You: the Good News About Diesel Engines (overview of emissions regulated by air quality agencies, cross-fuel comparisons of emissions and health effects from biodiesel and other conventional and alternative fuels, some background on the anti-diesel lobby and on California's restrictions on diesel passenger car importation) -Biodiesel 101 …( an overview of biodiesel, health effects, production, energy inputs and lifecycle emissions, and sustainability issues within biofuels production in general) -The Industry: (an overview of commercial biodiesel, promising technology, the ASTM standards and quality control, industry practices, and biodiesel businesses operating in California.) Other topics addressed on Day 1 include: - a strategy discussion on working within existing structures such as the National Biodiesel Board or petroleum distributors, versus developing parallel structures (local distributorships not linked to petroleum business, forming an alternative to the NBB) - issues unique to California: CARB, state-level government incentives and opportunities, CDFA labeling and B100, restrictions on diesel car imports into California, the Integrated Energy Policy Report and AB 2076, local campaigns involving zoning and other regulations for small-scale distributors, coops, etc. Day 2: Where To Go From Here? Local Campaigns Day 2 will be a self-guided session with breakout sessions for different topics and campaigns you may be interested in working on. Topics may include : -Strategy session for a legal challenge to the prohibitively expensive EPA registration of biodiesel producers -Strategy for those attending the National Biodiesel Board convention later that week -Long-range planning for a California biodiesel sustainability certification committee, and the logistics of sending people from this work group to the commercial Biodiesel Production Workshops in Iowa in March -State-level policy and lobbying -A discussion for potential small producers in California -A project to write new California-specific, B100-specific, sustainability-oriented educational materials -a discussion of advocacy and promotion- how do you do it? Whom do you target? -A short brainstorming session on the logistics of a California Biodiesel Consumers Association, in preparation for our first meeting in March in the Bay Area -a discussion around California’s restriction on diesel passenger vehicle imports -a discussion around promoting the use of ultra-low-sulfur diesel in biodiesel blends sold commercially Conference Logistics: We strongly encourage attendees to come for both days. There will be a pre-conference reading packet and a survey available by mail and email 10 days before the event. Please sign up at our website- coming soon at www.veggieavenger.com/conference Conference cost: $80 donation at the door, no one turned away for lack of funds. If you would like to support our work, additional conference donations accepted by mail to treasurer: Meleana Judd, 1431 16th Ave, San Francisco CA 94122 There will be bus shuttles from the SF Bay Area and from Chico. Registration information, a survey, suggested reading, travel information, local accommodations, and more will be found on our webpage shortly at www.veggieavenger.com/conference For more information email us at [EMAIL PROTECTED] While this conference stresses California organizing, people from out-of-state biodiesel projects are all
[Burnveggies] California Biodiesel Consumers Conference, Jan 31 and Feb 1
California Biodiesel Consumers’ Conference Towards sustainable biodiesel for passenger car and small business B100 consumers in California January 31 and Feb 1 , 10am-5 pm Pitzer College, Claremont, CA More info coming soon at: www.veggieavenger.com/conference Email us: [EMAIL PROTECTED] ** Join us for two intensive days of education, brainstorming, and groundwork around issues facing California passenger-car biodiesel consumers, and a vision for sustainable and homegrown biodiesel businesses to serve those consumers. Conference goals: - educating biodiesel advocates about the lesser-known challenges facing local producers, consumers, and distributors - forming a CA biodiesel consumers’ organisation to provide a voice for B100 passenger car users and small business consumers of biodiesel, who are currently under-served by the biodiesel industry - to encourage small-scale, local biodiesel production and distribution - long-term action to make local biodiesel production more ecologically and socially sustainable than current practices Our mailing address: Biodiesel Consumers Conference c/oBiofuel Oasis, 2465 Fourth St Berkeley CA 94703 510-665 5509 for more info: [EMAIL PROTECTED] www.veggieavenger.com/conference Day 1: ‘Lay of the Land: the Industry Today’. Day 1 presentations: -Emissions And You: the Good News About Diesel Engines (overview of emissions regulated by air quality agencies, cross-fuel comparisons of emissions and health effects from biodiesel and other conventional and alternative fuels, some background on the anti-diesel lobby and on California's restrictions on diesel passenger car importation) -Biodiesel 101 …( an overview of biodiesel, health effects, production, energy inputs and lifecycle emissions, and sustainability issues within biofuels production in general) -The Industry: (an overview of commercial biodiesel, promising technology, the ASTM standards and quality control, industry practices, and biodiesel businesses operating in California.) Other topics addressed on Day 1 include: - a strategy discussion on working within existing structures such as the National Biodiesel Board or petroleum distributors, versus developing parallel structures (local distributorships not linked to petroleum business, forming an alternative to the NBB) - issues unique to California: CARB, state-level government incentives and opportunities, CDFA labeling and B100, restrictions on diesel car imports into California, the Integrated Energy Policy Report and AB 2076, local campaigns involving zoning and other regulations for small-scale distributors, coops, etc. Day 2: Where To Go From Here? Local Campaigns Day 2 will be a self-guided session with breakout sessions for different topics and campaigns you may be interested in working on. Topics may include : -Strategy session for a legal challenge to the prohibitively expensive EPA registration of biodiesel producers -Strategy for those attending the National Biodiesel Board convention later that week -Long-range planning for a California biodiesel sustainability certification committee, and the logistics of sending people from this work group to the commercial Biodiesel Production Workshops in Iowa in March -State-level policy and lobbying -A discussion for potential small producers in California -A project to write new California-specific, B100-specific, sustainability-oriented educational materials -a discussion of advocacy and promotion- how do you do it? Whom do you target? -A short brainstorming session on the logistics of a California Biodiesel Consumers Association, in preparation for our first meeting in March in the Bay Area -a discussion around California’s restriction on diesel passenger vehicle imports -a discussion around promoting the use of ultra-low-sulfur diesel in biodiesel blends sold commercially Conference Logistics: We strongly encourage attendees to come for both days. There will be a pre-conference reading packet and a survey available by mail and email 10 days before the event. Please sign up at our website- coming soon at www.veggieavenger.com/conference Conference cost: $80 donation at the door, no one turned away for lack of funds. If you would like to support our work, additional conference donations accepted by mail to treasurer: Meleana Judd, 1431 16th Ave, San Francisco CA 94122 There will be bus shuttles from the SF Bay Area and from Chico. Registration information, a survey, suggested reading, travel information, local accommodations, and more will be found on our webpage shortly at www.veggieavenger.com/conference For more information email us at [EMAIL PROTECTED] While this conference stresses California organizing, people from out-of-state biodiesel projects are all invited! Please see our upcoming website for registration information- we’d like to know about your work elsewhere The Background:
[biofuel] Biodiesel Equipment Building Class, San Gregorio CA 12/13
Biodiesel Equipment Building Class Saturday, Dec. 13th, 10:00 a.m. - 3:00 p.m. San Gregorio Stage Stop (corner of Hwy 84 and Stage Road, 10 miles south of Half Moon Bay just off of Hwy 101) Instructor: Maria 'Mark' Alovert. $15- 50 sliding scale Bring potluck lunch to share. Please RSVP to register: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Come build a processor out of a used electric water heater, as well as a wash tank, a utility pump, and a methanol recovery condensor The equipment built, all of which requires no welding or special metalworking skills, will be: A ‘fumeless’ enclosed processor which can be converted to a methanol recovery still. Parts cost is $120-$150 for this unit A standpipe wash tank built out of a drum. Parts cost: $30 A utility or mixing pump built out of a washing machine motor and an automotive oil pump. Parts cost: $10 A couple of methanol recovery condensors- a counterflow heat exchanger cooled by water, and a coil-type condensor coil built with flare fittings. Parts cost: $20 or so. Bring a pipe wrench if you have one. Contact instructor by 12/9 if you are interested in building your own unit at this workshop: [EMAIL PROTECTED] A general biodiesel instruction manual is available for an additional $5 at the workshop __ Do you Yahoo!? New Yahoo! Photos - easier uploading and sharing. http://photos.yahoo.com/ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor -~-- Buy Ink Cartridges or Refill Kits for your HP, Epson, Canon or Lexmark Printer at MyInks.com. Free s/h on orders $50 or more to the US Canada. http://www.c1tracking.com/l.asp?cid=5511 http://us.click.yahoo.com/mOAaAA/3exGAA/qnsNAA/FGYolB/TM -~- Biofuel at Journey to Forever: http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html Biofuels list archives: http://archive.nnytech.net/index.php?list=biofuel Please do NOT send Unsubscribe messages to the list address. To unsubscribe, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
