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Biodiesel - Fuel or Fool?

Posted on July 22, 2008
by Jay G.

One man's alternative energy is another man's dinner.

Everyone gets the seeds of their actions. For me in the case of biodiesel, it was the summer of '01 and I had a friend, Lindsay, who just wouldn't shut up about biodiesel. Every other word was biodiesel this, biodiesel that. "We can drive our cars on it! Rudolph Diesel made the engine with that in mind!"

It took about two years to sink in. Friends of mine were by that time driving on straight vegetable oil, or SVO, which requires a conversion to your engine (to heat the veggie oil and make sure it doesn't coagulate; *biodiesel doesn't require any modifcations). But I finally sucked it up and bought a biodiesel-ready car. In other words, I bought a diesel. Now I'm five years in, and while the road has got some potholes, I'm enjoying the ride.

Biodiesel is a non-petroluem based fuel, that is a mixture of methanol (wood alcohol; ethanol can also be used), vegetable oil (or animal fat), and lye. The vegetable oil usually comes from soy or canola oil, but also frequently is made from palm, hemp, sunflower, and even algae. In fact, Rudolph Diesel originally invented the diesel engine to run on all kinds of oils, and at the Paris World's Fair received many waving baguettes for his demonstration of the engine running on peanut oil.

The catch is this: I began to learn a few years ago that as the early prospects of the fuel started to come up, forests were beginning to come down for palm plantations and mega-soy fields (read, Amazon)...and now ethanol is on the push and we're looking right at this decision between fuel and food.

So while we get our fuel from a place (www.biofueloasis.com) that sources biodiesel only from recycled oils (these days it's a potato chip factory), I've stopped waving the biodiesel flag. We put our car in the garage, drive it as seldom as we possibly can, and recognize the cold hard reality that the solutions that are coming up now are just small steps towards sustainability and we have to model innovations very carefully.

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4 star rating July 21, 2008

Jay G.
17 reviews
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Biodiesel - Fuel or Fool?

One man's alternative energy is another man's dinner.

Jay's keywords: biofuel veggie oil diesel alternative fuel

2 of 3 people thought this review was helpful.

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User Comments:

Chris J. says:
Great review, Jay. I drive a diesel, too, and although I think biodiesel is a great alternative, I'm skeptical that it will ever be a mass produced substitute for current petroleum consumption. I've read several articles... more »

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5 star rating April 13, 2007

Kari L.
2 reviews
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Biodiesel Council of California

Biodiesel is chemically processed vegetable oils and animal fats that can be used in diesel engines of any kind without modification. Biodiesel use can minimize Green House Gas emissions, Particulate Matter pollution, and displace imported petroleum.
The Biodiesel Council of California is an educational non-profit that depends on donations for funding it's projects. Donate $5 today to fund our current project, biodiesel use education to organic farmers in California. www.biodieselcouncil.org

Kari's keywords: biodiesel california farmers organic education

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5 star rating November 11, 2006

Rick L.
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bio diesel is the answer to the transportation futrue

Rick's keywords: baybio

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Comments (6)

6/3/2009 11:42 am

LANCE M. says:

Jay may be right regarding the negative impact of deforestation has on biodiesel that is made outside of the United States, however biodiesel made from soy beans in the US comprises of less than 12% of all soy bean oil produced in the US. According to the USDA there has not been any additional land cleared for soybeans since the early 1950s.
If you want to argue about land use diversion from food crops, take a drive up HWY80 and notice all the Mega Malls that have been built on once cultivatable land.
Also, anyone who believes virgin soy biodiesel has impacted food prices or supply is a victim to the Smear Campaign put forth by the Grocery Manufacturing Association AKA (Big Food). See http://www.topix.com/forum/us-house/marion-berry/TFIN74NH06AGVR9JI for info.
Another thing most anti-soy biodiesel advocates blindly forget is that soy has traditionally been used for many non-food based products such as soy based inks, adhesives, lubricant, foam, plastics, etc. As far as biodiesel goes, once the oil is extracted from the bean (20% of the bean) the remaining 80% of the bean is the meal that is used for food products. So the more oil that is used for biodiesel, the more meal that is available for food. To get the facts go to: http://www.biodieselsustainability.com/faq.html

6/3/2009 12:23 pm

Charles W. says:

Amen, Lance. Basically Lance, you said everything I wanted to say about this smear campaign by the Grocery Manufacturing Association and you also presented basic farm and crop knowledge to the unfortunate ignorant. One thing I would like to inquire to the author is - since you get your car filled up at biofueloasis, which is sourced from waste oil, why don't you use your diesel car? what car are you using? hopefully it's not a gas car whose fuel is sourced thousands of miles away that we fight wars over, is shipped to 25 different locations, isn't American made, and has at least half the engine life as what a diesel has. Must be a Bicycle?

