Bio Pick-Me-Up

Thought I'd better go ahead and make a post about biodiesel, since that's what I came here to do.

And more specifically...the necessity of testing fuel (yes, a plug for Fleet Fuel Testing, but a worthwhile one).

In Ashland, Oregon, where I live, there seems to be a big underground culture of home fuel brewing. Which is awesome. Depending on the raw materials you're using, you end up with a wonderful, renewable fuel for 70 cents to $1.50 a gallon. And this fuel is an excellent solvent, so it helps clean your engine and lines at the same time. Some studies even show it to out-perform diesel #2 in certain situations. And all you need to create it are a few simple tools and some time and experimentation.

However...

...there is a chance that something could be a little off in your brewing. And before you put the fuel to use, you need to be sure that it's not going to damage your engine. That's why testing is so important. Gasoline and Diesel fuels are kept in spec by tests done at refineries. They've mastered the art of making fuels that are clean and engine-ready...and not biodegradable (although Diesel is susceptible to water and microbial contamination). So why shouldn't we perform simple tests on our home-brews and local products? It's a small price to pay for reliable fuel performance.

The other reason that testing is so important (and I know I've gone off about this before) is that making sure that Biodiesel is in specification helps build a good reputation for Biofuel. There are, in my opinion, two main reasons why this alternative fuel has not been explored more:

1) Many people assume that the oil required to process Biodiesel must come from crops that need to be grown on thousands of acres of land that we need desperately for food crop production.

2) People have seen less-than-perfect Biodiesel destroy engines.

The first problems can be addressed with simple facts: Biodiesel can be produced from many different kinds of oil crops (including algae, which reproduces at a remarkable rate and can be grown in standing vertical tanks), as well as from waste oil, which is normally just thrown out.

The second problem will take some more doing. We are so used to filling up at the pump, letting cars sit for weeks at a time, being able to drive with ease in all weather without regard to the condition of our fuel. This is a huge benefit of gasoline -- you just don't have to worry about it. It's so convenient. But Biodiesel is a way of life. You make modifications to your schedule to get out to that pump that's ten miles down the road. You bring 5 gallon containers with you to fill up, and they're damn heavy to lift (*benefit: biodiesel can be stored almost anywhere since it's far less volatile than gasoline). You end up spending extra money on the fuel (unless you're home-brewing), because although it's relatively easy and inexpensive to produce, it's still so difficult to market. And you pay a little extra to test it, for your own sake, and for the sake of the fuel itself.

But I take pride in all of this. The inconveniences amount to a small sacrifice that I'm willing to make for the sake of...yes...the planet.

--Nell

O-Ring...yeah...you know what I mean

So I changed the fuel filter in my 2004 VW TDI Jetta myself (well, my roommate helped me).

I mention it because it was MUCH easier to do than I thought -- yes, I cursed a fair amount, but I'm told that that's to be expected whenever you work on a car. Also, I learned that fuel filters are not always in the same place (yeah, I'm a moron), depending on the make and model; while my filter is easy to change because it sits over the right wheel in the engine compartment, my roommate's is not so easy because his is in the trunk under a lot of other machinery.

This is a large step for me towards self-sufficiency. I purchased the Haynes manual for VW Golf, GTI, & Jetta 1999-2005 which is pretty comprehensive. Since I don't have a warranty for the vehicle, none of my repairs are ever covered when I take it in for service (I didn't want to buy a warranty and have the dealership tell me that Biodiesel use voided it...which sometimes, but not always, happens -- if fuel is foudn to be out of spec, the manufacturer can claim that you're liable for the repairs). Here's the kicker: I paid $25 for the fuel filter itself and spent probably about 30 minutes doing the work...but I figure I could do it in 10 or 15 now that I know how.

When I had a dealership do this, it typically came out to around $100 for parts and labor.

