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Biodiesel - Treasure In The Tank


Treasure in the tank: Corona firm joins growing list of biodiesel fuel producers
10:20 PM PST on Sunday, February 15, 2009
By ALICIA ROBINSON

The Press-Enterprise

In the still largely uncharted territory of alternative energy sources, a handful of Corona entrepreneurs are pinning their hopes on used vegetable oil, soybeans, algae and whatever else they can get to make clean-burning fuel for diesel engines.

After relocating to Corona from Orange County last year, Extreme Biodiesel is firing up a refinery that the company says will start small but ultimately may be able to produce more than 7 million gallons of biodiesel a year, which would rank it among the largest commercial producers in the state.

The Corona facility is part of a nationwide explosion of biodiesel production in the past few years. The National Biodiesel Board, an industry trade group, estimates the 176 refineries that were functioning in 2008 produced 700 million gallons of biodiesel -- a 1,300 percent increase over 1999 production.

That trend could continue, with at least 39 plants under construction and biofuel regulations either existing or proposed in nearly every state.

But biodiesel's long-term future is clouded by competing technologies, the fluctuation of oil prices and the availability of raw material for the alternative fuel. Despite growing interest, promoting biodiesel for personal or small business use can be hard because few Southern California gas stations sell it.

Pioneering Peanuts
As a commercial product, biodiesel is still gaining acceptance. But the concept is more than a century old.

As the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency points out on its Web site, the first diesel engine designed by Rudolf Diesel in the 1890s ran on peanut oil. Today, used cooking oil and soybean oil are the most common feed stocks for biodiesel.

Biodiesel producers are hoping California's Air Resources Board will include their fuel on a list of alternatives to help meet a reduction of carbon emissions mandated by the governor. Minnesota, Pennsylvania and other states have passed laws requiring all diesel fuel sold to be a biodiesel blend.

Those moves are part of a nationwide shift toward requiring cleaner-burning fuels. National Biodiesel Board spokeswoman Jessica Robinson said in the past five years, proposed state legislation on biodiesel has soared from 100 bills in 2003 to 653 bills in 2008.

But several hard-to-predict factors could threaten biodiesel's prospects. Experts say there isn't enough vegetable oil available today to make a dent in the use of petroleum diesel. They also say potential feed stocks like algae are not yet ready for the market, and raising special crops or trucking in raw materials may offset the environmental gains of using cleaner fuel.

"We're looking at the whole process to ensure that just because we tamp down the emissions in one area, they don't pop up in another area," Air Resources Board spokesman Dimitri Stanich said.

Pollution-free process
Extreme Biodiesel now collects about 45,000 gallons of used oil a week, picking some up from restaurants and getting the rest from a recycling company.

"We're trying to take a waste product, turn it into a viable fuel that is better for the environment, and take some of the dependence off foreign oil," said Bob Neuberger, Extreme Biodiesel's chief operating officer.

At the Corona refinery—which is a succession of large tanks in a warehouse, workers mix heated vegetable oil with methanol and lye in one tank and let it react—they extract the leftover methanol then spin the mixture in a centrifuge to remove glycerin (the nontoxic byproduct that separates from the oil).

The fuel is then run through four tanks containing a dry, absorbent substance to remove any remaining impurities, and it's ready to use. The process does not create any emissions or pollutants.

The resulting fuel can be used in pure form or mixed with petroleum diesel. Most diesel vehicles don't require any modifications to use biodiesel, and experts say it can reduce exhaust pollution by as much as 80 percent, depending on the blend.

Anyone who joins Extreme Biodiesel's Co-Op can buy the fuel.

Roy Stone uses biodiesel in a few of his rentals at Stone Equipment in Corona. The lower emissions are a benefit if the equipment is used in a confined area, he said. "You don't have the smell of diesel," Stone said.

The price, which often makes or breaks a new product, doesn't always work in biodiesel's favor. Robinson said blends typically cost about a penny per percentage point more than regular, meaning an 80/20 blend of petroleum and biodiesel would cost about 20 cents more per gallon than straight petroleum.

However, pure biodiesel doesn't depend on petroleum prices and can be cheaper than blends. Federal statistics showed diesel prices hovered between $2.29 and $2.33 a gallon in mid- to late-January, while Extreme Biodiesel was advertising fuel at $2.19 a gallon.

For customers like Jason Perez, a Corona resident who fuels his three-quarter-ton GMC truck with 100 percent biodiesel, the price got him to try it.

"To be honest that was the main reason, but now that I've done it, it runs great," Perez said. "I really feel like I'm making a difference, that I'm not polluting."

Reach Alicia Robinson at 951-368-9461 or [email protected]

 

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