[biofuel] Fwd: william clark's project
Hi William, Good luck with this project, send me more as you write it (as in, plans for the physical facility) and if I have time I'll try and send you any comments if desired (no promises). I recommend that you go to the Iowa State University workshops on commercial biodiesel- it'll all apply to what you're trying to do and it's a phenominal resource for jump-starting a project like this which will no doubt get a lot of attention and will probably put you under some pressure to 'prove' the concept perfectly (of school systems making their own bus fuel). Next workshop series is already scheduled. It';s expensive but so well worth the cost for a project like yours. The Iowa State workshops are listed at their website (which also has a lot of good technical papers reprinted, and more coming as far as I know). The site is www.me.iastate.edu/biodiesel You'll basically get a very good blueprint for setting up a plant of that size if you go to the Production and the Analytical workshops that are coming up. I met various people at those workshops who were setting up small-scale (er, that's smallscale by commercial standards, not by homebrew standards of course) focused projects like yours- farmers, peopel starting smallish-scale plants, etc, and those sorts of community projects are a big interest of mine of course. Keep the list (s) updated on how it all goes! mark --- William Clark [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Hello Mark, Its nice to get a positive message. Our plans are a work in progress and any suggestions will be welcome. I am attaching the narrative which was part of our submission to the State of Alabama. I will send along financials and drawings when complete. Thanks again for your interest. Bill Clark __ Do you Yahoo!? Free Pop-Up Blocker - Get it now http://companion.yahoo.com/ __ Do you Yahoo!? Free Pop-Up Blocker - Get it now http://companion.yahoo.com/ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor -~-- Buy Ink Cartridges or Refill Kits for your HP, Epson, Canon or Lexmark Printer at MyInks.com. Free s/h on orders $50 or more to the US Canada. http://www.c1tracking.com/l.asp?cid=5511 http://us.click.yahoo.com/mOAaAA/3exGAA/qnsNAA/FGYolB/TM -~- Biofuel at Journey to Forever: http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html Biofuels list archives: http://archive.nnytech.net/index.php?list=biofuel Please do NOT send Unsubscribe messages to the list address. To unsubscribe, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
[biofuel] demystifying algae
Just doing a bit of research for a biodiesel presentation that our group is doing Nov 12th, looking for new FAQ information, and luckily for me, this summary of algae 'debunking' just came over the burnveggies list. We often get questions from people who are 'starry-eyed' about the idea of algae as a perfect solution which is what the writer was responding to mark Message: 8 From: aronow/turner To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Date: Mon, 3 Nov 2003 09:51:36 -0800 Subject: [Burnveggies] Re: Algae Hey folks ... I've been investigating the algae idea. Before we get all = idealistic about algae, lets get more information. First of all, you = might want to read the close-out report of the NREL algae project at = www.ott.doe.gov/biofuels/pdfs/biodiesel_from_algae_ps.pdf . You must = keep in mind: 1) it takes LOTS of water, in open ponds, that evaporate quickly 2) it requires A LOT of land 3) algae must be triggered into producing large amounts of oil, so it = must get stressed somehow. =20 4) about 1/3 of the algae in the NREL project was genetically modified, = which is not good for all the birds who come to feast on the ponds 5) the cost of making oil from algae is about the same as making oil = from soybeans I'm not totally opposed to trying to make biodiesel from algae, but I = think it's only realistic in a few special areas with LOTS of water and = land that's not good for anything else. I think the scientists at NREL = spent many years trying to make this work, and I appreciate their = research. But for the time being, I think our efforts are better = focused on efficiently utilizing available recycled oil sources, then = using canola instead of soy, because it's almost 3 times as = oleaginous. Louisa Aronow - Yahoo! Groups Sponsor -~-- Buy Ink Cartridges or Refill Kits for your HP, Epson, Canon or Lexmark Printer at MyInks.com. Free s/h on orders $50 or more to the US Canada. http://www.c1tracking.com/l.asp?cid=5511 http://us.click.yahoo.com/mOAaAA/3exGAA/qnsNAA/FGYolB/TM -~- Biofuel at Journey to Forever: http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html Biofuels list archives: http://archive.nnytech.net/index.php?list=biofuel Please do NOT send Unsubscribe messages to the list address. To unsubscribe, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
[biofuel] Biodiesel Forum, Nov 12, Berkeley CA
Run Your Car on Vegetable Oil BIODIESEL: A home-grown alternative fuel Wednesday, November 12, 7-9 pm, $free Ecology Center Bookstore, 2530 San Pablo Ave, Berkeley Join us at the Ecology Center Bookstore for a panel discussion about one of the most exciting alternative fuels today, biodiesel- a clean-burning diesel alternative made from vegetable oil. Like other plant-based fuels, biodiesel improves emissions, is grown in the US- reducing our reliance on foreign oil- and is renewable. Best of all, biodiesel is available NOW, can be used in any existing diesel engine with no modifications, blends with petroleum diesel if needed, and performs almost identically to petroleum diesel. It can be purchased commercially in the Bay Area or can be cheaply 'homebrewed' using waste restaurant fryer oil. City of Berkeley runs a truck fleet on 100% recycled biodiesel, and a growing number of drivers use it in diesel cars. There will be a presentation by users, homebrewers, and distributors, followed by a discussion with you, the audience. Bring your questions! Topics covered: Where to get it * How to use it * Making biodiesel * Biodiesel co-ops, clubs, and other community projects * Upcoming events * Sustainable production This event is a project of the East Bay Biodiesel Internship, a homebrewer co-op For more information, see: www.journeytoforever.org www.biodieselnow.com www.groups.yahoo.com/group/norcal-biodiesel-events (Northern California biodiesel/SVO events calendar) __ Do you Yahoo!? Exclusive Video Premiere - Britney Spears http://launch.yahoo.com/promos/britneyspears/ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor -~-- Buy Ink Cartridges or Refill Kits for your HP, Epson, Canon or Lexmark Printer at MyInks.com. Free s/h on orders $50 or more to the US Canada. http://www.c1tracking.com/l.asp?cid=5511 http://us.click.yahoo.com/mOAaAA/3exGAA/qnsNAA/FGYolB/TM -~- Biofuel at Journey to Forever: http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html Biofuels list archives: http://archive.nnytech.net/ Please do NOT send Unsubscribe messages to the list address. To unsubscribe, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
[biofuel] Fwd: Weekend fire destroys backyard biodiesel operation
--- [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Date: Thu, 23 Oct 2003 13:48:49 EDT Subject: Weekend fire destroys backyard biodiesel operation To: [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED] Weekend fire destroys backyard biodiesel operation 10/20/2003 ASHFIELD, Mass. -- Tom Leue says he is calling it quits after a weekend fire destroyed his tiny backyard biodiesel brewing operation. Leue, who suffered burns to his head and hands in the Saturday night fire, had been making small amounts of the alternative fuel out of old restaurant grease for the past two years and selling it in local stores. Something went wrong and the oil was too hot when I put in the alcohol, Leue said Monday. The alcohol started boiling very vigorously and filled the area with fumes that caught fire. The blaze destroyed the converted sugar shack he had used as a brewery and all his equipment, Leue said. With the addition of wood alcohol and lye, the restaurant sludge is converted into an environment-friendly fuel that powers diesel engines and heats homes. While its use doesn't cut down on smog-causing nitrogen oxide, biodiesel produces none of the carbon monoxide or small particles created by burning traditional petroleum-based diesel fuel. It's still real good technology for the world, but not something I would attempt again, he said. It's not an operation for down on the farm. I have probably done more than I should have. __ Do you Yahoo!? The New Yahoo! Shopping - with improved product search http://shopping.yahoo.com Yahoo! Groups Sponsor -~-- Rent DVDs from home. Over 14,500 titles. Free Shipping No Late Fees. Try Netflix for FREE! http://us.click.yahoo.com/mk9osC/hP.FAA/3jkFAA/FGYolB/TM -~- Biofuel at Journey to Forever: http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html Biofuels list archives: http://archive.nnytech.net/ Please do NOT send Unsubscribe messages to the list address. To unsubscribe, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
[biofuel] Fwd: Re: [Burnveggies] what I told the CDFA/ deadline/action?
