BioDiesel Gets A Boost In The US

ChipZilla

For once, the US is ahead of Europe in something environment-related... I wonder when we'll see more European car-makers supporting a move to BioDiesel?

http://www.wired.com/news/autotech/0,2554,65054,00.html?tw=wn_tophead_7

Environmental activists and farmers have been the primary advocates fueling the demand for biodiesel, but newfound interest from automakers could ignite the movement to replace the petrol in your gas tank with fuel made from plants.

Biodiesel is commonly made from soybean, vegetable or rapeseed oil, and can be used by vehicles with diesel engines. The consumption of biodiesel in the United States grew from 15 million gallons in 2002 to 25 million gallons in 2003, according to the National Biodiesel Board. Buses and trucks used the overwhelming majority of biodiesel, largely because until recently Volkswagen was the only auto manufacturer selling diesel passenger vehicles in the United States.

Big Five auto manufacturer DaimlerChrysler recently took steps to seed consumer interest in biodiesel. The company said this month that it would fill the tanks of all its new Chrysler Jeep Liberty vehicles with biodiesel. DaimlerChrysler will fill the vehicles with B5, which mixes 5 percent biodiesel with diesel fuel.

DaimlerChrysler believes that biodiesel could provide up to 20 percent of the fuel for diesel vehicles in Europe, according to prepared statements released Thursday by Herbert Kohler, head of vehicle body and drive systems at the company. Kohler said DaimlerChrysler is helping to create a new biodiesel fuel using biomass, including wood, straw and corn waste.

DaimlerChrysler has joined with competitor Volkswagen and fuel developer Choren Industries to produce SunDiesel, which would reduce particulate emissions by 50 percent, according to the companies. Kohler said developing biodiesel "is integral to the company's Energy for the Future initiative" for reducing carbon-dioxide emissions. The group produced its first liter of SunDiesel in 2003, and according to DaimlerChrysler, the fuel can be used in any diesel engine without modification.

DaimlerChrysler achieved success with the release of its first diesel vehicle for the U.S. market in six years, the Mercedes-Benz E320 CDI sedan, which came out in April 2004. The company sold out its initial allotment of 3,000 vehicles, and an additional supply of 1,000 vehicles has been purchased, according to DaimlerChrysler spokesman Florian Martens.

"We wanted to give diesel a shot, and now we see that the public perception (of diesel vehicles as dirty) is changing," Martens said.

General Motors will be increasing its support of biodiesel in the near future, according to GM fleet account executive for government, Brad Beauchamp. He said that the warranties for all GM vehicles with diesel engines would be updated to allow for the use of B20 (fuel composed of 20 percent biodiesel mixed with regular diesel) and as soon as a standard is passed. Beauchamp said ASTM International is expected to ratify a B20 standard within a few months.

"While we have seen no trouble in using B20, we are waiting to change our warranties until the fuel quality is consistent enough ... so that we feel comfortable that it won't damage the engine," Beauchamp said. Biodiesel offers additional power and lower emissions than standard diesel, according to Beauchamp.

"All of the major automotive manufacturers are struggling to find new ways to meet ever-increasing European and North American emissions and fuel-economy standards, and it appears that biodiesel is the most tangible option available right now," according to Dan Kahn, road test editor for automotive website Edmunds.com.

Kahn said that GM and DaimlerChrysler are the only large automakers who are actively testing biodiesel blends in their vehicles. "The biggest hurdle these companies still have to deal with is convincing North American car buyers that diesel technology has come a long way since the noisy and smelly old Mercedes of decades past," he said.

"Biodiesel just makes sense," Kahn said. He said car companies looking to sell to environmentally conscious buyers will develop either diesel vehicles or hybrid cars, but not both. "VW (Volkswagen) isn't going after hybrids ... and Toyota is dedicated to hybrids," Kahn said. He said consumers who are tired of waiting for the Toyota Prius hybrid (currently a six- to nine-month wait) may opt for a VW Passat TDI diesel sedan and fill it with biodiesel. "It's truly an environmental answer to the Prius."

According to Kahn, more biodiesel-fueling stations have to be created for interest in biodiesel to grow. "People have had to go out of their way to find it."

