The Facts

Successful Implementation of the Biodiesel Process in Localities Nationwide

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The biodiesel movement is taking the country by the reigns, from east to west and north to south. It’s bigger than just individuals taking advantage of the myriad rewards of the biodiesel process. Companies, townships, cities, counties, even states are joining the bandwagon. Below you’ll find just a smattering of some of the localities discovering the joys of biodiesel equipment.

Arizona: Tucson-based Raytheon Missile Systems has made the switch to the biodiesel process, acquiring over 7,000 gallons of a B20 mixture to be used in 150 vehicles, such as generators and forklifts.

Iowa: The Cedar Rapids transit authority, Five Seasons Transportation and Parking (FST&P) fuels a fleet of over 60 buses with the biodiesel process, with B10 fueling 45 buses and 10 para-transit vehicles as well as the minibus driven by the operation supervisor. Thanks to the biodiesel process, the buses can run 300,000 to 400,000 miles between each engine overhaul.

Kentucky: Golf course equipment in Lake Barkley State Resort Park runs on biodiesel, as do the Cadiz park’s mowers, tractors, and backhoes.

Maine: World famous retailer L.L. Bean was Maine’s first major business to try out test-marketing the biodiesel process. The Freeport-based seller of fine furnishings, sporting gear. and apparel tried out the biodiesel process in 3 tractor rigs used to shuttle trailers from one warehouse to another. Making biodiesel equipment a permanent part of their infrastructure, the company boasts, installed at one of their warehouses, an 800-gallon, skid-mounted tank and biodiesel fuel dispenser.

Maryland: The Beltsville Agricultural Research Center, demonstrate the benefits and cost-effectiveness of the biodiesel process in large-scale use with three biodiesel fuel dispensers serving 150 vehicles, including buses, trucks, mowers, tractors, and other farm equipment with a B20 mixture. The project also serves to help clean the air in neighboring Washington, D.C.

Michigan: Michigan’s St. Johns Public Schools school district has learned the benefits of the biodiesel process firsthand, having switched all 31 of their school buses and 9 support vehicles (ie. food service truck, 3-wing mower, tractor, pickup trucks) to B20 in doing so saving over $ 1800 in their first year alone.

Nevada: 1,100 school buses in a Las Vegas school district run on biodiesel process from waste vegetable oil donated by local casinos and hotels. The Clark County project consumed over 1.5 million gallons of B20 biodiesel in the first year, closer to 3 million in its second.

New Hampshire: The first winter resort on the East Coast to convert to the biodiesel process, New Hampshire’s Cranmore Mountain Resort has vowed to fuel all of its snow groomers with the same B20 mixture. That’s a 5,000 gallon-per-month commitment to the biodiesel process.

New Jersey: Thanks to a $ 115,000 grant from the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities, Energy Division, half of the school buses in the Medford Township are now powered by the biodiesel process. The district fills the tanks of 16 buses and a dump truck with a B20 mixture.

South Carolina: The campus shuttles at the University of South Carolina carry their students around with the aid of a B20 biodiesel mixture, proving that there’s more than one way for the biodiesel process to infiltrate higher education.

Tennessee: The Eastman Chemical Company is now running on a B20 mixture in around 200 diesel vehicles (including bulldozers, backhoes, dump trucks, cranes, and tractor trailers) and around 150 pieces of stationary equipment (like air compressors, water pumps, welders, and generators).

Utah: All diesel equipment at the Salt Lake City International Airport, a major western hub with no less than 12 airlines running 335 scheduled flights daily out of it, and serving 20 million passengers per year, is now biodiesel equipment, and has been since 2001. This means if you’ve traveled through the Salt Lake Airport, you may have already unwittingly experienced some of the many benefits of the biodiesel process.

The future of every human being is made better thanks to the groundswell in biodiesel equipment and biodiesel vehicles. With only 1/4 the carbon emissions and the promise of freedom from the seemingly never-ending rise in gas and crude oil prices, the biodiesel process is no doubt here to stay and only destined to keep catching on.

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Questions to Ask a Biomass Energy Company

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Are you looking to start generating biomass electricity? Doing so has many advantages, but it’s not something you just want to jump into. Your best bet is to find a biomass energy company and ask the following questions:

1. How long have you been working in the biomass industry?

You’re looking at spending a lot of money to venture into new territory and hopefully make sizeable profits. With so much on the line, it’s crucial that you choose a biomass energy company that has plenty of experience. Go with a company that has multiple decades in the industry. They’ve been down this road many times before, and will gladly guide you along the way-ensuring that you’re not entering the world of biomass power alone.

