County Conserves with Fuel Conversion
Printed Sep. 18, 2006 in the Contra Costa Times
By Ryan Huff
When salesman Tony Morse tries to convince companies to buy a diesel fuel that comes from soybean oil, sometimes they think he must be a hippie.
"I tell people I sell biodiesel and they think I'm going to show up in a VW bus wearing a tie-dyed shirt," said Morse, who works for Golden Gate Petroleum in Martinez.
But biodiesel is starting to hit the mainstream, and his company just scored another big client -- Contra Costa County's 150-vehicle diesel fleet.
A few weeks ago, the county switched all its dump trucks, one-ton pickups and other large vehicles to a fuel called B20 -- a blend of 20 percent biodiesel derived from soybean oil and 80 percent conventional petroleum diesel.
After a three-month trial, the county plans to go even further -- using a pure biodiesel (B100) that would reduce carbon monoxide and particulate matter emissions by half. It completely eliminates sulfates, which contribute to acid rain.
On top of that, the county estimates it would save about $30,000 a year by using B100 -- although that would depend on ever-changing market prices.
"I don't know why anyone would still want to use regular diesel," said Terry Mann, the county's deputy director of general services. "We really see the environmental benefits."
The creation of biodiesel starts mostly with soybean farmers in the Midwest. When soybean oil is combined with an alcohol such as methanol and a catalyst, the end product becomes biodiesel.
The alternative fuel is nothing new. Rudolf Diesel, who invented his namesake engine in the 1890s, ran some of his early experiments off peanut oil.
But mainstream acceptance of biodiesel did not happen until recently.
In the past five years, biodiesel production in the United States has grown 30-fold to 150 million gallons this year. But that number is just a drop in the fuel tank compared to the 60 billion gallons of diesel used annually.
"Biodiesel is a seamless fuel," said Amber Thurlo Pearson, a spokeswoman for the National Biodiesel Board. "It can run in any existing diesel engine with little or no modification -- from a small VW passenger vehicle all the way up to an 18-wheeler. And B100 is safe enough to drink, although we don't recommend that."
Major car manufacturers are catching on. Chrysler, for example, ships its 2007 Jeep Grand Cherokees to dealerships with a biodiesel blend in the fuel tank.
Contra Costa is not the only Bay Area agency making the switch to cleaner fuel. Vehicles for Alameda County, Marin County and the city of Berkeley run on forms of biodiesel. The Red and White Fleet, which operates bay cruises, switched its ferries to a biodiesel blend last month.
In May, San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom announced plans for all of the city's Muni buses, fire engines and other vehicles to run on B20 fuel by the end of next year.
And country singer Willie Nelson even runs his own biodiesel company -- BioWillie -- after hearing of the benefits for farmers and the environment.
Biodiesel costs about the same as conventional diesel now, although it becomes cheaper or more expensive by a few cents per gallon with the fluctuation of crude oil prices.
There's also a negligible difference in the miles per gallon that vehicles attain with biodiesel.
Then why are so many people switching?
"Price shouldn't be the focus of why people do this," said Patrick O'Keefe, vice president of Golden Gate Petroleum.
"It's better for the environment and better for the U.S. economy. You're money is staying in the U.S. and going to farmers rather than giving $60 a barrel to Saudi Arabia or Venezuela."