Biodiesel will soon become more available in the Southwest, thanks to a new commercial biodiesel-distribution terminal. Blue Sun Biodiesel will open a blending facility Oct. 14 in Alamosa, Colorado. The new hub will provide up to 180,000 gallons of biodiesel per day, which will be delivered via tanker and railroad cars, according to Blue Sun president and CEO Jeff Probst.

While the fuel will primarily be used to fuel government and private fleets of vehicles, Probst hopes that the new distribution center will prompt the opening of more retail biodiesel fuel stations. Probst said there are currently 15 retail biodiesel outlets in Colorado, and a new pump will open in New Mexico in October.

Probst said that these retail locations could satisfy consumers with varied interests because biodiesel addresses environmental issues, is better for the vehicles and reduces dependence on foreign oil. "It's for the rednecks as well as the tree huggers."

antoinolachtnai

A lot of European diesel cars will, in practice, run on Biodiesel. I believe Volvo explicitly approves of this use. Biodiesel is available at the local station in some parts of Germany.

There is a tax break available for biodiesel in Ireland as far as I know.

There are environmental concerns about biodiesel. There is a possibility that the energy needed for harvesting and processing may be too greatto make to make it worthwhile.

Capt'n Midnight

antoinolachtnai wrote:

There is a tax break available for biodiesel in Ireland as far as I know.

There are environmental concerns about biodiesel. There is a possibility that the energy needed for harvesting and processing may be too greatto make to make it worthwhile.

Not to mention the Byproducts.

http://www.greenfuels.org/bioworld.html

high fuel taxes in European countries normally constitute 50 percent or more of the retail price of diesel fuel. The majority of European governments believe that the alternative use concept for cereal grains has little economic justification and will in fact merely add to, rather than relieve, pressures on agricultural budgets.

Despite strong political opposition, however, the European Parliament in February 1994 adopted a 90 percent tax exemption for biodiesel. The combination of legislation supporting the use of alternative fuels, differential tax incentives and oilseed production subsidies, resulted in bidiesel being priced competitively with diesel fuel in a number of European countries. Tax incentives take the form of significantly reduced assessments or exemption from taxes normally assessed on diesel fuel.

As of 1995, western European biodiesel production capacity was over 1.1 million tonnes per year largely produced through the transesterification process. This adds over 80,000 tonnes of glycerine by-product to the market annually. This has created a glut of glycerine on the market. In fact, Germany is limiting production of biodiesel using the transesterification process because of an excess supply of glycerine. One method of disposal of the excess glycerine is incineration, however this wastes a manufactured product, creates an environmental risk and results in additional costs. Germany is now focussing on biodiesel production using the cold pressed rapeseed method to avoid the excess glycerine problem.
...
Extensive testing in the U.S. has concentrated on biodiesel produced from soybeans. A number of public transit fleets have been using biodiesel. Tests indicate production costs for biodiesel are 2.5 times that of petroleum diesel.

If the US just redefined SUV's as cars instead of trucks and stuck to their existing targets that would be greener than any practical move to bio-diesel. Don't forget biodiesel still causes CO2 emissions etc. etc.

This reminds me of Energy Star on computers - if you switch off the computer in the evening when you are finished using it then the extra saving of energy star would be used up by the time you drove home in your SUV home.

antoinolachtnai

Capt'n Midnight wrote:

Not to mention the Byproducts.
Don't forget biodiesel still causes CO2 emissions etc. etc.

This is not true. There is no net emission of CO2 from burning biodiesel (or other biomass products).

Capt'n Midnight

:rolleyes: Diesel and Bio-diesel both produce almost exactly the same amounts of CO2. And possibly the same amount of NOx - the point being there would be no Nett Difference in those polutants by switching.

Anyone got any info on as to the relative sulphur contents of them.

Andrew Duffy

antoinolachtnai is correct - biodiesel is refined from plants which absorb CO2, and on burning the fuel, this is released back. The CO2 released by burning petroleum-derived fuels was absorbed millions of years ago.

antoinolachtnai

Capt'n Midnight wrote:

:rolleyes: Diesel and Bio-diesel both produce almost exactly the same amounts of CO2. And possibly the same amount of NOx - the point being there would be no Nett Difference in those polutants by switching.

This is simply incorrect. There is no doubt that burning biodiesel (or anything with carbon in it) produces CO2 just like mineral diesel.

The difference is that there is no net increase in the amount of CO2 in the atmosphere as a result of burning biodiesel, but there is when burning mineral diesel.

