FAQ

From Tacoma Biodiesel

Here are a few of the basics about biodiesel and our group.

If you have specific questions that aren't addressed, please contact us.

Biodiesel Questions

What is biodiesel?

Biodiesel is a clean-burning renewable fuel produced primarily from vegetable oils. Biodiesel contains no petroleum and thus can be grown and produced fully in the U.S.

So let me get this right, biodiesel is vegetable oil?

Not exactly. Biodiesel is created via a chemical reaction between a vegetable oil (or animal fat, for that matter) and an alcohol, typically methanol. Besides biodiesel, the other byproduct of this chemical reaction is glycerine, which can be used in soaps. It is possible to run your diesel engines on straight vegetable oil (SVO) or filtered waste vegetable oil (WVO), but these are significantly more viscous than biodiesel at room temperature, and thus require significant modification of your vehicle to heat the oil to a less viscous consistency, whereas no modifications need to be made for biodiesel.

Where can I buy biodiesel?

Please visit our buying biodiesel page for more information.

Can I use it in my car?

Biodiesel can be used in any diesel engine, as well as in oil-burning furnaces. It can be run in its pure form or mixed in any percentage with petroleum diesel.

Will I have to make modifications?

Typically no engine modifications will need to be made to your vehicle in order to run biodiesel. In some older models high concentrations of biodiesel may deteriorate rubber parts in the fuel system, but these can be easily retrofitted with newer biodiesel-compatible parts made from materials such as Viton. This is not a problem in newer vehicles. Additionally, because biodiesel acts as an engine detergent, engines that have used petroleum diesel for a long time may release deposits that can clog fuel filters.

Can I blend it with regular petrodiesel?

Biodiesel can be combined in any percentage with petroleum diesel, or without any petroleum diesel at all. Any mix of biodiesel with petroleum diesel specifies the percentage of biodiesel in the mix. For example, B100 is pure biodiesel, and B20 is 20% biodiesel to 80% petroleum diesel.

Is biodiesel bad for my car?

Quite the opposite! Biodiesel is great for your engine. It has extremely good lubricating qualities for your engine, eliminating the need for the highly polluting sulfur currently found in most petroleum diesel. In addition, biodiesel acts as an engine detergent to prevent buildup of various deposits. Many have been using biodiesel for hundreds of thousands of miles and are still getting phenomenal engine performance!

Will biodiesel void my warranty?

Despite the fact that biodiesel is great for your engine, many automakers do not technically advocate the use of biodiesel in their vehicles, or will only support use of small concentrations of biodiesel. However, this should only affect warranty issues if the problem in question is directly related to biodiesel, in which case you should be covered by the warranty offered by the fuel manufacturer. You may want to talk to your dealer about their take on biodiesel.

How do emissions improve with biodiesel?

Biodiesel has improvements almost across the board over conventional diesel. For B100 over petroleum diesel reductions are 100% for carbon dioxide (CO2), 100% for sulfur dioxide, 40-60% for soot emissions, 10-50% for carbon monoxide (CO), and 10-50% for hydrocarbons (HC). In fact, because the crops used to produce biodiesel photosynthesize carbon dioxide, biodiesel is completely carbon neutral. The sole exception in emissions reduction is nitrous oxide (NOx), which depending on the engine can slightly increase with biodiesel use, but most agree the other benefits outweigh this drawback. (Source: From the Fryer to the Fuel Tank, J. Tickell) Some like to say that running your car on biodiesel is no more polluting than making stirfry.

Is biodiesel safe?

Biodiesel is safer than most other fuels. It has a much higher flash point than conventional diesel, making it virtually non-combustible at temperatures less than 300 degrees F. It is as biodiegradable as sugar and less toxic than table salt. This makes biodiesel extremely safe to store and transport.

Why does biodiesel cost so much?

Currently, fully warranted biodiesel costs significantly more than petroleum diesel. This is due to several factors. Currently most biodiesel is produced from soy oil, leaving biodiesel prices highly dependent on prices of a single crop. In addition, most biodiesel currently is produced in the Midwest and thus needs to be shipped to our area. As biodiesel manufacturers increasingly used more diverse oils (canola, mustard seed, someday algae, etc.) and as a more localized production infrastructure develops, prices of biodiesel should grow significantly more competitive. For now, many of us feel that it is worth the extra money to make a difference for the environment, farmers, jobs, and the good ol' U.S. of A.

What about the tax breaks?

Congress in 2004 passed a bill that included provisions for a one-cent-per-percentage-biodiesel tax break on biodiesel blends produced from virgin oils. While this means that B99 is eligible for a 99 cent tax credit, this credit is taken by the blender of the fuel, and thus only a portion is passed along to the end consumer in most cases. In addition, the initial drop in biodiesel pricing seen when the tax credit took effect caused a significant increase in demand, causing a price increase. So while this tax break has caused somewhat of a decrease in price, it is not so much as some had hoped.

What about disadvantages?

Besides cost (see above), the primary disadvantage of biodiesel is its cold weather properties. Biodiesel has a significantly higher gel point than conventional diesel fuel, meaning it becomes too viscous to feed the engine sonner as temperature decreases. Depending on the type of oils used for production, this gel point tends to be somewhere between 10 and 25 degrees F. That is typically not a problem in the Pacific NW, but during cold snaps it is wise to blend your fuel 50-50 with conventional diesel, which should be enough to prevent problems from occuring.

Why should I use biodiesel instead of buying a gas-electric hybrid or hydrogen vehicle?

Biodiesel is an extremely clean-burning, petroleum-free fuel. Its production cycle can happen completely within the U.S., which increases national security and creates jobs for Americans. Also, since diesel engines are extremely efficient, you can get close to 50 miles per gallon in vehicles such as the Volkswagen Jetta. While gas-electric hybrid vehicles do offer a significant improvement in mileage and emissions over other gasoline-powered vehicles, they still rely on the importation of petroleum, plus the relative newness of the technology means that the engines are less tried-and-true. Regarding hydrogen vehicles, current technology does not support the pipe dream of emissions-free hydrogen engines, and any such technology is expected to be at least 15 years away; in addition, even with this technology, the production of enough hydrogen to support the necessary infrastructure would still rely on high amounts of fossil fuels energy. Biodiesel burns clean, is American made, and is available RIGHT NOW!

Questions About Us

What's up with this co-op?

We formed in the summer of 2003 to group-buy fuel. We currently have a mailing list of about 50 biodiesel advocates throughout the Tacoma area. Visit our information page to learn more!

What do I have to do to become a member?

Currently, we are not selling fuel, so all it takes to become a member is an interest in biodiesel.

Great! How can I get involved?

Email us or join our mailing lists.

Are you ever going to sell fuel again?

We have yet to make a firm decision on this, but have been on hiatus for fuel sales since the APP opening in May 2005. Stay tuned for more information

Do you make your own fuel?

As a group we have not made our own fuel at this time. Various members have experimented with homebrewing so there is a definite interest. We would suggest you get involved to make contacts with others if you are interested in homebrewing! (See Homebrewing.)

Can I just set up my own pump?

We are in this to promote biodiesel, not ourselves, so if you wish to set up your own pump, we wish you the best of luck and welcome any questions you may have. That said, the co-op gives you the advantage of bulk pricing, split maintenance costs, etc., not to mention some really great fellowship!