News and information about Biodiesel & alternative fuels.

2005/05/17

Seattle Update

Rob from Propel just wrote to let me know about Laurelhurst Oil's recent grand opening, up in Seattle. KOMO has the scoop:
Ribbon cutting"Chances are you've heard of soybean-based "Biodiesel" but the high price per gallon may have kept you away. But now the nearly emission-free fuel is finally competitively priced."

"About 2,000 people in the Seattle area fill their diesel engines with Biodiesel, but that number could easily double this summer. New filling stations, like one behind University Village in Seattle, are popping up all over..."

"Right now, you're paying about $2.79 for a gallon of diesel in the greator Seattle area. The price of Biodiesel at this station is $2.96 per gallon."
Great work, folks!

2005/05/09

Specs?

A BiodieselBlog reader writes:
"I'm working on a small plant to produce biodiesel in Southern California. Do you know where I can find the actual biodiesel regulations enforced by the dept. of weights and measurements? I'm having trouble finding the actual specs."
Anybody know where he can find info about this?

Biodiesel Benz

Paul Vachier wrote in a few days ago about two of his biofuel projects. First is a great writeup of his experiences with a Golf TDI & biodiesel (this is what I drive). Here's a snippet:
"In terms of driving and overall satisfaction, this is my favorite car to date. It handles great and has extremely comfortable seats and I absolutely love the gas mileage. It is German engineered through-and-through which means it is designed for the driving experience despite its frugal nature and can move along very quickly thanks to the turbo charger."
The second is an article on converting an old Mercedes Benz to run on Straight Veggie Oil:
"Lyle bought a two fuel tank conversion kit for $500 and found a local mechanic familiar with conversions who installed it for $1,000. The car's original tank was kept and holds regular diesel (or B20, B100) fuel for cold weather starting. A second tank was installed in the trunk for vegetable oil. Hoses are run from the car's radiator to the tank to heat the oil via a heat exchanger before it enters the final fuel filter and injectors inside the engine compartment."
Great stuff!

Malaysia

Green Car Congress is reporting that Malaysia is set to build its first Biodiesel refinery. It will all be exported though:
"Chin said the fuel could not be used in Malaysia as the existing infrastructure of the major oil companies in the country to blend the bio-diesel with petroleum diesel was insufficient."

"The companies would have to work together with MPOB and Golden Hope Plantations to develop the infrastructure, he said, adding that there weren't any legal provisions for the alternative fuel in the country at the moment."

2005/05/08

Link Roundup

(Apologies for the lack of posting lately; things have been mighty busy at work...)

I've been getting caught up on my Deep Green Crystals reading this weekend; here's an excellent roundup of links courtesy of Martin: