Recent Stories About Biodiesel:
- ACT Expo 2013 in Just Three Weeks
- Another $100 Million from California
- ACT Expo 2013 Agenda & Speakers
- REG Resurgence Thanks to LCFS
- APTA Sums Up Alt Fuel Use
Biodiesel advocates run the gamut of idealists powering their ‘70s-era Volvos on
spent french fry grease to multimillion-dollar petroleum terminal operators offering
B5 to green their conventional product. In between are hundreds of fleets now paring
their emissions (biodiesel is inherently sulfur-free) and reducing their imported oil
impact – and in many cases earning the U.S. EPA Renewable Identification Number-
RIN system of credits that can cover the renewable fuel’s extra costs.
Most biodiesel is burned as B5 or B20, which are 5% and 20% blends – dilute enough
to avoid most of the gumming and related problems associated with all-bio B100.
Price remains an issue with biodiesel, as do standards and warranty approvals
by diesel engine OEMs. And, in addition to vehicle performance issues, biodiesel
faces geopolitical and issues of conscience: so-called first-generation biodiesel is
generally made from vegetable oils that could be used for food, or which are derived
from plants grown on land that could be used to grow food. Biodiesel from waste, such as spent cooking oil from restaurants, has become commercial to the point that theft is an issue. Biodiesel from plants like camelina and jatropha are fast approaching true commercialization too.
Florida Power & Light buys biodiesel in bulk– and with U.S. EPA RIN credits, saves a considerable amount of money in doing so.
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