Filed under: Trends, Hybrids/Alternative
BioWillie debuts in California
Producer and distributor Earth Biofuels announced today at the 2006 National Biodiesel Conference
& Expo, in San Diego, California, U.S., that its product, BioWillie B20-brand biodiesel, is now available for sale
in the Golden State. Singer and biodiesel advocate Willie Nelson, who had been attending the expo, participated in the
event."It (biodiesel) is the future," Nelson said. "Through biodiesel, we can reduce dependency on foreign oil and adopt an energy source that's clean, renewable, and helps family farmers find new uses for their products."
The fuel will be sold at the Pearson Ford Fuel Depot located north of downtown San Diego at the corner of El Cajon Boulevard and Interstate 15. The fuel depot is already known for selling other alternative fuels such as ethanol and natural gas.
[Source: Business Wire via Houston Chronicle]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Greg Murphy 10:49AM (2/15/2006)
This sounds real good to me. Do you think anyone in Detroit cares?
Have any comparisons been done measuring the differences in polution output of Biodiesel versus regular diesel?
Biodiesel seems like an ideal solution to reduce importing of oil from several points of view, better fuel economy and support for US based resources.
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Wookie 11:37AM (2/15/2006)
Do a google search and your can see that it has quite a following already.
It is actually cleaner burning that any petrodiesel, it is a renewable source, and has higher lubrication properties than any sulfur laden diesels out there.
There is a mandate to bring ULSD (Ultra-Low Sulphur Diesel) to the US. but it is very slow in coming..
The strangest thing that I find about Diesel is that it is a by product of refining and costs less to produce, but we are still paying 10 cents more on average. But a Diesel passenger vehicle like the VW TDI ( all models) gets anywhere from 38 to 50 MPG with the same size tank as any other car in the same class.
Plenty of info is out there.. just the media doesn't have it readily available.. Bio-Willie is really the only one putting the marketing out there to educate the people.
//
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iamhoff 11:39AM (2/15/2006)
I'm not surprised that the Pearson Ford complex is going to offer the biodiesel...this complex is the primary outlet for a variety of different fuels. If there's ever going to be a movement away from "normal" gasoline or other similar fossil fuels, the distribution system will be key. That's the current hang up with electric and with hydrogen/fuel cells. This center is a model for the nation (http://www.energyvortex.com/pages/headlinedetails.cfm?id=908), and I hope they start constructing these types of facilities in other parts of the nation, soon.
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Charles S 1:00PM (2/15/2006)
Well, doing the same web search on why diesel is more expensive, it seems that it is just a matter of economics.
From an official Australian gov't website, they explained that pricing for diesel is no different than that of regular gasoline, except for competition. Because there are more gasoline outlets, and that gasoline is allowed to be imported, there are more competitive factors in governing the prices of gasoline. While prices for gasoline fluxtuates greatly, diesel prices are more stable and goes up slowly as demand increases.
Of course, pricing infrastructure for Australia can be very different than what's going on here in the US. However, given the fact that fewer people drive diesel vehicles here in the US, we really cannot expect the diesel fuel to be price the SAME as gasoline, when the supply/demand paradigm is so different between the two.
Regardless of how people THINK the diesel economy should work, I think people also need to realize, more diesel engines on the road will mean more demand, thus increase in diesel cost at the pump.
Finally, since I can never find any significant information (but mainly projections and speculations) as to how much the new Low-Sulfur process for diesel will increase the cost of diesel, we probably cannot assume that "diesel is cheaper to make than gasoline" is always true anymore.
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J T 1:01PM (2/15/2006)
Wow, first he's pushing bio-diesel and now he's just released a gay cowboy song. Will wonders never cease.
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mattd 7:34PM (2/17/2006)
I use biodiesel in my 2005 dodge cummins and my girlfiend's 2005 VW Passat. B100 and B20. I think that my truck runs quieter and stronger on the B20 than on regular diesel, and has only a small, vitually inperceptable amount of smoke. No smoke at all on B100. I can get around 22+ mpg on the highway and she gets around 40+, and neither of the vehicles skimp on power or anything else for that matter. Only drawback is extremely cold temps. B20 usually does good with that though.
I can go to a pump near me right now and put it directly into my tank. No mods at all. An alternative fuel that needs no infrastructure change, home grown, and you get more power and mpg (diesel eng. vs gas)........no brainer. Now we just need to get more bio fueled diesel-electric hybrid tacomas out there, and I'll be happy.......
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