2. What aspects of the process do you handle?

There are many different phases involved with implementing a biomass electricity system. From feasibility assessments to design to implementation to overseeing installation-it’s a huge undertaking. So make sure you understand which phases the biomass energy company is planning on handling for you. And do yourself a favor: choose a company that will handle it all. That way you don’t have to worry about switching from one company to another in mid-project.

3. Do you deal with co-firing systems as well?

If you already have a plant that burns coal, you might not want to build an entirely new facility. Ask the biomass energy company about co-firing systems. If the company works in co-firing, you may find that you can benefit from burning biomass fuels simultaneously with the coal you’re already using. It’ll cost you less than an entire new system, while still allowing you to produce cleaner energy.

4. How much of your business is repeat business?

No matter what kind of service you’re looking for, you should always investigate a company’s customer service reputation. How can you do that? One way is ask about their customer retention rate. If most of their business is repeat business, then you know that they make clients happy. You also might want to ask to see customer testimonials. There’s nothing like hearing it from the source.

5. Can you review my current plan?

Do you already have a plan for obtaining raw materials to convert to biomass electricity? Before putting that plan into place, you should have a professional review it. A reputable biomass energy company will carefully analyze your plan to make sure it’s feasible. You never want to install a biomass energy system without fully understanding your fuel source. Doing so could result in losses of millions of dollars.

6. Can you help me identify a good local source for biomass fuels?

Want to generate biomass power, but not sure where to get your raw materials? Ask the biomass engineering company for help identifying a good source for biomass fuels. Some companies will perform an in-depth study to find the right source for you. And that’s the company you want to go with.

Once you find a biomass energy company that gives you satisfactory answers to the above questions, you’ll be on the road to benefiting from one of the best renewable energy sources available. Find a reliable biomass energy company today!

Bio Fuel and Bio Diesel

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Grow our own fuel is the battle cry of the move to bio fuels and bio diesel. In fact the American Trucking Association is now endorsing a plan for up to 5% blend of all diesel fuel to be bio diesel.

Sound great right, well a few climate-ologists say not so fast, what about severe storms and crop failures? In fact I myself have some issues with Bio-Diesel that no one has bothered to answer for me. You see it takes water to grow our fuel. The more we need Bio-Fuel the more water we need to process and to grow the Bio Diesel. It also takes fuel to grow it from the Tractors and farm equipment also that also includes turbines to keep crops from freezing, cultivators, irrigation pumps, etc.

Indeed as Monsanto with terminator seeds and Cargill with genetically modified seeds are getting the growing water usage issues down to 2-gallons of water to grow the equivalent of one gallons of fuel. Then it takes 8-gallons to process and refine with fairly good super water purification, filtration and recycling. That means it takes 10 gallons of water to produce one gallon of fuel and Lots of capital costs too to build all these refineries and filtration stations.

But if our bio-fuel is subsidized by government, by reducing taxes and funding, then it seems in the end economically it is not a good deal? If the government halved the taxes on fuel now, the prices would come down by quite a bit and help our economy and lower normal diesel prices and thus, make the competition of Bio-fuels real cost even more gapped. Crude is relatively free, you suck it out of the ground. That is a good amount of cost of goods sold. Like selling dirt and filtering out the rocks and selling those for people’s gardens. We take crude and refine it and then sell the other to chemical and plastic companies.

The issues are with the efficiency in getting the Bio Fuels grown, ready and to market Then there are the bouquet fuel issues demanded by governments. So Bio-Fuels have some reality checks and hurdles to get over in my opinion, I want the real numbers. Sounds like a Corporate Welfare deal without a demand for deadline proof, that it is really economically viable, without fudging the figures? So much for SOX, free pass on Bio-Fuels? I have questions, no one will answer and you cannot find them in Ethanol News or any other place, so I kind of like the “Turn Coal into Fuel” better. Battelle has some very interesting new technologies there and the State of Montana is up on the Research stuff there too and it is getting some political play also.

I have nothing against whatever makes sense, but it must be economically feasible and viable before we go running off without an efficient solution to our supply and demand issues in the World Wide markets as China and India come online with needs of their own, needs which will eventually far surpass the demand here at home. Yes we need to do something, will someone please show me the real numbers, complete reality and stop the BS? Think on this.

“Lance Winslow” – Online Think Tank forum board. If you have innovative thoughts and unique perspectives, come think with Lance; www.WorldThinkTank.net/. Lance is an online writer in retirement.

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Bio fuels – The Possible Answer To Our Future Fuel Needs.

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Bio-fuels differ from fossil fuels as follows:

1. Million of years are required for the creation of fossil fuels whereas in comparison. Bio-fuels can be created in a very short space of time, within days in some cases.
2. Fossil fuels are the main culprit behind the large amounts of pollution present today.
3. Fossil fuels unlike bio-fuels, cannot be renewed, once depleted, that’s it. game over.

