Get your biodiesel on this Sunday from 10am - 6pm in Miami Lakes. Our friends at Sol Atlantic Biodiesel (your local source for B99 biodiesel in the Miami and South Florida region) are sponsoring a Bio TDI Event.

TDI refers to the Volkswagen Turbo Direct Injection Diesel engine. And though the event was started as a get together of local eco-minded VW TDI owners, there will also be Mercedes, Dodge, and Ford vehicles that run on biodiesel on site.

$10 per car gets you in to this fun day of food, cars, and biodiesel. Local green organizations will also be onsite. (Contact Sol Biodiesel if you want to request a booth.) So bring your biodiesel vehicle (and fill ‘er up on site!), or your regular car and check out all of the cool locals that are already using biodiesel!

Event info. Map.

Plus check out their recent feature in the Herald.

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Just to keep those of you interested updated, Earthrace, the powerboat attempting a world record attempt on biodiesel, was in an accident this weekend off of the coast of Guatemala. They collided with a small fishing boat holding 3 people, with one still missing - presumably drowned. It’s a terrible situation for both the fishermen as well as the crew of Earthrace. Read the press release & entire story on the Earthrace site.

I met the crew of this ship and felt like I was with family immediately. I’m sure they did all that they could, and that this situation is very heavy on their hearts. Our thoughts are with all those involved and their families. 

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I recently went to visit Lisa & Chris, business partners in their new venture, Sol Atlantic Biodiesel. Located in Hialeah Gardens, Sol Atlantic is ready to provide Miami with all of their biodiesel needs.

These two young entrepreneurs are working to make Miami a better, greener place. I’d like to personally say that I’m so glad they have taken on this venture and I really hope the community supports their business, and the cause.

A wholesale distributor, you could swing by their warehouse and pick up or pump up a minimum of 50 gallons of this veggie oil based fuel. Or, if you are purchasing over 100 gallons, they’ll bring it to you!

So go on, try biodiesel in your trucks, machinery, car or boat. If it accepts diesel, it will work! Contact Sol Atlantic at (305) 698-3679 or via email.

If you’d like to learn more about biodiesel, check out our three-part series from July or check out our recent coverage of Earthrace, the biodiesel boat. Sol Atlantic donated over 500 gallons of fuel to get Earthrace on its way down south. The boat is in Panama with some propeller trouble. Follow their journey on Earthrace.net.

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Earthrace, the biodiesel boat trying to break the powerboat round-the-world record, was here recently during the Miami Boat show. I teamed up with local video production company Digital Visualistics to sit down and chat with the folks involved with the boat. They’ve now put together the piece, and it is available to view here and on Current.TV. Please give it the green light to get it on the air!

The boat was amazing, the people were even more incredible. I don’t know if I’ve ever been so comfortable with people I’d just met. They have been spreading the good word on biodiesel for a couple of years now, and they have done an incredible job. They take off from Barbados on March 6 to attempt to break the world record. Earthrace exists through the support of the community. In fact, before leaving Miami, (new!) local biodiesel company Sol Atlantic donated 520 gallons of fuel to help get the boat down to Puerto Rico before they head off to Barbados.

Spend some time on the Earthrace site and read some of the blogs - enjoy learning about this wild ride. You may be so inspired to donate some money, time, or resources to the project. They really need the help, especially in these final days before the sixty-something day trip around the earth. And PLEASE…watch the video and let us know what you think, right there on Current!

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Earthrace, a powerboat run on biodiesel, is in Miami as part of the Miami Boat Show.

See it now, it’s hoping to make history. On March 6 it will take off on a race around the world from Barbados.

You can go check it out through Sunday at Sea Isle Marina & Yachting Center (map). Good news - this section of the boat show is free!

Photo taken in Tampa, FL. Courtesy Jim Burkett.
Map courtesy of Pete Bethune.

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Girl Mark is in town this week and will be teach two biodiesel homebrew classes in Ft. Lauderdale. In the biodiesel community, Girl Mark is a celebrity. She even written a book,  Biodiesel Homebrew Guide.