Forwarded message from someone replying to my CDFA rant: - Wow, you said a mouthful! I noticed a spelling error or two but I would like to point out that chevronmakes no note of the fact that in the late 80's they went to a low sulfurdiesel which had a lower lubricity, causing many diesel engines to suddenlywear out seals in the injector pumps. New seals were designed to withstand the new fuel, but there was never any notice, label, warranty, apology or reformulation. I assume a brief search would uncover some old articles to substantiate this. anton __ Do you Yahoo!? The New Yahoo! Shopping - with improved product search http://shopping.yahoo.com Yahoo! Groups Sponsor -~-- Buy Ink Cartridges or Refill Kits for your HP, Epson, Canon or Lexmark Printer at MyInks.com. Free s/h on orders $50 or more to the US Canada. http://www.c1tracking.com/l.asp?cid=5511 http://us.click.yahoo.com/mOAaAA/3exGAA/qnsNAA/FGYolB/TM -~- Biofuel at Journey to Forever: http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html Biofuels list archives: http://archive.nnytech.net/ Please do NOT send Unsubscribe messages to the list address. To unsubscribe, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
[biofuel] Mark's letter to the CDFA
The CDFA/DMS public comment period deadline (about the biodiesel-negative warning labeling)is tomorrow, though they will read anything they get by mail till the 20th (send in letters...) Here's my longwinded rebuttal to some of their concerns about biodiesel standards. Mark Dear sirs, My name is Maria Alovert and I am a biodiesel user and an auto mechanic. I spend a lot of my time volunteering in programs which educate consumers of B100 about the differences between petroleum diesel and biodiesel, and as a mechanic, have advised consumers on proper use of B100 and associated issues. I have in the past spent some time lobbying NAFT Gas in Fairfax to carry B100, and agree with the CDFA/DMS that good labeling will avert unexpected problems for consumers. However, I do not believe that the labeling as currently proposed will meet this need without causing the biodiesel industry and retailers serious damage in the rate of public acceptance. I believe that this is the opposite of what the CDFA proposals intend. I urge that these proposals be put to a new round of public input and study. I have studied the ASTM standards for petroleum diesel and for B100 extensively, and am concerned that requiring the D-975 standard for biodiesel blends is an unnecessary requirement that is impossible to meet. I believe this will have the effect of discouraging biodiesel use and more particularly of discouraging biodiesel retailing, which will set a large barrier to public acceptance. It has been brought to my attention that some of these changes came about as a result of commentary by Chevron Products Company. I have copied parts of their testimony below and wish to offer a rebuttal to some of their concerns: Quote: CHEVRON PRODUCTS COMPANY'S COMMENTS ON DFA'S PROPOSED AMENDED REGULATIONS CONTAINED IN TITLE 4, DIVISION 9, ARTICLE 5 Chevron Products Company (Chevron) is in agreement with the changes proposed for Sections 4140, 4145 and 4146. Our remaining comments are confined to the sections dealing with biodiesel fuel. Section 4147 (a): This statement suggests that biodiesel as a 100% pure fuel is okay if it meets ASTM D 6751. The title of ASTM D 6751 has the words Blend Stock. This specification is intended to give the requirements for biodiesel as a blend component in a final blend meeting ASTM D 975. The specification does not give ASTM approval for the 100% biodiesel as a diesel fuel (nor does it disapprove). Pure biodiesel does not meet ASTM D 975, which is the requirement for diesel fuels in ASTM. So this statement appears to be inconsistent with ASTM's intent and with Section 4147 (b). End quote The ASTM D-6751 specification never states at which percentage blend, a blend of biodiesel and petroleum diesel becomes problematic due to not meeting D-975. By inference, it would seem that a blend of 99% biodiesel and 1% petroleum diesel meets the intent of ASTM in offering a specification for B100 as blendstock, or ASTM would have indicated at which blend level the specification no longer applies. Additionaly, the ASTM D-6751 is similar to the European specifications, and there has been longterm B100 use in some countries in the EU which has not led to the problems that Chevron may be concerned about. It is also the interpretation of the EPA and of the biodiesel industry, as well as some vehicle manufacturers, that ASTM D-6751 biodiesel fuel is a satisfactory on-road motor fuel up to B100. The ASTM standards are decided in a lengthy process of study which takes many years to complete. I trust that the ASTM committee did not find anything objectionable in high-level blends up to B100, or else this information would have been included in the carefully written ASTM D-6751 standard. I am concerned that the CDFA may in effect overturn the decisions of the ASTM standards committee by requiring that biodiesel blends meet ASTM D-975, with only minimum public comment period lasting a few weeks. I am deeply concerned that this may affect biodiesel acceptance and affect the biodiesel industry in California, and I am further concerned that these state standards may be adopted by other states which follow California's regulations. It is physically impossible for biodiesel to meet D-975 because D-975 describes a chemically different fuel than biodiesel does. If astm D-7651 B100 is satisfactory as a blendstock, and petroleum diesel fuel ASTM D-975 is satisfactory as a blendstock, I am concerned that one specification should be made to override the other in our state requirements without sufficient study to warrant this. There are in fact many advantages to fuels which meet D-6751, over those of D-975: cetane is always higher in B100, and flash point is lower, which translates to safer handling of biodiesel than of more flammable petroleum diesel. Biodiesel rarely fails the copper strip corrosion test, which cant be said for D-975. In addition, lubricity, which is not specified in either standard, is far
Re: [biofuels-biz] Catalysts don't participate?
That brings up something for me that I was just wondering about (being a bucket chemist as well, and in fact a very ignorant one): what are the reactants in saponification? Is water a catalyst or a reactant there? Is there anything other than soap formed? What is the role of heat in saponification- is it a condition needed for saponification to take place? Mark At 12:08 PM 8/6/2003 +0700, you wrote: Hi Marc, *When is a catalyst not a catalyst?* If your catalyst is partly consumed in the reaction you are promoting then it is not, by definition, a catalyst! (Hence your use of quotes I presume) In the case of methoxides, the problem is surely that they are consumed by side reactions (notably with water and free fatty acids) which are all reactions we would prefer not to promote. The methoxides in this case are very definitely reactants and not catalysts! But surely you would agree that methyl oleate is methyl oleate is methyl oleate no matter which catalyst or enzyme you use to produce it ? Current catalyst theory suggests that some catalysts also influence reactions without necessarily forming any measurable intermediates. It is supposed that they do this because their topographic surface ionic charge can line-up suitable molecules in close proximity. Do such catalysts participate? I dunno . . . . I'm just a humble bucket-chemist! But I do take your point that it is unlikely that methoxide works without participating in the transesterification reaction in some way. I'm curious about the possible specificity of catalysts in the transesterification reaction: Are you perhaps suggesting that potassium methoxide and sodium methoxide can produce a different range of esters from the same oil? As I said, I have no experience with the use of potassium hydroxide so your observations would be most welcome. Michael Allen Thailand On Sat, 02 Aug 2003 11:16:43 +0800, Marc de Piolenc [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: We don't use potassium hydroxide and I have no personal experience of its use. I'm sure there are other people who read this who can be of more help. However, you may have to explain what you mean by good. Chemically, the various methyl esters of palm-oil should not be influenced by the choice of catalyst. Afterall, catalysts are not supposed to take place in a reaction are they? Not quite. Catalysts DO participate in reactions. What makes them catalysts (and not precursors or products) is that they are not consumed; instead, they are regenerated. Apparently, our catalysts ARE partially consumed. And it is not physically impossible for a reaction to show a preference for one catalyst over another. To take an extreme example, in organic chemistry some enzymes (organic catalysts) catalyze ONLY one reaction, and that reaction cannot even take place without its specific enzyme. Marc de Piolenc Biofuels at Journey to Forever http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html Biofuel at WebConX http://webconx.green-trust.org/2000/biofuel/biofuel.htm List messages are archived at the Info-Archive at NNYTech: http://archive.nnytech.net/ To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/ -- Using M2, Opera's revolutionary e-mail client: http://www.opera.com/m2/ Biofuels at Journey to Forever http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html Biofuel at WebConX http://webconx.green-trust.org/2000/biofuel/biofuel.htm List messages are archived at the Info-Archive at NNYTech: http://archive.nnytech.net/ To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor -~-- Rent DVDs from home. Over 14,500 titles. Free Shipping No Late Fees. Try Netflix for FREE! http://us.click.yahoo.com/BVVfoB/hP.FAA/ySSFAA/9bTolB/TM -~- Biofuels at Journey to Forever http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html Biofuel at WebConX http://webconx.green-trust.org/2000/biofuel/biofuel.htm List messages are archived at the Info-Archive at NNYTech: http://archive.nnytech.net/ To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
[biofuels-biz] any homebrewers or BD for sale along western half of I-80?
Hi all, My life just got a little more exciting. I and my teaching partner and one of our biodiesel interns are going on a road trip in a little VW she just bought, all heading to Ames Iowa for the Iowa State University commercial biodiesel workshop series in mid-august.. Buying a cheap VW and driving it on homebrew was cheaper and less polluting than three people flying (plus our intern friend is from abroad and hasn't gotten to see this country yet!). It is quite possible to make it all the way out there on fuel we carry in the vehicle (going to make a spare-tire compartment fuel tank out of a drum), but it'd be cramped. Unfortunately we're also in a rush so just making it along the way is out of the question. So we're looking for homebrewers with fuel available, or for sources of commercial fuel available along the way to lighten up our load out there a little. We're driving on I-80 from California to Iowa- which means that it'd be great to find fuel in Salt Lake City, Cheyenne, somewhere in Nebraska... anyone out there? Commercial B20 isn't what I'm looking for any info is appreciated. mark . Yahoo! Groups Sponsor -~-- Rent DVDs Online - Over 14,500 titles. No Late Fees Free Shipping. Try Netflix for FREE! http://us.click.yahoo.com/YoVfrB/XP.FAA/ySSFAA/9bTolB/TM -~- Biofuels at Journey to Forever http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html Biofuel at WebConX http://webconx.green-trust.org/2000/biofuel/biofuel.htm List messages are archived at the Info-Archive at NNYTech: http://archive.nnytech.net/ To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
[biofuel] any homebrewers or BD for sale along western half of I-80?
