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Biofuels, biofuels everywhere
Posted
at
11:00 am
Take heart, diesel owners!
Propel Biofuels may have skipped right over Snohomish County in its quest to green the roads (at least for now - read on), but you can now stop for a fill-up in Mount Vernon.
The company also owns stations in Kenmore, Factoria, West Seattle and Ballard (and a South Lake Union site is slated to open this summer).
At the Mount Vernon station, the biodiesel is selling today for $4.70 per gallon, according to a Propel spokeswoman.
The cheapest diesel in Everett is $4.95 today, according to www.seattlegasprices.com.
Propel offers two types of biodiesel: B99, which is 99.9 percent biodiesel, and B20, which is 20 percent biodiesel and 80 percent petrodiesel.
The Propel Web site states that any diesel car can run on biodiesel, which is essentially made from cooking oil and runs cleaner than other fuels.
Yet according to Car Talk, the classic National Public Radio show featuring two Boston-based mechanics and a pleasant way to spend your Saturday morning, a diesel engine doesn't need a conversion or other work only if the biodiesel being used has a relatively small percentage of vegetable oil, such as those grades known as B10 or B20.
What’s a diesel owner to do?
Propel Biofuel is run by “nifty guys,” said Deanna Carveth, Snohomish County government’s resident biodiesel expert.
She points out that during the wintertime, the diesel you purchase down at the local Chevron station is essentially B10 biodiesel. The biodiesel component is a solvent added as a lubricating agent, she said.
Like Propel, many biodiesel stations offer at least B20 and higher percentage biodiesel. The trouble with running diesel engines on higher levels of biodiesel comes when the fuel begins to corrode a car’s gaskets, seals and hoses. A diesel owner should replace those parts with synthetic rubber before switching to biodiesel, or at least keep a close eye on their wear and tear.
Some Mercedes owners have run their 1980s-era cars on biodiesel without switching out any parts and haven’t had any problems, Carveth said.
The easiest thing about biodiesel is that any layperson can easily know how much they’re improving their pollution levels. At B20, a car is emitting 20 percent less pollutants into the air. At B50, 50 percent less.
“When school buses run on it, asthmatic children are having fewer challenges just standing in the bus area,” Carveth said.
The county’s fleet of diesel vehicles are running on B20 biodiesel. By 2012, they’ll run on B40. Since the county made the switch, those vehicles need two fewer oil changes per year, and the vehicles will last 11 years instead of 10. That’s a savings for taxpayers, she said.
“That more than offsets the cost of the fuel,” she said.
Propel Biofuel plans to open a station in Edmonds later this year, possibly in October. Two more stations, possibly one for Everett, are in the works.
Would you consider a switch to biodiesel? Why? Why not? Comment below!
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