In The Media - Biodiesel use gaining more converts in California

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Posted by: Community Fuels

8/14/2006

Capital Press, The West's Ag Website, It hasn't gone mainstream quite yet, but biodiesel use is gaining traction in the Golden State, powering produce trucks and cars, and making converts of oil companies and entrepreneurs.

Monday, August 14, 2006 Biodiesel use gaining more converts in California
Capital Press, The West's Ag Website, It hasn't gone mainstream quite yet, but biodiesel use is gaining traction in the Golden State, powering produce trucks and cars, and making converts of oil companies and entrepreneurs. According to the Biodiesel Council of California, the state consumes 6 billion gallons of diesel annually. Of the 75 million gallons of biodiesel produced in the United States last year, only 6 million gallons was produced in California Biodiesel is produced from domestic, renewable resources. It contains no petroleum, but it can be blended at any level with petroleum diesel to create a biodiesel blend. A B20 is a blend of 20 percent biodiesel with 80 percent peteolem diesel fuel. Common feedstock oils for biodiesel are soybean and canola oil, but waste grease from restaurants is also being used as a feedstock. The fuel can be used in compression-ignition (diesel) engines with little or no modifications. One biodiesel convert is Mark Mitchell, president of Coast Oil Conan in San Jose, whose company services more than 100 independent gasoline stations on the Central Coast. Twenty-two trucks in his fleet have run more than half a million miles on biodiesel. He plans to break ground on a biodiesel production plant in Watsonville in a few weeks. "My first priority was to save my customers some money on diesel prices if we can and also to extend diesel use in the state," Mitchell said. "If we can use B20, if we can produce 20 percent biodiesel, it should have an effect to increase supply and keep prices down." With diesel prices being higher than gasoline prices, particularly in the past two years, and with South Coast Air Quality Management District in Southern California looking to ban diesel fuel, Mitchell said it became obvious that biodiesel offered an alternative. He thinks California farmers could find promise in growing crops for feedstock oils. "They need to compete. This is another way that they can take a percentage of their land and grow a crop that is sustainable, take it to a processor and get back fuel they can burn at a reduced rate," Mitchell said. Currently the biodiesel he sells is produced by a Houston, Texas, company and is made from soybean oil. When his Watsonville facility is completed, it will produce about 1 million gallons of biodiesel from a variety of feedstocks. Biodiesel plants have an advantage over corn-based ethanol plants in Mitchell's estimation. "With ethanol, the biggest cost is transportation. It chews up fuel and expense. That's what so good about these batch plants. They can be plopped down in a lot of places close to the source," Mitchell said. "Right now, there is a considerable cost to bring Midwest corn out here for ethanol production. If you source feedstock here, you save 28 cents to 32 cents a gallon just on the transportation side. That's a lot of money." Kumar Plocher, president and founder of Yokayo Biofuels in Ukiah, is a biodiesel pioneer in the state. Five years ago, he got into the business as a biodiesel distributor to local wineries. Today, he produces 10,000 gallons of biodiesel monthly from waste grease he collects from area restaurants and he has expanded his customer base. "I wish we could be producing 10 times what we are producing right now. Demand is far greater than the supply we can put out," Plocher said. Plocher sees a future for biodiesel in California, but only if feedstock oils can be sourced locally. "I don't think soy or canola or any of the common feedstocks are going to be a real opportunity, especially in California but there are some opportunities in California," Plocher said. "The Chinese tallow tree grows well here and I would love to get an agricultural program started around that. Five hundred gallons per acre is a pretty awesome yield." Kimber Holmes, executive director of the Biodiesel Council said currently no California farmers are growing feedstock oils for biodiesel production, but Senate Bill 1675, authored by state Sen. Christine Kehoe, D-San Diego, would mandate a 2 percent blend by 2008 and a 5 percent blend by 2010. Brady Matoian, general manager of OK Produce in Fresno and a self-professed environmentalist, has been running 40 of his trucks on B99 (99 percent biodiesel) for the past month. The switch to biodiesel came naturally as the company has used recycling, solar energy, hybrid company cars and other innovative methods to cut costs in recent years. "It is available and it works. In the end, will we stay with B99? I imagine not because I don't think the supply will handle the demand," Matoian said. "To get this thing rolling, I said, 'let's do this and lead the charge and see what happens.'" Matoian said operating a business in the heart of the San Joaquin Valley, one of the areas of the country with the worst air quality, it is obvious that businesses like his will be the target of environmental regulations. "Hog-tying people, saying that you have to do this or that is very difficult, especially on the trucking industry because they are already having to deal with $3 gas and every other issue out there," Matoian said. "The cost of trucks has gone up, the cost of steel and the cost of insurance - everything has gone up and I think in the end, if a large number of companies can go B10 or B20, it will be a huge victory for everyone involved." If California's emerging biodiesel industry is to get off the ground, Matoian said that cooperation and collaboration would be needed to support it, including the involvement of major oil companies. "If you want to lower our dependence on foreign oil, it is not going to happen overnight. It is sure not going to happen without the gas companies," Matoian said. "They are part of this. They are there. You can ether make them the enemy or embrace them and try to work together with them." For the complete article please link to: http://www.capitalpress.info/main.asp?Search=1&ArticleID=26659&SectionID=67&SubSectionID=&S=1
	Bob Krauter, Capital Press California Editor

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