Hi all, My life just got a little more exciting. I and my teaching partner and one of our biodiesel interns are going on a road trip in a little VW she just bought, all heading to Ames Iowa for the Iowa State University commercial biodiesel workshop series in mid-august.. Buying a cheap VW and driving it on homebrew was cheaper and less polluting than three people flying (plus our intern friend is from abroad and hasn't gotten to see this country yet!). It is quite possible to make it all the way out there on fuel we carry in the vehicle (going to make a spare-tire compartment fuel tank out of a drum), but it'd be cramped. Unfortunately we're also in a rush so just making it along the way is out of the question. So we're looking for homebrewers with fuel available, or for sources of commercial fuel available along the way to lighten up our load out there a little. We're driving on I-80 from California to Iowa- which means that it'd be great to find fuel in Salt Lake City, Cheyenne, somewhere in Nebraska... anyone out there? Commercial B20 isn't what I'm looking for any info is appreciated. mark . Yahoo! Groups Sponsor -~-- Rent DVDs from home. Over 14,500 titles. Free Shipping No Late Fees. Try Netflix for FREE! http://us.click.yahoo.com/BVVfoB/hP.FAA/ySSFAA/FGYolB/TM -~- Biofuel at Journey to Forever: http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html Biofuels list archives: http://archive.nnytech.net/ Please do NOT send Unsubscribe messages to the list address. To unsubscribe, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
[biofuels-biz] Northern California Biodiesel/SVO users
Hello all, I started a new announcements email list for biodiesel-related events happening in Northern California. It is open for anyone to join and view the archives, however, it is not a discussion forum. It's an announcement-only newsletter', so it should stay low-volume. I expect to post a monthly calendar of events I know about, plus a few more updates/reminders- about 5 messages a month. Please send me info about California biodiesel/SVO events you know about, and I'll put them up. To join, see: www.groups.yahoo.com/group/NorCal-biodiesel-events This will also take you to a listing of your other NorCal biodiesel discussion forum options. Regards, Mark Yahoo! Groups Sponsor -~-- Get A Free Psychic Reading! Your Online Answer To Life's Important Questions. http://us.click.yahoo.com/Lj3uPC/Me7FAA/ySSFAA/9bTolB/TM -~- Biofuels at Journey to Forever http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html Biofuel at WebConX http://webconx.green-trust.org/2000/biofuel/biofuel.htm List messages are archived at the Info-Archive at NNYTech: http://archive.nnytech.net/ To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
[biofuels-biz] Free Biodiesel Workshop this Sunday- Davis, California
Hi Locals: I'm teaching a free biodiesel how-to workshop this Sunday, June 8th at the Domes student co-op at UC Davis, 11 am-3 pm. Unlike some of my other workshops, this one will be demo-style- ie, not hands-on for the students, due to possible UC nervousness about such things- but I'll have my processor with me and will demonstrate: test batches, full size batch, washing equipment, titration, quality testing, quality control (ie a few 'engineered failures'), and will talk about two-stage acid-base, ethanol biodiesel, industrial processes, things to do with glycerine byproduct, co-ops and other regional scale production, and more. Workshop is free, I've got a text to go along with it for $5. Sorry, I currently don't have good travel directions to The Domes student housing- if you go to the UC Davis campus and ask, everyone knows where Domes is. If in doubt, email me for the directions before Friday night and I can send them to you before Sat morning. just so this isn't confusing anyone- remember this workshop is Sunday! mark For other upcoming biodiesel workshops/forums in this area, please join the new, low-volume, Northern California biodiesel events announcement list www.groups.yahoo.com/group/norcal-biodiesel-events Yahoo! Groups Sponsor -~-- Get A Free Psychic Reading! Your Online Answer To Life's Important Questions. http://us.click.yahoo.com/Lj3uPC/Me7FAA/ySSFAA/9bTolB/TM -~- Biofuels at Journey to Forever http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html Biofuel at WebConX http://webconx.green-trust.org/2000/biofuel/biofuel.htm List messages are archived at the Info-Archive at NNYTech: http://archive.nnytech.net/ To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
[biofuels-biz] Biodiesel Sustainability Forum, Saturday, June 7th, Santa Rosa CA
There is a biodiesel and sustainability forum at New College in Santa Rosa, CA, this Saturday. It runs from 10 am to 3 pm. There is a panel discussion/workshop on regional biodiesel and sustainability on June 7th at New College of California in Santa Rosa. Speaking will be -Dave Williamson, biodiesel activist and fleet manager of Berkeley's B-100-powered curbside recycling fleet -Kumar Plocher of Yokayo Biofuels, who deliver B-100 to retail customers in Northern California -Maria girl Mark Alovert, homebrew biodiesel educator and member of the Berkeley Biodiesel Co-op/Biodiesel Catalyst, an organization of Bay Area biodiesel advocacy/ regional biodiesel consumer issues. They are also planning for most of this to be VERY 'audience'-interactive- so come with all the input you've been dying to give! Here's the official writeup from the organizers: A forum called Exploring the Sustainability of Biodiesel will happen at the New College Santa Rosa Campus. This will be a fun and informative way to get involved in the world of biodiesel. Discussion will begin with general information on biodiesel and move on to include what is working to keep this fuel sustainable, what obstacles exist and how to address them. There will be an open forum question/answer period, small group discussion and Biodiesel Jeopardy. This event will be held June 7th from 10:00am to 3:00pm For further information, contact Robin at 415 345-1356, or [EMAIL PROTECTED]. Saturday june 7th 10 am to 3 pm at New College/Santa Rosa campus 99 Sixth st Santa Rosa, CA Yahoo! Groups Sponsor -~-- Get A Free Psychic Reading! Your Online Answer To Life's Important Questions. http://us.click.yahoo.com/Lj3uPC/Me7FAA/ySSFAA/9bTolB/TM -~- Biofuels at Journey to Forever http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html Biofuel at WebConX http://webconx.green-trust.org/2000/biofuel/biofuel.htm List messages are archived at the Info-Archive at NNYTech: http://archive.nnytech.net/ To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
[biofuels-biz] Homebrew Biodiesel Class, June 29, Ukiah CA
Apologies to all the out-of-state people getting my last few announcements, this is last of these pesky California events announcements for today. *** Hands-on Homebrew Biodiesel Class, June 29, Ukiah, CA Join girl Mark and Kumar Plocher at Yokayo Biofuels for a hands-on workshop on making homebrew biodiesel. This is a 6-hour(ish) class from 10-5, bring potluck-style lunch food to share Yokayo Biofuels is located at 150 Perry St in Ukiah Class is $15-50 sliding scale, no one turned away for lack of funds... and a 50-page text is available ($5). For more info and some photos from the classes we teach, see www.veggieavenger.com For more info about Yokayo Biofuels, see www.ybiofuels.org We recommend reading up on the basic processes at www.journeytoforever.org before coming to the class need still more workshop info? [EMAIL PROTECTED] To receive occasional announcements about upcoming biodiesel events in Northern California, please join us at www.groups.yahoo.com/group/norcal-biodiesel-events- and please send me your biodiesel events info for listing! *** Below is a rough syllabus for the June 29th class: Introduction/ overview: - Biodiesel and straight vegetable oil- two different fuels -Advantages and drawbacks of biodiesel fuel Biodiesel chemistry: - Biodiesel from virgin oil - Biodiesel from waste vegetable oil - Enemies of the reaction: free fatty acids, water - Conditions and ingredients needed for reaction Safety: methanol, lye, and safety equipment Homebrew biodiesel demonstration: - how to make 1-liter test batches - washing intro Hands-on student practice: - Oil tests: testing for water content, - titration- testing for free fatty acids content - Students make liter batches - Failures and quality control: 'glop' (soap), soapy fuel, and incomplete conversion Troubleshooting and testing: -Acid number test (washed fuel) -Reprocess test (unwashed fuel) -Wash test (unwashed fuel) -Tests we don't recommend: specific gravity and viscosity, the but my car runs fine on it test -Cold properties tests- cloud point, gel point Demonstration: full-scale batch intro (Potluck) Lunch break Hands-on: students make full size batch Washing -bubblewashing/mistwashing -Using the wash as a form of feedback -Troubleshooting emulsification -Fixing emulsions Equipment: -Processor options: water heater-based, drums-based, off-the-shelf -Plastics and biodiesel -Wash tanks -Heating options -Standpipe tanks and dip tubes -Pumps -Pump agitation, mechanical agitation -Carboy methoxide mixer systems Glycerine: -Removing methanol -Free fatty acids recovery/glycerine purification -Making soap -Composting glycerine Advanced topics: -Acid-base two-stage methods/pretreatment of free fatty acids -Methanol recovery -Aging, degradation, and biodiesel drawbacks -Additives and storage -Ethanol biodiesel Conclusion: -The commercial biodiesel industry -Decentralized energy production -Co-ops -Where to go from here? [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] Yahoo! Groups Sponsor -~-- Get A Free Psychic Reading! Your Online Answer To Life's Important Questions. http://us.click.yahoo.com/Lj3uPC/Me7FAA/ySSFAA/9bTolB/TM -~- Biofuels at Journey to Forever http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html Biofuel at WebConX http://webconx.green-trust.org/2000/biofuel/biofuel.htm List messages are archived at the Info-Archive at NNYTech: http://archive.nnytech.net/ To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
Re: [biofuels-biz] Fwd: quality control, customer service, and big industry
that is a great document, but that QC recommendation is only a recommendation. There isn't particularly an enforcable law about how often companies run analysis, I dont' think... mark At 04:57 PM 6/4/2003 -0500, you wrote: The most recent guideline that I have found for how often to QC biodiesel is from NREL in September 2001. http://www.afdc.nrel.gov/pdfs/5845.pdf See page 6, paragraph 2. NREL recommends testing each batch of product. For continuous processes, the commercial producers I have interviewed test their product once per shift. KPS Yahoo! Groups Sponsor -~-- Get A Free Psychic Reading! Your Online Answer To Life's Important Questions. http://us.click.yahoo.com/Lj3uPC/Me7FAA/ySSFAA/9bTolB/TM -~- Biofuels at Journey to Forever http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html Biofuel at WebConX http://webconx.green-trust.org/2000/biofuel/biofuel.htm List messages are archived at the Info-Archive at NNYTech: http://archive.nnytech.net/ To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
