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  Biodiesel on the Rise in Southwestern CO By Suzanne Matthiessen Gasoline prices remain high as of March 2006, and many working Pagosans have felt the pinch on their already tight budgets. Global warming is having an almost irreversible impact on the entire planet, fossil fuel supplies are dwindling and many of the countries that supply oil are those that the United States is in a precarious relationship with at best. The current administration is encouraging the development and use of alternative fuels as a means to reduce dependency on foreign oil supplies. Literary legend Kurt Vonnegut wrote an article for In These Times Magazine in 2004 in which he stated: "We are all addicts of fossil fuels in a state of denial, about to face cold turkey." But the collective populace seems to have not yet grasped that our dependency on still-affordable gasoline will soon face wrenching withdrawals, and maybe sooner than we think. Alternatives to gasoline-only powered engines are available, with gas/electric hybrids being produced by almost every major automobile manufacturer. General Motors is heavily promoting "FlexFuel" vehicles that can be run on regular gasoline or corn-based E85 ethanol (other makes and models can be run on E85 ethanol too, see: http://www.e85fuel.com/e85101/flexfuelvehicles.php). However, E85 fuel is not currently available in Pagosa Country. Another option gaining in popularity is biodiesel, a fuel source derived partly from vegetable oil that is recycled from restaurant deep fryers. "Vehicles run on old French-fry grease?" you may be thinking out loud. "How did they come up with THAT?"
Actually, biodiesel is not a new invention. When Rudolph Diesel first detailed his plans in 1893 for the engine that bears his name, he believed he designed something that farmers could fuel themselves using peanut oil. In the US alone, each year three to four billion gallons of Waste Vegetable Oil (WVO) from restaurants are dumped into landfills, added to pet food and cosmetics, and filtered and sold as "cooking oil" to people in third world countries. Since restaurants must pay to have their used-up deep frying oil disposed, owners are usually thrilled to give it away for use in "veggie vehicles." Biodiesel can be used in its pure form, referred to as "SVO" (straight vegetable oil), but the most common form is called "B20," a blend of 20 percent biodiesel and 80 percent petroleum diesel, recommended for use in many older vehicles that can experience original seal and gasket damage if they burn 100 percent biodiesel/SVO. Cars built since 1994 that are already equipped with diesel engines can run on SVO with little to no modification. Major oil companies are getting into the biodiesel business, and the fuel is already used in vehicle fleets across the country, including some owned by the US Postal Service. However, the news isn't entirely positive in terms of environmental impact. Although vehicles that are run on commercially produced biodiesel are cleaner than regular diesel in many respects, they still emit nitrogen dioxide, one of the main components of smog, although generally in lesser amounts depending on the fuel blend. Here in Southwestern Colorado, the biodiesel movement has passionate and vocal promoters. Charris Ford of Telluride, who is nicknamed "The Granola Ayatollah of Canola," is on a mission to liberate people from their fossil fuel addictions. Because of the efforts of Ford and other visionary businesspeople, the city of Telluride's "Galloping Goose" public bus runs on 100% biodiesel. Tim Waterfield of Pagosa Springs owns Planet Biodiesel, a company that sells all the products necessary to make your own biodiesel fuel for vehicles and home heating use. Tim also conducts hands-on workshops on making biodiesel fuel on a regular basis in Pagosa Springs. According to the Planet Biodiesel website, biodiesel will clean out vehicle fuel systems due to its solvent nature. That means some older vehicles will need to have their fuel filter replaced more often than normal when first using biodiesel. But tests have shown less wear occurs on engines running on biodiesel, and the use of this fuel does not void a vehicle's warranty. Learn more at http://www.planetbiodiesel.com/
Wolf Creek Ski Area and Durango Mountain Resort, as well as the City of Durango have been successfully using biodiesel fuel in their diesel-based snowcats and other vehicles for some time now. All three, along with the 9-R School District and La Plata County, signed on to fund a local biodiesel facility, and the Dove Creek area in Dolores County is one of the places being considered as a feasible location. Members of the San Juan Biodiesel Cooperative hope a Southwestern Colorado biodiesel processing plant will not only reduce fuel costs locally, but be a boon to local agriculture as well. However, the Cooperative admits that a local plant could only produce between 3 million and 5 million gallons of biodiesel per year, so there may not be enough left over for the general public to consume after all the fleet owners from the above-listed members of the Cooperative get their share. Still, it's a start. Meanwhile, the Exxon Corner Store at 18th Street and Main Avenue in Durango sells biodiesel fuel at the pump that comes from an Iowa-based company called Blue Sun. And when you find yourself "on the road again," country music legend Willie Nelson's "BioWillie" Biodiesel Company currently sells biodiesel fuel at its own outlets in California, Texas, Georgia and South Carolina with more locations in the works. Willie has gotten behind biodiesel in his on-going efforts to support the American farmer. Read more about it at http://www.biowillie.com/. How does biodiesel fuel smell? Not bad. Better than petro-diesel for sure. Most say it smells like, well …French fries. |
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