Forbes on 2008+ Diesels

Forbes.com has an article about some diesels reaching all 50 US states in 2008 and beyond, including:

• 2009 Jetta TDI
• BMW X5 Xdrive 35d
• BMW 335d
• Audi Q7 TDI
• Audi A4 TDI
• Mercedes ML 320 Bluetec
• Mercedes R 320 Bluetec

More on San Francisco biodiesel

Eric Smith recaps the latest SF Bay Area/biofuel news in this great BeyondChron article:

• almost all of SF's diesel fleet will be running b20 by end-of-2007
• SF may be the largest city in the USA to be re-using waste grease in a sustainable way
• SF Petroleum has b100 available for city vehicles as well as residents
• Rainbow Grocery has after-hours biodiesel filling
  

Free San Francisco Grease Recycling

Great news from San Francisco earlier this week, in the Chronicle:

• SFGreasecycle announced, a free program where the city will pick up used cooking oil from restaurants/hotels/etc., to be converted to biodiesel for the city's 1500-diesel vehicle fleet
  
• is partially in response to illegal grease/sewer dumping, which costs the city ~$3.5M to clean each year
• is part of the city's mandate that all its diesel vehicles use B20 by end of 2007; this'll reduce CO2 emissions by 15% and diesel soot by 20%
  
• SFGreasecycle is the first stage; later they'll look into building their own production plant
• Program website: http://www.sfgreasecycle.org/
  

WVO in San Francisco

As an SF resident, I was glad to see this, from the Examiner:

"Leftover grease from San Francisco’s restaurants will be recycled into fuel for The City’s diesel buses, under a $1.3 million program in the works by the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission."
...

"At least 1 million gallons of biodiesel fuel could be manufactured from the oil collected from The City’s 2,600-plus restaurants, said SFPUC official Lewis Harrison, who added that is “more than enough” to contribute the required 20 percent to power the entire fleet."

India Biodiesel Update

Via an email from my Dad, here's an MIT Tech Review article about India and Biodiesel:

"Biodiesel could be an important renewable substitute for fossil fuels. And, in certain parts of the world, governments and some corporations consider the jatropha plant, common in hot climates, one of the most promising sources of biodiesel. The plant can grow in wastelands, and it yields more than four times as much fuel per hectare as soybean, and more than ten times that of corn. But the commercial-scale cultivation of jatropha, which has not previously been grown as a crop, raises several significant challenges."

...

"So far, the project has signed up 5,000 farmers representing 1,000 hectares of land. The goal is to have 8,000 hectares under cultivation by March 2008, and Adholeya says that the success of the first crops has drawn interest from many more farmers. By the end of 2008, TERI plans to have a production facility producing biodiesel from jatropha. Eventually, it aims to produce 90 million liters of biodiesel annually."

Texas FUD

This is unfortunate, but at least they're extending the study to learn more about the issue:

"The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality says that blending 20 percent (B20) or more of biodiesel with diesel fuel could increase the amount of nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions above levels permitted by the state, as per a law passed in 2005."

Diesel Vehicles

From a San Francisco/biodiesel mailing list comes a few interesting articles

• the Prince of Wales and his b100-powered Jaguar
  
• perhaps news of a hybrid diesel?
  

More FUD

A friend recently sent a link to this AlterNet piece about biofuels, "Biofuels are an Environmental Dead End"

New Biodiesel Blog

My friend Rob just launched a new weblog about biodiesel, Awake at the Wheel, and it appears to be getting a lot more attention than this one. ;)

In other news, my friends Ryanne and Jay recently interviewed me about biodiesel on their videoblog:


(.mov link)

Nevada Biodiesel Plant

The folks at Infinifuel just announced their Nevada biodiesel plant, which is unique in that it incorporates geothermal energy into the production process:

"The facility is home to the first geothermal power plant in Nevada. There are two production geothermal wells and seven power production units providing over 5 MW of electrical energy. In addition, the 220 degree steam will be used in the production of biodiesel on site."

Here's the location on Google Maps.

Radio piece: Biodiesel for truckers

Here's a Living on Earth audio spot (including a transcript) about truckers and biodiesel; snippet:

"I didn't know a whole lot about it as far as biodiesel but the truckers say you get better mileage, the exhaust is not hurting your eyes or anything else. It's beautiful stuff. And so the truckers convinced me and, you know, that's who's gonna put it on the map anyway."
...

"Many truckers feel a tie to farmers because they transport agricultural products. And so far, biodiesel is not allowed to travel by pipeline. Instead, it's hauled by rail or tanker truck, so it's a source of work for truckers, too. The National Biodiesel Board ranks trucker outreach as one of its top priorities."

[via the SF Biofuel Y! Group]

NPR on Biodiesel

There's a great NPR/Kitchen Sisters piece from a few months back about biodiesel - they chat with the folks behind BioWillie, and about Carl's Corner TX, where it was first sold:

"Carl's Corner, Texas, is a truck stop between Dallas and Waco, Texas, where a little revolution has begun. Where truckers fill up on American fuel made from farm crops. BioWillie, they call it, because Willie Nelson is the driving force behind this biodiesel vision. His tour bus runs on it, (so do Bonnie Raitt's and Neil Young's) and a brigade of 18-wheelers barreling down the nation's highways; a growing fleet of semis whose exhaust smells like French fries."

With its dancing frogs on top of the truck-stop sign, Carl's is a well-known landmark for motorists who travel Interstate 35 outside of Dallas. Owner Carl Cornelius bought the land in 1979 and incorporated the town in 1986 so he could sell alcohol in an otherwise dry part of Hill County. He's been mayor ever since."