Re: [biofuels-biz] Fwd: quality control, customer service, and big industry
The odd thing is that it is the big guys (two of them apparently in the past few weeks) who are having obvious quality control problems, and that they're not admiting it (or catching the problem) until some customer/retailer points it out (both World Energy and another producer who just recalled some fuel, which had quality problems which were also not 'caught' by the producer until a biodiesel activist/retail consumer alerted them to a problem). They presumably have the testing facilities to do this as Glenn describes. SO what's happening? mark Obviously something like this could not be done by a small producer, but somehow, it would seem that a similar procedure should be approximated for small batches, if for no other reason than to prove product reliability and to avoid potential liability. Glenn Ellis [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] Biofuels at Journey to Forever http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html Biofuel at WebConX http://webconx.green-trust.org/2000/biofuel/biofuel.htm List messages are archived at the Info-Archive at NNYTech: http://archive.nnytech.net/ To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor -~-- Get A Free Psychic Reading! Your Online Answer To Life's Important Questions. http://us.click.yahoo.com/Lj3uPC/Me7FAA/ySSFAA/9bTolB/TM -~- Biofuels at Journey to Forever http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html Biofuel at WebConX http://webconx.green-trust.org/2000/biofuel/biofuel.htm List messages are archived at the Info-Archive at NNYTech: http://archive.nnytech.net/ To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
[biofuel] Northern California Biodiesel/SVO users
Hello all, I started a new announcements email list for biodiesel-related events happening in Northern California. It is open for anyone to join and view the archives, however, it is not a discussion forum. It's an announcement-only newsletter', so it should stay low-volume. I expect to post a monthly calendar of events I know about, plus a few more updates/reminders- about 5 messages a month. Please send me info about California biodiesel/SVO events you know about, and I'll put them up. To join, see: www.groups.yahoo.com/group/NorCal-biodiesel-events This will also take you to a listing of your other NorCal biodiesel discussion forum options. Regards, Mark Yahoo! Groups Sponsor -~-- Get A Free Psychic Reading! Your Online Answer To Life's Important Questions. http://us.click.yahoo.com/Lj3uPC/Me7FAA/ySSFAA/FGYolB/TM -~- Biofuel at Journey to Forever: http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html Biofuels list archives: http://archive.nnytech.net/ Please do NOT send Unsubscribe messages to the list address. To unsubscribe, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
[biofuel] Free Biodiesel Workshop this Sunday- Davis, California
Hi Locals: I'm teaching a free biodiesel how-to workshop this Sunday, June 8th at the Domes student co-op at UC Davis, 11 am-3 pm. Unlike some of my other workshops, this one will be demo-style- ie, not hands-on for the students, due to possible UC nervousness about such things- but I'll have my processor with me and will demonstrate: test batches, full size batch, washing equipment, titration, quality testing, quality control (ie a few 'engineered failures'), and will talk about two-stage acid-base, ethanol biodiesel, industrial processes, things to do with glycerine byproduct, co-ops and other regional scale production, and more. Workshop is free, I've got a text to go along with it for $5. Sorry, I currently don't have good travel directions to The Domes student housing- if you go to the UC Davis campus and ask, everyone knows where Domes is. If in doubt, email me for the directions before Friday night and I can send them to you before Sat morning. just so this isn't confusing anyone- remember this workshop is Sunday! mark For other upcoming biodiesel workshops/forums in this area, please join the new, low-volume, Northern California biodiesel events announcement list www.groups.yahoo.com/group/norcal-biodiesel-events Yahoo! Groups Sponsor -~-- Get A Free Psychic Reading! Your Online Answer To Life's Important Questions. http://us.click.yahoo.com/Lj3uPC/Me7FAA/ySSFAA/FGYolB/TM -~- Biofuel at Journey to Forever: http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html Biofuels list archives: http://archive.nnytech.net/ Please do NOT send Unsubscribe messages to the list address. To unsubscribe, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
[biofuel] Biodiesel Sustainability Forum, Saturday, June 7th, Santa Rosa CA
There is a biodiesel and sustainability forum at New College in Santa Rosa, CA, this Saturday. It runs from 10 am to 3 pm. There is a panel discussion/workshop on regional biodiesel and sustainability on June 7th at New College of California in Santa Rosa. Speaking will be -Dave Williamson, biodiesel activist and fleet manager of Berkeley's B-100-powered curbside recycling fleet -Kumar Plocher of Yokayo Biofuels, who deliver B-100 to retail customers in Northern California -Maria girl Mark Alovert, homebrew biodiesel educator and member of the Berkeley Biodiesel Co-op/Biodiesel Catalyst, an organization of Bay Area biodiesel advocacy/ regional biodiesel consumer issues. They are also planning for most of this to be VERY 'audience'-interactive- so come with all the input you've been dying to give! Here's the official writeup from the organizers: A forum called Exploring the Sustainability of Biodiesel will happen at the New College Santa Rosa Campus. This will be a fun and informative way to get involved in the world of biodiesel. Discussion will begin with general information on biodiesel and move on to include what is working to keep this fuel sustainable, what obstacles exist and how to address them. There will be an open forum question/answer period, small group discussion and Biodiesel Jeopardy. This event will be held June 7th from 10:00am to 3:00pm For further information, contact Robin at 415 345-1356, or [EMAIL PROTECTED]. Saturday june 7th 10 am to 3 pm at New College/Santa Rosa campus 99 Sixth st Santa Rosa, CA Yahoo! Groups Sponsor -~-- Get A Free Psychic Reading! Your Online Answer To Life's Important Questions. http://us.click.yahoo.com/Lj3uPC/Me7FAA/ySSFAA/FGYolB/TM -~- Biofuel at Journey to Forever: http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html Biofuels list archives: http://archive.nnytech.net/ Please do NOT send Unsubscribe messages to the list address. To unsubscribe, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
[biofuel] Homebrew Biodiesel Class, June 29, Ukiah CA
Apologies to all the out-of-state people getting my last few announcements, this is last of these pesky California events announcements for today. *** Hands-on Homebrew Biodiesel Class, June 29, Ukiah, CA Join girl Mark and Kumar Plocher at Yokayo Biofuels for a hands-on workshop on making homebrew biodiesel. This is a 6-hour(ish) class from 10-5, bring potluck-style lunch food to share Yokayo Biofuels is located at 150 Perry St in Ukiah Class is $15-50 sliding scale, no one turned away for lack of funds... and a 50-page text is available ($5). For more info and some photos from the classes we teach, see www.veggieavenger.com For more info about Yokayo Biofuels, see www.ybiofuels.org We recommend reading up on the basic processes at www.journeytoforever.org before coming to the class need still more workshop info? [EMAIL PROTECTED] To receive occasional announcements about upcoming biodiesel events in Northern California, please join us at www.groups.yahoo.com/group/norcal-biodiesel-events- and please send me your biodiesel events info for listing! *** Below is a rough syllabus for the June 29th class: Introduction/ overview: - Biodiesel and straight vegetable oil- two different fuels -Advantages and drawbacks of biodiesel fuel Biodiesel chemistry: - Biodiesel from virgin oil - Biodiesel from waste vegetable oil - Enemies of the reaction: free fatty acids, water - Conditions and ingredients needed for reaction Safety: methanol, lye, and safety equipment Homebrew biodiesel demonstration: - how to make 1-liter test batches - washing intro Hands-on student practice: - Oil tests: testing for water content, - titration- testing for free fatty acids content - Students make liter batches - Failures and quality control: 'glop' (soap), soapy fuel, and incomplete conversion Troubleshooting and testing: -Acid number test (washed fuel) -Reprocess test (unwashed fuel) -Wash test (unwashed fuel) -Tests we don't recommend: specific gravity and viscosity, the but my car runs fine on it test -Cold properties tests- cloud point, gel point Demonstration: full-scale batch intro (Potluck) Lunch break Hands-on: students make full size batch Washing -bubblewashing/mistwashing -Using the wash as a form of feedback -Troubleshooting emulsification -Fixing emulsions Equipment: -Processor options: water heater-based, drums-based, off-the-shelf -Plastics and biodiesel -Wash tanks -Heating options -Standpipe tanks and dip tubes -Pumps -Pump agitation, mechanical agitation -Carboy methoxide mixer systems Glycerine: -Removing methanol -Free fatty acids recovery/glycerine purification -Making soap -Composting glycerine Advanced topics: -Acid-base two-stage methods/pretreatment of free fatty acids -Methanol recovery -Aging, degradation, and biodiesel drawbacks -Additives and storage -Ethanol biodiesel Conclusion: -The commercial biodiesel industry -Decentralized energy production -Co-ops -Where to go from here? [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] Yahoo! Groups Sponsor -~-- Get A Free Psychic Reading! Your Online Answer To Life's Important Questions. http://us.click.yahoo.com/Lj3uPC/Me7FAA/ySSFAA/FGYolB/TM -~- Biofuel at Journey to Forever: http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html Biofuels list archives: http://archive.nnytech.net/ Please do NOT send Unsubscribe messages to the list address. To unsubscribe, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
Re: [biofuels-biz] Re: [biofuel] Bad quality at World Energy? what's that again about homebrewers???
Hi levent, Just a few comments on home quality control: I do not know the situation in USA. I agree that home brewers can destroy the market if they produce and sell bad-products. Are you speaking from experience with 'bad homebrew?' Many of them are not equipped with proper facilities for analysis. Making biodiesel is easy but the analysis is not (and apparently not for some industry folks too!, judging by the World Energy quality control problem) . Home brewers must measure (at least) the amount of glycerol separated during the FAME production which indicates the completion degree of the reaction. And of course the washing is extremely important to remove any glycerol and mono-glycerides. Excessive emulsification during the washing may indicate the presence of too much mono-glycerides and soaps (an uncompleted reaction). And of course it is not possible to remove any unreacted veg-oil by washing. I think, if someone is going to do this job seriously, he must have some facilities to do at least some of the analysis, such as acid value, we already teach people to do this- it is the simple titration that we do at home- and my homemade fuel turns out better than the commercial fuel on this test! saponification value, viscosity, density, Which don't matter if you don't know what type of oil you've worked with, and what the standards should be for it- WVO is variable in terms of the fatty acid composition, so viscosity is going to vary accordingly, I believe. Density- that's one test we're trying to get homebrewers 'away from' - because they put too much faith in it (it's so easy to float a hydrometer in a container of biodiesel)- and it really doesn't tell you much about overall quality without taking a lot of other factors into consideration water content if you properly wash your biodiesle it won't hold any significant amount of water that should do damage. Homebrewers don't usually make enough fuel at a time to worry about longterm storage, so the effect of water on decomposition is a non-issue for them. and even the iodine value which are not too difficult and can be done in a simple laboratory. If I remember correctly, some people don't seem to think that iodine value meant much in terms of quality. Can you (or someone else on list) tell me why it is considered important? Analysis of free and total glycerol and monoglycerides are a bit more difficult (see the above web-page for the methods). If you do a reprocess test (ie take a sample of washed fuel and re-process it again with 100 ml per liter of methanol and 3.5 or so grams of lye) and lots of glycerine falls out, it tells you lots about both monoglyceride/diglyceride, and unconverted vegoil, and the test is easy (and cheap). Proper washing takes out free glycerine... one point that I think gets missed in posts like yours, is that homebrewers tend to work with high-quality WVO- for instance, I am very selective about what oil I take. Commercial producers work with whatever they can get- including high-ffa yellow grease, trap grease, and the like. It's a harder feedstock to work with, so even a well-designed facility will have more challenges than most experienced homebrewers do. In some ways, making a good product is harder for a commercial facility due to the pressures of production, such as quantity throughput. Homebrewers who have learned their process well don't have as many variables to deal with as yellow grease sourced producers, and they are also more flexible usually, not being on a time constraint over how long to wash, for instance. I'm quite interested in all of these issues, and later on in June I'm getting full round of testing for ASTM compliance done on some samples of my fuel, both singlestage transesterified and acid-base. Looking forward to the results and to find out more about how the homebrewer 'tests' compare to the hard numbers of ASTM for instance. take care, mark regards Dr.levent yuceer Yahoo! Groups Sponsor -~-- Get A Free Psychic Reading! Your Online Answer To Life's Important Questions. http://us.click.yahoo.com/Lj3uPC/Me7FAA/ySSFAA/9bTolB/TM -~- Biofuels at Journey to Forever http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html Biofuel at WebConX http://webconx.green-trust.org/2000/biofuel/biofuel.htm List messages are archived at the Info-Archive at NNYTech: http://archive.nnytech.net/ To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
[biofuels-biz] homebrewers, and industry lessons?
(crossposted from biofuels-biz)At 01:23 PM 5/30/2003 -0700, you wrote: Hi levent, Just a few comments on home quality control: Levent wrote: I do not know the situation in USA. I agree that home brewers can destroy the market if they produce and sell bad-products. mark wrote: Are you speaking from experience with 'bad homebrew?' I also want to point out that homebrewers don't generally 'sell' fuel- so there's no huge danger in terms of the market. Co-ops of homebrewers do make fuel for their own internal use, but the minute someone approaches 'selling' on any scale that matters (ie bigger than a coop), they're subject to more scrutiny about compliance with regulations regarding ASTM testing, etc. One big fault of Graham Noyes' original post which started this 'homebrewers destroyed the market' rumor- is that the rumor was simply untrue. Several of us who are VERY familiar with the homebrewers AND the industry in the Western US, explicitly asked Graham what part of the country he was talking about - what state, etc. As usual there simply was NO situation fitting his description. He eventually backed down from that assertion, as Keith pointed out in the recent quotes he posted from Graham. It seems that it is not entirely clear this time, that there simply has NOT been a case of this (widespread bad homebrew distribution (see caveat in my next post)) causing acceptance problems for biodiesel, whereas there have been several cases of industry causing similar problems. In many ways, it is much easier for industry to do damage than for homebrewers to do damage, due to the difference in volumes handled. Most 'consumers' are at least at first somewhat skeptical of homebrew and tend to ask questions about it, so the choice to use potentially untested homebrew or a DIY vegoil method is usually more of an informed decision- and of course it's our responsibility to represent homebrew, commercial, and SVO methods accurately at all times to people we're educating! *** lessons about consumers: If you follow the link to the biodieselnow discussion on the bad quality World Energy fuel- http://forums.biodieselnow.com/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=941 you will see a few very irate arguments from the man who bought the 'bad' stuff from World Energy. I think that this thread contains some good lessons for us: One of his big points is that he pays a premium price for the fuel- and that for that price, the stuff should have at least met spec. (I hear lots of people say they're willing to take risks on homebrewing themselves since it's not costing them much by the way) The bigger worry for me, is that he is also suggesting that it is the fault of WVO-derived feedstock, and that this would not have happened if it was soy oil biodiesel. the rest of the men (?) on the thread in that forum are trying to convince him that it is not the fault of the yellow grease feedstock, and that he is confusing high gel point/cloud point- ie natural characteristics of the type of fuel- with some of what he is seeing. A few more of these situations can actually 'ruin the market' for yellow-grease derived biodiesel. And it's not homebrewers who are doing it. It is also a good example of how a small distributor could probably do better education, than a large one like World Energy. Yokayo Biofuels, (www.ybiofuels.org), a small distributor in northern california, gives all their customers a huge info packet to read, which talks about filter changes, biodiesel properties, where to get more information, materials compatibility, emissions tests... I've suggested that they add 'virgin oil derived fuel characteristics versus recycled content fuel' characteristics, so as to educate consumers about basic stuff like why the heck is this garbage so dark??? (an actual reaction that many people have on seeing recycled content for the first time, the man in the post above keeps saying I knew it was bad fuel when I first saw it and my guess is that it's just the dark red color which worries him.) After hearing this same reaction several times, I've started to we bring samples of fuel that are several colors with me when I do basic fuel demonstrations, bring it to fairs, etc, when I am talking to consumers. It never occurred to me that people are put off by the red color if they are used to virgin soy fuel... so we now make a big point of saying' 'the color doesn't matter' which sometimes leads into a nice discussion of oil characteristics and how they carry over into the resulting biodiesel. on another consumer education topic: Yokayo Biofuels (my model of a good local biodiesel-focused, non-petroleum, non-renderer, non-Big Ag-connected company, therefore one I presume has the best chance of focusing on biodiesel customer service only since that is their primary business) recently filled a tank for a new filling station that is about to open in our area. This
[biofuels-biz] another case of bad quality control
