Follow-up from Evan

  1. Biodiesel composition. It is true that dispensers labeled B-95 can also be labeled B-100. It is true that, at least 18 months ago some local biodiesel dispensers were vending TRULY 100% biodiesel (e.g. zero percent petroleum product). And some could still be doing so. But it is also true that virtually all biodiesel now marketed in our area has 1-5% petroleum diesel added. HOW CAN THIS BE? Here is what I have learned. Before January 2005 there were no rigid standards on commercial biodiesel. Venders sold pretty much the purity they wanted to sell. In early 2005 Congress passed the “Jobs Bill” which contained some tax provisions influencing biodiesel fuel. Tax incentives for biodiesel were included in the bill but under the stipulation that it applied to a “blend”, meaning a percentage of petroleum fuel. Since then, most venders have opted for the tax incentive but have been obliged to sell a “blend”. To keep the additive to a minimum, they have opted to consider it an “additive”, which technically is anything 5% or less of the total volume. So the product can legally be sold as “100% biodiesel” but with 5% “additive” and still qualify for tax credit as a “blend”. So that is what is going on. My vender, Dr. Dan’s Alternative Fuelwerks in Ballard, claims that their mix is 1% petroleum at this time. No one seems to know, not even the IRS, where the “blend” stipulation originated or why. It is possible, it seems, that it may have originated from inappropriate wording in the bill based on misinformation. THERE IS NO TECHNICAL REASON WHY ANY DIESEL VEHICLE CANNOT RUN ON TRULY 100% BIODIESEL. The current situation is likely a legal anomaly and could change. (The 1% petroleum diesel explains the slight gasoline aftertaste in my “B-100” sample.)
  2. Data. Here is a link to the EPA’s Comprehensive Analysis of Biodiesel Impacts on Exhaust Emissions (2002), http://www.epa.gov/otaq/models/biodsl.htm. Although a few years old, I have not seen a more broad study. It provides at least provisional science-based answers to most questions on emissions. Included is a graph which addresses the particulate emissions issue raised by Dee. B-100 particulate matter (PM, or soot) score is about 47% lower than petroleum diesel. I have also read anecdotal information that biodiesel emission particulates are something like “90% less carcinogenic” but I have not seen the actual data. Such figures must always be interpreted with the “blend” factor in mind, since much of the biodiesel now sold is B-20, B-80, etc., not pure. Unfortunately, data reported out of context of the original research often confuses this issue.
  3. Biodiesel Filling Stations. A friend in Santa Cruz told me last month that biodiesel is now being sold at commercial retail drive-up pumps there. I don’t know if this is the first area on the West Coast to do so but I suspect we will see it soon here in the Puget Sound.
  4. Bottom Line. As sustainabloids, we have a modified bottom line but dollars still count. The recent upsurge in petroleum prices a few weeks ago once again made biodiesel more affordable than regular diesel, even though the price of biodiesel also went up a little. I was saving between $0.10 to $0.40 per gallon. Now the price of petroleum as rolled down a bit but it will go up again soon no doubt.