You have an option of one of two courses, a short 1-day course this Friday, December 1 from 10 am - 4 pm, or a comprehensive 2-day course this weekend, Dec 2-3 (also from 10 am - 4 pm).

Here’s what she told me about the courses:

Learn to make your own high-quality biodiesel fuel from waste restaurant
fryer oil, and build the equipment to do so at home.

In the two-day weekend class, we’ll cover the basic process, safety, the
chemistry of quality control, quality testing, fixing emulsions made in
washing, dealing with bad quality/high free fatty acid oil, dewatering
oil and biodiesel, ethanol biodiesel, disposing of wash water and
glycerine, and techniques to improve your process (glycerine remix
prewash, two-stage production). If you have already experimented with
making biodiesel, we’ll cover a lot of troubleshooting and
problem-repairing techniques.

The Friday class is a shorter version of the two-day class and will
include less hands-on time and may skip a few the advanced topics, for
those who can’t attend a weekend class.

At the very end of the two-day class, we’ll also build some processors
similar to  the Appleseed processor.

Sign up for the classes here: 1 day $60 (Friday, Dec 1), 2 days $120 (Saturday-Sunday, Dec 2-3). They are located in Ft. Lauderdale  right off of I-95 on Stirling Rd. When you register you will receive an email with the exact location, suggested reading materials, and even what to wear.

Still not sure? Read what some past class participants have to say. You can see more about Girl Mark and Biodiesel at GirlMark.com and BiodieselCommunity.org.

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I know I’ve gone outside of Miami more than once this week, but I find it very interesting to hear green initiatives elsewhere in Florida. Today’s news is that Jacksonville, FL will begin to make its own biodiesel.

The fuel will be used for fire trucks and garbage trucks, among others. The fuel will be made from used cooking oil donated from local restaurants. They’ll process the oil to remove the glycerin, and then combine it with regular diesel to make B20 - 20% biodiesel fuel.

Using biodiesel isn’t what is new to Jacksonville - they already use it in over 300 of the city’s diesel compatible vehicles. Making it themselves - that’s not just the big story, it’s going to be a huge money saver, as well. The city hopes to increase the number of vehicles using biodiesel to 1,000: 100% of the city’s diesel vehicles.

To learn more about biodiesel, see our three-part series from July.

Via - Jacksonville.com via AutoblogGreen

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This is the final post of a three part series on Biodiesel in Florida. See Part I, Part II.

For this final installment of our biodiesel series, we interview Jay Wherley of Brevard Biodiesel.

Q: How many people are members of Brevard Biodiesel?

A: There are about 2 dozen people that have been in on orders for biodiesel. Most of these are individual end users with diesel powered personal vehicles.

Q: Have you been contacted by people in other parts of Florida interested in "wholesale biodiesel purchase" such as you do in Brevard?

A: We have had contacts from people in various Florida locations - Daytona Beach, Edgewater, Palm Beach County, Ft. Pierce, Gainesville, St. Lucie County, etc.

Q: Are you aware of other consumer organizations in Florida for biodiesel?

A: There is a SunCoast BioFuels group and a North Florida Biofuels Network. Also, not specifically Biodiesel, but related: Florida Renewable Energy Association, who is holding an Expo on July 29, 2006 in Orlando.

Q: Is biodiesel ever used in heavy machinery, such as construction?

A: Sure, any diesel engine is a potential biodiesel powered engine. For example: motor graders, dump trucks, off-road vehicles, high lifts, pull-behind message boards, tractors, bulldozers, generators, snow blowers, chippers, road sweepers, road rollers, compactors, backhoes, trash packers, stump grinders, etc. For more details you can see a spreadsheet of over 675 pieces of equipment used in our National Parks. (Note the items in that spreadsheet from Biscayne National Park and Everglades National Park.)

Q: Anything else you’d like to add?

A: We’ll be at the SCPA Progressive Fest in Merritt Island on July 29, 2006.