On the other hand, here's another post about some bad fuel that is being sold: http://forums.biodieselnow.com/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=640whichpage=1 read towards the bottom of the first page and then follow the next few. This is about Re-Fine LLC brand fuel being sold in pre-packaged pails at some small general stores in the mountains in Colorado (for an outrageous price!). the fuel turned out to have glycerine or particulates in the bottom of the pails and the person at Re-Fine, LLC came up with a very poor excuse for what it was, claiming he fired a plant manager for quality control issues, then claiming it wasn't glycerine but vegetable oil residue in the pails, which is just about as bad of a quality control issue as not washing (only reason glycerine would be in there in such amounts). It is not clear in this post if this is a legitimate producer or some entrepreneur who talked unwitting store owners into buying some of-spec homebrew. I am taking a personal interest in this because one of the people who has had problems with the stuff is a friend of mine who just moved out there and is quite committed to 'doing the right thing' by using biodiesel. So if anyone has further information, or a sample to send me (a pint or so) please let me know offlist. This is the kind of situation we need to avoid. Part of the problem is that if he WAS a homebrewer/bootlegger, he is apparently posing as a legitimate business (and didn't follow even the most basic accepted quality control standards!). He did not answer questions about ASTM testing. This type of thing is much more avoidable if we do more public education about fuel in general, so that people have more of an idea of what to look for. take care, mark Yahoo! Groups Sponsor -~-- Get A Free Psychic Reading! Your Online Answer To Life's Important Questions. http://us.click.yahoo.com/Lj3uPC/Me7FAA/ySSFAA/9bTolB/TM -~- Biofuels at Journey to Forever http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html Biofuel at WebConX http://webconx.green-trust.org/2000/biofuel/biofuel.htm List messages are archived at the Info-Archive at NNYTech: http://archive.nnytech.net/ To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
[biofuel] Bad quality at World Energy? what's that again about homebrewers???
Hi folks, This just turned up on the Biodieselnow forum (and apparently in response to something on tdiclub I believe). Someone was complaining about what they thought to be poor quality biodiesel. It then came up that there was some other complaints about World Energy biodiesel sold recently in the Pacific Northwest, if I understand correctly. Then someone emailed Graham Noyes. then the following came back from World Energy. The Dr Dan referred to is a small independent biodiesel retailer. Now what's that again about homebrewers, quality, and out-of-spec fuel, and the quality control standards that only industry can provide?? By the way we just had some kind of unrelated recall of out of spec fuel locally, also due to glyceride content being too high. this was from a different producer. the thread is here: http://forums.biodieselnow.com/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=941 quote: Graham Noyes, the West Coast Representative for World Energy responded to the email with a posting at Fred's. Here is his answer- This is Graham from World Energy here. We apologize for the inconvenience of the presence of crappy biodiesel and are doing our level best to solve the problem. I think some more information on the situation could be helpful. First, this biodiesel is crappy not because it is Yellow Grease (aka recycled) biodiesel but because it is out of spec biodiesel. Prior to triggering this railcar, we received lab analysis showing that it met ASTM spec. The good work of Dr. Dan alerted us that there might be an issue with the fuel. We sent samples to an independent lab and found it did not meet spec. We then pulled all product and stopped supplying. If you have product that does not meet spec, we will replace it with ASTM spec fuel. We guarantee that our fuel meets ASTM spec and back that up as necessary. Second, there are differences between recycled and virgin product. Most significantly, YG product has a higher cloud point and CFPP than virgin. For this reason, we do not typically supply YG product except in warm climates or warm seasons. The floaties or separate that was observed is high glycerine content and possibly other particulate. This is not present in fuel that is in spec, including YG biodiesel. We have returned to soy product in the Northwest until quality control issues have been resolved. Our goal is to expand the use of biodiesel and provide honest information on product differences. Thanks for helping us toward this goal! Best, Graham [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] Yahoo! Groups Sponsor -~-- Get A Free Psychic Reading! Your Online Answer To Life's Important Questions. http://us.click.yahoo.com/Lj3uPC/Me7FAA/ySSFAA/FGYolB/TM -~- Biofuel at Journey to Forever: http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html Biofuels list archives: http://archive.nnytech.net/ Please do NOT send Unsubscribe messages to the list address. To unsubscribe, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
[biofuel] homebrewers, and industry lessons?
(crossposted from biofuels-biz)At 01:23 PM 5/30/2003 -0700, you wrote: Hi levent, Just a few comments on home quality control: Levent wrote: I do not know the situation in USA. I agree that home brewers can destroy the market if they produce and sell bad-products. mark wrote: Are you speaking from experience with 'bad homebrew?' I also want to point out that homebrewers don't generally 'sell' fuel- so there's no huge danger in terms of the market. Co-ops of homebrewers do make fuel for their own internal use, but the minute someone approaches 'selling' on any scale that matters (ie bigger than a coop), they're subject to more scrutiny about compliance with regulations regarding ASTM testing, etc. One big fault of Graham Noyes' original post which started this 'homebrewers destroyed the market' rumor- is that the rumor was simply untrue. Several of us who are VERY familiar with the homebrewers AND the industry in the Western US, explicitly asked Graham what part of the country he was talking about - what state, etc. As usual there simply was NO situation fitting his description. He eventually backed down from that assertion, as Keith pointed out in the recent quotes he posted from Graham. It seems that it is not entirely clear this time, that there simply has NOT been a case of this (widespread bad homebrew distribution (see caveat in my next post)) causing acceptance problems for biodiesel, whereas there have been several cases of industry causing similar problems. In many ways, it is much easier for industry to do damage than for homebrewers to do damage, due to the difference in volumes handled. Most 'consumers' are at least at first somewhat skeptical of homebrew and tend to ask questions about it, so the choice to use potentially untested homebrew or a DIY vegoil method is usually more of an informed decision- and of course it's our responsibility to represent homebrew, commercial, and SVO methods accurately at all times to people we're educating! *** lessons about consumers: If you follow the link to the biodieselnow discussion on the bad quality World Energy fuel- http://forums.biodieselnow.com/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=941 you will see a few very irate arguments from the man who bought the 'bad' stuff from World Energy. I think that this thread contains some good lessons for us: One of his big points is that he pays a premium price for the fuel- and that for that price, the stuff should have at least met spec. (I hear lots of people say they're willing to take risks on homebrewing themselves since it's not costing them much by the way) The bigger worry for me, is that he is also suggesting that it is the fault of WVO-derived feedstock, and that this would not have happened if it was soy oil biodiesel. the rest of the men (?) on the thread in that forum are trying to convince him that it is not the fault of the yellow grease feedstock, and that he is confusing high gel point/cloud point- ie natural characteristics of the type of fuel- with some of what he is seeing. A few more of these situations can actually 'ruin the market' for yellow-grease derived biodiesel. And it's not homebrewers who are doing it. It is also a good example of how a small distributor could probably do better education, than a large one like World Energy. Yokayo Biofuels, (www.ybiofuels.org), a small distributor in northern california, gives all their customers a huge info packet to read, which talks about filter changes, biodiesel properties, where to get more information, materials compatibility, emissions tests... I've suggested that they add 'virgin oil derived fuel characteristics versus recycled content fuel' characteristics, so as to educate consumers about basic stuff like why the heck is this garbage so dark??? (an actual reaction that many people have on seeing recycled content for the first time, the man in the post above keeps saying I knew it was bad fuel when I first saw it and my guess is that it's just the dark red color which worries him.) After hearing this same reaction several times, I've started to we bring samples of fuel that are several colors with me when I do basic fuel demonstrations, bring it to fairs, etc, when I am talking to consumers. It never occurred to me that people are put off by the red color if they are used to virgin soy fuel... so we now make a big point of saying' 'the color doesn't matter' which sometimes leads into a nice discussion of oil characteristics and how they carry over into the resulting biodiesel. on another consumer education topic: Yokayo Biofuels (my model of a good local biodiesel-focused, non-petroleum, non-renderer, non-Big Ag-connected company, therefore one I presume has the best chance of focusing on biodiesel customer service only since that is their primary business) recently filled a tank for a new filling station that is about to open in our area. This
[biofuel] another case of bad quality control
