Keeping biodiesel burning
June 25, 2009
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| Doing her part: Foster City resident Janet Migliore has worked for more than three decades in her family’s San Mateo auto-repair shop. In early 2006, she started offering biodiesel-conversion services to owners of older-model diesel vehicles. (Mike Koozmin/Special to the Examiner) |
As electric cars grow in popularity among environment-savvy motorists, some Peninsula residents are hoping to keep a grassroots biodiesel movement on the road.
Foster City resident Janet Migliore has worked for more than three decades in her family’s San Mateo auto-repair shop. Two years ago she began nurturing a cottage biodiesel industry on the Peninsula. Her interest was rooted in environmental concerns.
“I’m in the car industry — I’m here, so what can I do to impact my carbon footprint?” Migliore said. “This is what I can do. I can fix cars up and have them run on biodiesel. So that’s what I do.”
In early 2006, Migliore began offering biodiesel conversion services to owners of older-model diesel vehicles. For around $350, she installs fuel hoses that are resistant to the weeping effects seen when biodiesel flows through traditional rubber tubes.
Migliore also buys old vehicles, converts them to biodiesel and sells them.
At M.B. Garage, now owned by her son, Migliore also founded a biodiesel cooperative that provided a way for others to collectively purchase the alternative fuel, much of which was made by co-op members. It was dissolved last year, after a fueling station, Autopia Biofuels, opened in downtown San Mateo in April 2008.
Biodiesel is similar to diesel, except that it’s made from plant and animal materials instead of petrochemicals. Farmers and other agrarian folks have been using the fuel on a small scale for decades.
Most diesel vehicles built after 2000 can run on pure biodiesel, although some very late-model autos are now engineered in such a way that they cannot run on the fuel.
Diesel engines built before 2000 can run on a blend of biodiesel and diesel.
If pure biodiesel is going to be used in these vehicles, the fuel hoses must be replaced, according to Migliore, who said it’s a simple procedure.
Additionally, running biodiesel through an older engine that has been fueled by regular diesel will dislodge caked-up deposits, she said.
As a result, fuel filters need to be changed after making the switch or else the vehicle will stall, according to Migliore.
Biodiesel emissions still contribute to climate change, but they have less of an impact overall than their counterpart, according to the U.S. Department of Energy.
Purely electric vehicles, on the other hand, avoid emissions altogether if they are recharged using renewable energy made through means such as windmills and solar panels.
“Ultimately, electricity is a more efficient fuel to run your vehicle on,” said Lena Hansen, a senior consultant with the nonprofit Rocky Mountain Institute’s Energy and Resources Team. It will be a very long time, however, before we are able to move to electricity — if at all, she said.
In the meantime, biofuels are a good “transition fuel,” Hansen said.
Additionally, biofuels remain an affordable option for the environmentally conscious, as electric vehicles remain outside the price range of most motorists.
A few years ago S.F. reportedly began using a biodiesel blend to fill all of its city vehicles, but municipalities on the Peninsula have not embraced the alternative fuel, except Pacifica. The city has said it plans to purchase biodiesel from a private company currently working to open a local processing facility. Garbage and recycling collection company Allied Waste of San Mateo County, however, has used a blend of 20 percent biodiesel and 80 percent diesel in its fleet of 225 trucks since 2007, according to spokeswoman Peg Mulloy.
The company buys about 75,000 gallons a month of biodiesel from a national oil and fuel supplier that delivers, according to Mulloy.
“The biodiesel fuel is cleaner-burning, there’s really no cost for conversion on the trucks and the price fluctuations appear to be less extreme [than diesel],” she said.
San Mateo biodiesel station yet to take off with drivers
Autopia Biofuels is similar to most gas stations, except that it dispenses only biodiesel and sells products that are easy on the environment, such as organic foods and handbags made from tires.
Its biodiesel is made from 100 percent recycled vegetable oils and currently comes from a provider in Minden, Nev.
Located on Railroad Avenue in San Mateo, Autopia opened to much fanfare on Earth Day in April 2008.
Fifteen months later, business has been relatively slow, according to station Manager Chris Constantino.
About 1,000 to 1,500 gallons of pure biodiesel are sold every week, mostly to owners of old Mercedes Benz wagons and VW Rabbits and Golfs, Constantino said.
According to the National Biodiesel Board, annual production of the fuel soared from around 75 million gallons in 2005 to about 700 million gallons in 2008.
Constantino said the government should be encouraging more biofuel use.
“I think they need to give more tax incentives for people [who are] using it,” he said. — John Upton
Biofuel is often made from comfort of home ... or shed
Hundreds of Bay Area motorists manufacture their own biodiesel in their backyards, sheds and garages, according to San Carlos-based enthusiast Steve Hunsader, who started making his own at home about a year ago.
Hunsader said it takes five hours of work to produce 32 gallons of fuel, which he makes using a combination of methanol, lye and used cooking oil.
“You [have got to want to] be green,” he said.
Hunsader, an entrepreneur who recently sold an Internet-hosting company, owns two Jettas and a Dodge truck powered with biodiesel.
Like others, he said his interest stems from concern about the environment.
Hunsader considers biodiesel at present a superior alternative to hybrid cars and more affordable than the current electric options.
“I get as good a gas mileage as the hybrids, but I get better power at 80 miles an hour,”
he said.
Producer seeks to set up shop in Bay Area
A proposed plant in Pacifica will become the Peninsula’s only local source of bulk biodiesel, if its backers can secure the needed capital for the project.
Permits needed to build the plant on the grounds of the Calera Creek Water Treatment Plant were secured in July, according to Whole Energy CEO Atul Deshmane. The plant would convert grease and used cooking oil into biodiesel.
The credit shortage, however, has indefinitely delayed construction, according to Deshmane.
Whole Energy, a 5-year-old biofuel company based in Washington, currently sells biodiesel produced in Oregon, Southern California and elsewhere to customers in the Bay Area, he said.
“There’s really very little reliable [biodiesel] production in Northern California, and that’s one of the reasons we want to build our own plant,” Deshmane said.
If built, the plant is expected to initially produce 1 to 3 million gallons of biodiesel annually, with the capacity to increase production to 10 million gallons a year, he said.
Much of the fuel produced will be sold to the city of Pacifica, which plans to use a 20 percent biodiesel mix in its fleet of diesel vehicles, city documents show.
Benefits of biodiesel
The alternative fuel can be used on its own or in a blend with traditional diesel.
- Can be used in most diesel equipment without major modifications
- Can reduce emissions of climate-changing gases
- Can reduce tailpipe emissions
- Is nontoxic and biodegradable
- Can be a renewable resource
- Is an energy-efficient fuel
- Reduces need for imported fuels