For more information on biodiesel:

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To continue on the biodiesel topic, we’re pointing you to a seemingly new site: G Living Network. Watch their first show (Monday) about biodiesel. This "Grease Cars" episode visits LoveCraft BioFuels in California.

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Post contributed by Jay Wherley of Brevard Biodiesel. This is the second 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. See Part I.

What are the benefits of Biodiesel?

Users are attracted to biodiesel for a variety of reasons. It serves as a renewable fuel because it can be derived from plants. The overall pollution footprint is less than petroleum based diesel fuel for several reasons. First, the closed loop CO2 (greenhouse gas) cycle inherent to biodiesel reduces the production of that greenhouse gas by about two thirds relative to petro-diesel. This closed loop exists because the plant feedstocks (such as soy and canola) absorb CO2 during their growth. Also reduced are Carbon monoxide (CO) and particulate matter emissions. Pure biodiesel does not contain any sulfur which can eliminate the potential for Sulfur Dioxide pollution - an acid rain component. It is also non-toxic and biodegradable helping to reduce the environmental damage from fuel spills. It can be produced locally with respect to its use which can eliminate many transportation/delivery costs, both direct and indirect, involved with the use of a foreign sourced fuel. Since 1998, biodiesel qualifies as an EPAct compliant fuel which allows local, state, and federal governments to meet their alternative fuel vehicle purchase requirements in a seamless fashion. Biodiesel also can make emission odor almost pleasant and enhance engine lubricity. For more detail on benefits see several of the Fact Sheets available at Biodiesel.org.

Are there any downsides to using Biodiesel?

There precautions users of biodiesel need to be aware of. Biodiesel begins to gel up (thicken) at warmer temperatures than petroleum based diesel. The temperature this happens at depends on the blend used (higher biodiesel blends gel before lower) and the feedstock source of the biodiesel (palm oil gels before soy oil for example). Biodiesel makes an excellent solvent, which can affect vehicles with a long history of running on petroleum diesel. Deposits that have built up over time may break loose during the transition period leading to a clogged fuel filter. Higher blends (> B20) of biodiesel can soften and degrade some types of older fuel lines over time. If in doubt, upgrade fuel lines to a synthetic material such as Viton when running biodiesel in an older vehicle. Manufacturer warranty coverage for the use of biodiesel fuel varies - some do not covering biodiesel at all, others allow low blends such as B5, and some allow B20 and even B100. For more detail on downsides see several of the Fact Sheets available at Biodiesel.org.

Florida and Biodiesel?

Here in Florida there are several interesting locations that deal with biodiesel. One of the largest biodiesel production plants in the United States is located in Lakeland. This World Energy owned plant has the capacity to produce 18 million gallons of biodiesel per year from a variety of feedstocks. Local interest groups have sprung up in various parts of Florida including Brevard County and the Gainesville area. Commercial users of biodiesel include Pinellas and Broward county fleets, University of South Florida, MacDill Air Force Base, FPL, and the Postal Service in Miami. Brevard County is currently working on a B20 pilot program for its school buses. Retail availability in Florida is somewhat limited, but it is possible to obtain biodiesel in the state. Current sources of various blends are found in Ft. Lauderdale, Jacksonville, Gainesville, Pensacola, and Tampa. At least one retail pump, although B20 in blend, can be found in the state - behind a badged access area at the Kennedy Space Center. See the interactive map here, or list here for up-to-date information.

Florida provides fertile ground for future biodiesel development. One feedstock with viability is algae. The right specie of algae could potentially produce from 25 to 300 times more oil per farmed acre than plants such as soybean or palm. Our warmer temperatures allow Floridians more leeway in the use of biodiesel with regard to the cold flow issues mentioned earlier. There are also indications of State support as the Department of Agriculture is promoting a "Farm to Fuel" program to highlight the potential of biofuels in Florida.

Photo credits: Flickr, jsw0418 Flickr, Steve Rhodes

The final section of the series will include a Q & A. To submit questions, email greenerMIAMI.

Learn more about contributing articles to greenerMIAMI.

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