On the other hand, here's another post about some bad fuel that is being sold: http://forums.biodieselnow.com/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=640whichpage=1 read towards the bottom of the first page and then follow the next few. This is about Re-Fine LLC brand fuel being sold in pre-packaged pails at some small general stores in the mountains in Colorado (for an outrageous price!). the fuel turned out to have glycerine or particulates in the bottom of the pails and the person at Re-Fine, LLC came up with a very poor excuse for what it was, claiming he fired a plant manager for quality control issues, then claiming it wasn't glycerine but vegetable oil residue in the pails, which is just about as bad of a quality control issue as not washing (only reason glycerine would be in there in such amounts). It is not clear in this post if this is a legitimate producer or some entrepreneur who talked unwitting store owners into buying some of-spec homebrew. I am taking a personal interest in this because one of the people who has had problems with the stuff is a friend of mine who just moved out there and is quite committed to 'doing the right thing' by using biodiesel. So if anyone has further information, or a sample to send me (a pint or so) please let me know offlist. This is the kind of situation we need to avoid. Part of the problem is that if he WAS a homebrewer/bootlegger, he is apparently posing as a legitimate business (and didn't follow even the most basic accepted quality control standards!). He did not answer questions about ASTM testing. This type of thing is much more avoidable if we do more public education about fuel in general, so that people have more of an idea of what to look for. take care, mark Yahoo! Groups Sponsor -~-- FREE Cell Phones with up to $400 Cash Back! http://us.click.yahoo.com/_bBUKB/vYxFAA/ySSFAA/FGYolB/TM -~- Biofuel at Journey to Forever: http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html Biofuels list archives: http://archive.nnytech.net/ Please do NOT send Unsubscribe messages to the list address. To unsubscribe, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
Re: [biofuels-biz] NBB and health effects data -
Hi all, I wanted to clear up something in an older post here: it was a post about the status of the EPA position on small producers. IN the end of this, was the following email from Tom Leue. If I am not mistaken, the story related below (told by Graham Noyes of World Enegy) was never substantiated. I believe I asked him onlist (he was participating at the time) at one point what organization he was talking about, and others have said that they've asked about it too. Last year I recieved a copy of this same exact email from graham, coming from his World Energy email account, so presumably it was an official coommunication. He had accidentaly gotten my and other locals' email addresses from us all being CC'd on a private email concerning a local gas station biodiesel campaign- and he sent this around, though it wasn't particularly relevant to the issue we were working on. This email then led to a lot of panic in our area. This was during the time when the Welsh SVO driver Fry Squad scandal was in the news (welsh svoers being stopped and fined by their local police for tax evasion for using svo). Locally in the Bay Area, the story about the Welsh drivers was making a lot of svo'ers nervous, and many of them were confused about where it was happening (various misinformation went out over various local channels, saying that it happened in san francisco, or australia... we americans were never good at geography). Right then the World Energy communication hit, and rumors of our impending crackdown spread like wildfire. It seems to me that unless I missed something, that Graham Noyes never substantiated this story, though many people asked him about it. Since this has been accidentally re-posted, I would like to either correct this rumor for the archives, or find out who the heck he was talking about, because I'm worried about the same set of rumors going out when people read the otherwise very timely post this World Energy bit was connected to mark --- [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Here is a communication from World Energy about government actions against one of the few biodiesel producers in the Northeast. Be forwarned. Snip We run into a lot of small producers who are trying to do the right thing, but I would be remiss if I did not warn about the severity of cutting corners from an IRS or EPA standpoint. Any biodiesel producer or seller needs to understand that any biodiesel used (not sold)as fuel in an on-road vehicle is subject to on-road tax. We have a number of producers around the country who do not want to deal with the tax, and sell it tax exempt. This fuel does often end up in peoples vehicles. Just as you and I pay tax at the pump, it is the user who is ultimately responsible for road tax. We just had a small producer in another state in a similar situation. They own a number of diesel vehicles and have been using it for about a year. They were just hit with bill for $0.31/gallon State excise tax plus penalties and interest for every gallon they have produced. In addition, since the fuel was used in on-road vehicles, the Federal Government can (and most likely will) fine up to $10.00/gallon for every gallon used. The organization in Maine is a non-profit agency and is therefore tax exempt. They also do not sell any fuel to te outside world. Many of these small producers are yet to realize how sad the ending may be. I don't mean to sound rude or abrupt, but the tax consequences can be quite severe. I have already seen it happen once. I think we will see it happen again. Biofuels at Journey to Forever http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html Biofuel at WebConX http://webconx.green-trust.org/2000/biofuel/biofuel.htm List messages are archived at the Info-Archive at NNYTech: http://archive.nnytech.net/ To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor -~-- Get A Free Psychic Reading! Your Online Answer To Life's Important Questions. http://us.click.yahoo.com/Lj3uPC/Me7FAA/uetFAA/9bTolB/TM -~- Biofuels at Journey to Forever http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html Biofuel at WebConX http://webconx.green-trust.org/2000/biofuel/biofuel.htm List messages are archived at the Info-Archive at NNYTech: http://archive.nnytech.net/ To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
[biofuel] Re: [biofuels-biz] NBB and health effects data -
Hi all, I wanted to clear up something in an older post here: it was a post about the status of the EPA position on small producers. IN the end of this, was the following email from Tom Leue. If I am not mistaken, the story related below (told by Graham Noyes of World Enegy) was never substantiated. I believe I asked him onlist (he was participating at the time) at one point what organization he was talking about, and others have said that they've asked about it too. Last year I recieved a copy of this same exact email from graham, coming from his World Energy email account, so presumably it was an official coommunication. He had accidentaly gotten my and other locals' email addresses from us all being CC'd on a private email concerning a local gas station biodiesel campaign- and he sent this around, though it wasn't particularly relevant to the issue we were working on. This email then led to a lot of panic in our area. This was during the time when the Welsh SVO driver Fry Squad scandal was in the news (welsh svoers being stopped and fined by their local police for tax evasion for using svo). Locally in the Bay Area, the story about the Welsh drivers was making a lot of svo'ers nervous, and many of them were confused about where it was happening (various misinformation went out over various local channels, saying that it happened in san francisco, or australia... we americans were never good at geography). Right then the World Energy communication hit, and rumors of our impending crackdown spread like wildfire. It seems to me that unless I missed something, that Graham Noyes never substantiated this story, though many people asked him about it. Since this has been accidentally re-posted, I would like to either correct this rumor for the archives, or find out who the heck he was talking about, because I'm worried about the same set of rumors going out when people read the otherwise very timely post this World Energy bit was connected to mark --- [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Here is a communication from World Energy about government actions against one of the few biodiesel producers in the Northeast. Be forwarned. Snip We run into a lot of small producers who are trying to do the right thing, but I would be remiss if I did not warn about the severity of cutting corners from an IRS or EPA standpoint. Any biodiesel producer or seller needs to understand that any biodiesel used (not sold)as fuel in an on-road vehicle is subject to on-road tax. We have a number of producers around the country who do not want to deal with the tax, and sell it tax exempt. This fuel does often end up in peoples vehicles. Just as you and I pay tax at the pump, it is the user who is ultimately responsible for road tax. We just had a small producer in another state in a similar situation. They own a number of diesel vehicles and have been using it for about a year. They were just hit with bill for $0.31/gallon State excise tax plus penalties and interest for every gallon they have produced. In addition, since the fuel was used in on-road vehicles, the Federal Government can (and most likely will) fine up to $10.00/gallon for every gallon used. The organization in Maine is a non-profit agency and is therefore tax exempt. They also do not sell any fuel to te outside world. Many of these small producers are yet to realize how sad the ending may be. I don't mean to sound rude or abrupt, but the tax consequences can be quite severe. I have already seen it happen once. I think we will see it happen again. Biofuels at Journey to Forever http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html Biofuel at WebConX http://webconx.green-trust.org/2000/biofuel/biofuel.htm List messages are archived at the Info-Archive at NNYTech: http://archive.nnytech.net/ To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor -~-- Get A Free Psychic Reading! Your Online Answer To Life's Important Questions. http://us.click.yahoo.com/Lj3uPC/Me7FAA/uetFAA/FGYolB/TM -~- Biofuel at Journey to Forever: http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html Biofuels list archives: http://archive.nnytech.net/ Please do NOT send Unsubscribe messages to the list address. To unsubscribe, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