6/3/2009 1:51 pm

Jay G. says:

I'm interested in this data point: According to the USDA there has not been any additional land cleared for soybeans since the early 1950s. Is this just in the US or around the world?

Charles, thanks for your inquiry. We drive a 1978 old-school Mercedes diesel. We've made it a priority to live in an area where public transportation is good and we have stores and friends nearby. So we just drive it less and less. To get to work I ride my bike to the train, and when we're home we usually walk. This is a challenge as we have two kids (one newborn). But in the end it's much better for our health and well being. The car comes out when we need it, which is about once a week.

This isn't a possibility for everyone, but it is a possibility to strongly consider which car trips are actually necessary.

6/3/2009 3:33 pm

Charles W. says:

just in the US - to answer the first question

Ok, and I agree, driving less is always better. I thought maybe you were putting the car up to use another. But you SHOULD wave the biodiesel flag, not be ashamed of it. Especially since your biodiesel is coming from biofueloasis, which is using waste oil. How can there be any complaint about that? Which is why it obviously bothers me that you are (whether directly or indirectly, knowingly or not) hurting the biofuel movement as a whole, and at the same time you attest to using biodiesel? Do you lack the courage of your convictions? Don't you want to push a cleaner, greener biodiesel? Algae on the horizon? Organic crop? along with the above mentioned 20% bio 80% food fact, it should be clear that the food for fuel argument is null and void.

I'm really sorry it has to be this way but your story is an irresponsible jab at biofuels and the people who work so hard to make this country energy independent. Your story also offers no solution, just a complaint which reminds me of recent presidential debates. How about, when you go to buy biodiesel, and tell everyone you know, write a story about it, to do their research on the fuel they are purchasing and only buy from those who meet a certain criteria. Make it a buyers market based on what you will and wont buy, and the market will adjust to a more sustainable future.

There's an all organic company that i know of who won't use biodiesel, because some of the biodiesel might be sourced from beans that might have had steroids injected into them, so they choose to use dirty, bloody, petrol diesel instead... It's just doesn't make any sense to me.

waving my biodiesel flag....

6/4/2009 3:55 pm

Jay G. says:

Charles, there's a difference between not waving the flag and being ashamed of something. We all have our journeys that we take on every day...mine has simply shifted from telling everyone I know about biodiesel to focusing on other issues. I have many friends focusing on sustainable biofuel programs and am very supportive of their work...and am very thankful for BiofuelOasis.

This is my personal blog post about my personal experience so I didn't so much feel that I needed to provide data points about soy and palm oil plantations intruding on forest lands...but I can send you links if you need. I will concede that even though it was a personal post about my story it may have been helpful to provide data points and links on the topics I mentioned. Also please send me links on the USDA study you're quoting, it would be good to have. As far as providing a 'solution' in my story, if it wasn't satisfying to you, I invite you to share yours!

7/8/2009 11:27 am

Larry P. says:

70% of All Biodiesel Now Made From Feedstock OTHER Than Soy...

In an article published by the Jacobsen Index soybean oil continues to fall as the feedstock of choice. Several factors contribute to this not the least of which is the profitability of lower cost feedstocks such as waste oil (yellow grease) and animal fat feedstocks like chicken fat and tallow.

Part of the reason for the new trend is that many of the larger plants that were not multi-feedstock ready have significantly reduced or stopped production whereas the smaller more modern multi-feedstock plants are still in production or are ramping up. Additionally, small business owners and private parties are using waste oil to create fuel for their own use.

Profit margins are always higher with the alternative feedstocks and it is beginning to show in the oil price market. In the past few months soy prices have held and even dropped a few cents while animal fats are moving up in the price range because producers are not buying soy as often. A few months ago yellow grease had dipped down to 13 cents a pound while soy was hovering around 40 cents a lb. Today soy is still in that neighborhood but yellow grease has doubled to around 26 cents per pound.

This supports a long held notion that as biodiesel comes of age, more and more feedstocks will become available and pricing will begin to average out. The delay in feedstock price stabilization has been in part due to the delay of technology and equipment that is required for processing the various feedstocks that may have higher FFA levels or undesirable cold flow characteristics
(From biodieselbusinessplans.com)

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