A cleaner diesel soon will appear at a gas station near you
Buddy Ivey, a distributor with Domestic Fuels & Lubes, says switching to biodiesel “is the right thing to do, the progressive thing to do. It’s doing something about energy independence rather than just sitting here and talking about it.” VICKI CRONIS/THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
By TOM HOLDEN, The Virginian-Pilot
© July 6, 2006
Biodiesel, a cleaner burning fuel made from a combination of regular diesel and vegetable oils or animal fats, will debut at eight Hampton Roads filling stations later this month.
No high-flying banners or free sodas are planned for the rollout, but one distributor, Buddy Ivey of Domestic Fuels & Lubes , said Wednesday that any chance for Americans to ease their dependence on foreign energy is "long overdue."
Ivey showed off two pumps at a BP station on North Witchduck Road in Virginia Beach where, he said, the fuel will go on sale the week of July 16.
"We have an obligation to customers and the community to do this," said Ivey, a sales manager for the Chesapeake fuels company. "It's the right thing to do, the progressive thing to do. It's doing something about energy independence rather than just sitting here and talking about it."
Biodiesel is expected to sell for a few cents more per gallon than regular diesel, which on Wednesday was averaging $2.84 a gallon in Hampton Roads, according to the American Automobile Association. Gasoline was selling for $2.92 .
Biodiesel is made by chemically mixing vegetable oils, recycled cooking grease or animal fats, with alcohol, and then blending about 20 percent of the mixture with 80 percent of regular petroleum-based diesel, according to the U.S. Department of Energy.
The fuel can run in any diesel engine and does not require engine modifications, according to an on line Energy Department fact sheet.
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Biodiesel has been available elsewhere in Virginia and the nation, especially along routes frequented by truckers.
"Hampton Roads has finally caught up with the rest of the country," Ivey said.
Using biodiesel in a conventional diesel engine "substantially" reduces emissions of unburned hydrocarbons, carbon monoxide, and the sooty by-products common to diesels, according to the Energy Department.
Rep. Thelma Drake, R-Virginia Beach, was on hand to support energy diversity. To help underscore her interest in new technology, she brought along a hydrogen-powered SUV courtesy of General Motors.
She said investing in renewable fuels such as biodiesel, which is usually made from soybeans, is important if the country is to move toward greater energy independence.
Drake also supports drilling off the East Coast for oil and natural gas.
Her Democratic opponent in the November congressional election, Phillip Kellam , has criticized offshore drilling.
Ivey said he wanted to start selling the biodiesel blend sooner, but recent rains had delayed installing the fiberglass linings needed to prepare his company's tanks for storing the fuel.
Consumption of diesel fuel by passenger vehicles is a distant second to gasoline in Hampton Roads, where the primary market is for truckers, municipalities, and the marine and rail industries.
Geeta Patel, who with her husband, Vijay , helps run the BP station on North Witchduck, where about 4,000 gallons of diesel is sold each month , expects strong customer interest in biodiesel.
"We all need something like this with the gas prices so high," she said.
O2diesel hatte gestern nach einem Tiefstand in den USA ein hohes Handelsvolumen, Kursplus +16,85% und Abengoa hat eine neue Kreditline....