There are four categories of bio-fuels. Which are First, Second, Third and Fourth generation. Which can be explained as follows.

First generation bio-fuels are mainly created from vegetable fats, starch and sugar which in turn come from food crops. Another derivative of first generation fuels is animal fats. Examples of this type of Bio-fuels are bio gas, bio-diesel and vegetable oil.

Waste biomass is the main source of second generation bio-fuels. Which in itself is a more balanced option in comparison to first generation fuels. Various types of alcohols and diesel created from wood fall into second generation bio-fuels.

Third generation bio-fuels are derived from algae. Large scale farming of algae is required for the creating of these bio-fuels. The algae fuels are very environmentally friendly because they easily decompose back into the soil without damaging the soil.

Lastly, the fourth generation bio-fuels use a method in which micro-organisms are raised which work with carbon dioxide to generate the fuel.

Bio-fuels have proven to be advantageous in the following areas:

1. Bio-fuels can reduce the burden on the gradual depletion of fossil fuels.
2. Being extremely environment friendly. Bio-fuels assist in the reduction of carbon dioxide emissions into the atmosphere.
3. And finally, bio-fuels are very cost effective for consumers. Especially bio-diesel.

However, bio-fuels are not without criticism. Though beneficial on the environment. There are disadvantages. Some of the main criticism’s are:

The debate on the viability of first generation bio-fuels has been ongoing. The main issue being the impact on food production when food is needed for the production of fuels. Some people believe that if food crops are used to generate fuel. The quality of the crops may no longer be fit for human consumption.

The creation of large quantities of bio-fuel would require large areas of farming land. Which would mean that to create bio-fuels without reducing farm land used to feed the nations. New land would be required which in turn could encroach on the natural habitat of plants and animals.

If we take a look at the advantages and disadvantages of the creating or bio-fuel. It does not seem as if there is a quick solution at hand. Although bio-fuel is regarded as the solution to our power needs. Maybe the answer lay with home owners who could start creating their own power requirements in their back yards. Just a thought.

 Make power at home with the ever present solar and wind energy available and reduce your electricity bill while doing your bit to preserve our Planet’s resources. Visit alternative fuels for information on our detailed guide.

Biodiesel News

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Biodiesel News

Diesel fuel that is made up of a mixture with animal fat or vegetable oil is called biodiesel. This is a more environmentally conscious way to fuel machinery, trains and vehicles and is produced by the chemical reaction of the vegetable oil or animal fat with an alcohol. There are many uses for this new fuel, and can also be used as heating oil if you are looking for a low carbon version. It can also come on one hundred percent pure form, known as B100 or it can be mixed with petrodiesel. This option is often times used in gas stations for daily vehicle use, and may typically be cheaper then your normal gas choice, depending on your location.

Biodiesel can possibly eat away at gaskets and other natural rubber parts in vehicles made prior to 1992, and may cause clogged fuel filters so if you switch to one of these new blends of gasoline, it is advised you change your fuel filters also. This new found fuel is used worldwide and is becoming increasingly popular, especially for cities with mass transit options such as subways, train railways and aircraft. In 2007, McDonald’s even claimed they would start making this fuel out of the waste oil from their restaurants! This fuel that they have made themselves is now what fires up their fleet of delivery trucks, etc.

Also in 2007, Virgin Trains of Britain ran it’s first train fueled by one hundred percent biodiesel, in which The Prince of Wales participated as one of the first passengers. To this day they still continue to run and successfully operate this train, and yes, it still fuels itself with one hundred B100. Shortly after this epic journey, Disneyland began running all of their trains on their own manufactured and re-used cooking oils. This makes you feel good about their sometimes pricey hotels and restaurants, because you are supporting a company that cares for our earth!

This amazing, environmentally safe fuel has reached a production rate of almost four million tons per year, and about eighty five percent of that came from Europe! Some of the prices are obviously more expensive then others…depending on the area of the world you are in. In 2007, biodiesel was about twelve cents cheaper in the United States then the other offered gas blends. In today’s market, with the rise in diesel prices, this fuel may be up to fifteen cents higher then it’s competitors but it is certainly worth the higher price tag. Not only will this fuel make you a more environmentally savvy citizen, but it will allow you to make those extra road trips with out feeling guilty about the pollution you are causing.

Alexander Sutton enjoys the entire consumer experience from top to bottom and enjoys the opportunity to help others protect themselves from scams while uncovering budget-friendly solutions across a variety of industries. For more information, please visit Biodiesel.