The reason for this is that the rapeseed plants absorb the same amount of CO2 from the atmosphere while growing as the biodiesel produces while burning. Hence there is no net increase.

It follows from this that there would be a net decrease in CO2 emissions if biodiesel is used in place of diesel.

As a general rule, the greenhouse effect, Kyoto and so on are only concerned with CO2 introduced as a result of burning fossil fuels.

As for sulphur, there isn't going to be much sulphur in biodiesel, unless it has been added. There is some argument about the benefit of low-sulphur fuel. NOx pollutants - hard to say. Some of the research looks good for biodiesel, other research is less good. A lot seems to depend on the engine as well as the fuel.

antoinolachtnai

I just saw this interesting website which explains how to make your own diesel out of vegetable oil. It's at http://journeytoforever.org/biodiesel_make.html . I would be interested to hear if there is anyone doing it in Ireland.

(Note to the wary: you should consider consulting a taxation specialist to discuss the implications of making biodiesel with the intent of running a vehicle on it. Maybe talk to your mechanic too.)

Capt'n Midnight

antoinolachtnai wrote:

The difference is that there is no net increase in the amount of CO2 in the atmosphere as a result of burning biodiesel, but there is when burning mineral diesel.

http://www.autogas.co.uk/lpg_v_biodiesel.htm - compares LPG and BioDiesel

* Biodiesel has a market share of several percent in Northern Europe, mostly Germany, France and Austria, and volumes are rising sharply, but there are some important facts that have an impact on its environmental claims and calls for increased subsidy. Biodiesel from rapeseed gets an additional incentive from government that commentators do not mention. Namely, farmers get CAP subsidies from the EU to grow oilseeds. So comparison of subsidies on duties alone is a comparison of apples vs oranges.
* If biodiesel producers are - as has been reported in the German press - incinerating byproduct glyerine, they are also burning most if not all of their greenhouse-gas advantage over LPG. [link broken]
* LPG still beats biodiesel on NOx and PM emissions. These are considered by the UK government to be priority pollutants.
* Even if EU farmers were to maximise output of rapeseed, biodiesel could supply only about 15% of the existing petroleum-diesel market.

AFAIR on newsnight a while back it was alledged that between transport, refining, harvesting etc. that farm machinery and factories in total used a litre of low tax diesel to produce a litre of subsidised Biodiesel, so if true there was a substantial loss of tax revenue, a nett cost and overall HIGHER CO2 emissions... and the CAP means it was further subsidised

So Unless BioDiesel is used for all the farm/factory/transport needs to process BioDiesel then it ain't really 100% BioDiesel, and there are still the byproducts to dispose of. Hmmm /me wonders if you could setup a scam this way, collecting all the subsidies and you wouldn't have to show any biodiesel 'cos you've used it all up already

http://www.rendermagazine.com/February2004/BiodieselProductionMixedBag.html

Current U.S. regulations provide soy-based biodiesel with about twice the government subsidy as biodiesel produced from animal fats.

Some BioDiesel may not be suitable for Vegitarians :rolleyes:

http://www.channel4.com/4car/news/news-story.jsp?news_id=10414
tesco to sell BioDiesel - but only 5% of the fuel will be biodiesel - a bit like calling sunny delight a type of fruit drink.

The GlobalDiesel fuel, which has a 5 percent blend of organic rapeseed oil mixed with 95 percent ultra-low-sulphur conventional dervodiesel

dowlingm

just a couple of points:

some biodiesel is from waste products (from chipshops etc.) so is a good thing.

Biodiesel comes in 2 commercial grades, B5 (5%) and B20 (20%) - this is coz some engines won't take >20% BD. If you want 100% you might have to do engine mods, esp. in North America.

The best part about BD is apparently way lower particulate emissions (a big diesel issue)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biodiesel

antoinolachtnai

There is also B100 biodiesel, which is just biodiesel.

I really would be careful about the figures on biodiesel economics. It all depends on how you measure things, and whether your 'model' farms and production facilities are as efficient as possible. Oil rigs are becoming more expensive over time, and refineries are expensive to build and run too. The volatility and increasing scarcity of diesel also has to be taken into account.

The other thing to remember is that there are vested interests at play. It would be very bad for a lot of very powerful parties if biodiesel became a viable alternative to mineral fuels.

I think it's a really exciting area. It would be great to have a biodiesel trial in Ireland.