Biodiesel in Florida, Part I

Post contributed by Jay Wherley of Brevard Biodiesel. This is the first of a three part series on Biodiesel in Florida. The final section of the series will include a Q & A. To submit questions, email greenerMIAMI.

Biodiesel is an alternative fuel for diesel vehicles. It provides benefits in the areas of renewable energy, pollution reduction, and localized production. It also fits well into existing delivery and retail infrastructures (unlike hydrogen power). Highlighted in this article are specific items that relate to the use of biodiesel in Florida.

Where does Biodiesel come from?

Biodiesel is made by converting vegetable oil (either of the waste or pure type) into a fuel compatible with standard diesel engines. Such engines are found in some passenger cars, many trucks, buses, and industrial vehicles. Using a fuel derived from vegetable oil in these modern times is somewhat ironic in that Rudolf Diesel ran his original Diesel engine on peanut oil at the 1900s World’s Fair. Vegetable oil is used as a starting point because it contains hydrocarbon chains – Hydrogen and Carbon in the molecular chains are the the same two elements that provide the energy in everyday petroleum based diesel. Waste vegetable oil (WVO), while requiring extra filtering and preprocessing, can be an attractive choice for many biodiesel makers looking to save money on their "feedstock" (source of the oil). It would not be too far fetched to call biodiesel an indirect form of solar energy as its energy content comes from the capability of plants to turn sunlight into fats/oils.

How is Biodiesel used?

Biodiesel can be mixed ("blended") with regular petroleum diesel in any ratio. These blended ratios are identified with names such as B20 (20% biodiesel, 80% petroleum diesel) and B95 (95% biodiesel, 5% petroleum diesel). Other blends in use are B2, B5, B10, B50, and B100. The bio/petro diesel is run from the normal fuel tank in the modern diesel vehicle and generally requires no modifications to the vehicle. In many ways biodiesel is the easiest alternative fuel to use requiring no changes to diesel vehicles, fueling stations, or pricing structures. Many grassroots users drive Volkswagen TDIs or Mercedes diesels. It is also used in fleet vehicles such as trucks and buses. Here in Florida it is used by University of South Florida, Pinellas County Government, Florida Power & Light, Florida Department of Environmental Protection, and the City of Coconut Creek among others.

Who makes Biodiesel?

Biodiesel can be made in large plants as well as by individual "home-brewers". Large producers such as World Energy have biodiesel production facilities in many states. At the other end of the scale, a community of users making their own biodiesel share their experiences online to their overall benefit. One popular home biodiesel technique uses the "Appleseed Processor" which has a hot water heater at the core of the equipment. Starting with waste vegetable oil (normally dumped into a landfill after use at a restaurant) the home-brewer filters and processes the oil via a chemical "transesterification" process to make biodiesel. Here in Florida there might be as many as several dozen home-brewers. More commercialized small-scale production equipment, such as this, are also now available.

On Monday we will feature Part II in this series: Benefits, Downsides, and biodiesel in Florida.

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