So, for a little elbow grease and a quarter (!) of the cost, I figure I don't mind doing it myself. Next time I'm at it, I will photograph the whole process and write up a primer for anyone else who might be reading that owns a similar Jetta and wants to give it a go. However, I do plan to check the job every couple of days -- none of my viton o-rings would fit under the fuel control valve. So I'm o-ring-less. But I couldn't find any o-ring when I pulled the valve off, so I'm wondering if maybe my model doesn't require one here...?
Old, crusty filter...

...with black particulates inside. The new filter, which I didn't photograph, looked perfectly white through that little hole. My car is idling a lot more smoothly and starts more easily since (I was truant and had not changed it for over a year -- VERY bad...with Biodiesel, you want to change it about every six months, since Bio is such an amazing solvent; it takes all the gunk out of your lines and dumps it in the filter -- which is a good thing for your engine but can be bad if you overload the filter).

I think I'm hooked on this auto mechanics thing. Next, it's replacing a front headlight that's out. Of course, I'll still leave the big jobs to the professionals (like when my clutch when out last year...ehhh...)
-- Nellamity and Horace the Jetta.

Dog Sweater/Recycling

Here's a picture of Clyde, my littlest dog, in a sweater that I made last week. He seems to like it.

Just read that last year Southern Oregon University, located in Ashland -- where I live -- was named among the EPA's top 20 "green" schools.

The students purchased "green tags" from Bonneville Environmental Foundation -- these green tags fund sustainable alternate energy generation. Of course, the cost was extra for the students, I believe between $6 and $20. But they were willing to do it. Also, they worked with the local sanitary and recycling department to place recycling bins in each residence hall, and began practicing zeroscaping -- something I've always wanted to do. Essentially, it means using low-water use native plants in your landscaping...you maintain the natural look of your geographical environment while you beautify. I'm hoping that this practice will be mandated or incentivized in the future; rolling green lawns are one of the top wastes of water in areas that simply don't have the resources to sustain them. Living in Los Angeles last year when wildfires were raging and Mayor Villaraigosa was calling for responsible water rationing because we were in the midst of a terrible drought anyway, the sprinklers would still pop on in the morning. I just kept thinking 'Do we really need a lawn that much?' Plus, when you zeroscape correctly, your water and electricity bills drop exponentially. Here's an SOU webpage with links suggesting ways to green up.

Which reminds me: that local sanitary and recycling company (Ashland Sanitary and Recycling) has a special programs section that is as comprehensive as anything I've ever seen. Plus, they are running all of their trucks on Biodiesel from Rising Phoenix Organics, which is where I get my fuel. Back in 2007, when I was working for EnergyRushTV, we did a couple of stories on Ashland Sanitary and Recycling which were never released. Risa Buck, a coordinator there, let me on to an amazing program that they had recently begun at the time. She told me that it's commong for the average recycling center to cart recyclables sometimes hundreds of miles to the nearest repurposing plant (for example, for a long time they had been toting everything up to a center just south of portland -- that's about 250 miles worth of fuel just to complete the recycling). AS&R had worked out a plan to take their glass and locally grind it into aggregate that could be used to create road beds or give blacktop paint its reflective quality. While (as of 2007) they were still sending their plastics up north, the glass was all being dealt with locally -- and even better, it was being reused through a process that burned far less net energy and fuel than carting it so far away. It's worthwhile to mention that Ashland Sanitary and Recycling is privately owned -- which I believe has made sustainability easier to come by for them. They haven't had to negotiate the red tape that's inherent within publically funded agencies or wade through the bureaucratic processes of local government. I would recommend their site as a reduce-reuse-recycle resource in general (plus they sell compost and bring in adoptable dogs from the animal shelter that you can meet when you're down there doing your part).

--Nellamity Jane

The Day Was Strange and Wonderful

Buoyed by the inauguration, I spent the day making calls for the company...which, by the way, is changing its name to 'Fleet Fuel Testing'; the old rubric was inspiring too many calls of: "Where's the Biodiesel?" (we don't make Biodiesel, we just sell the test kits).

The reason the broadcast caused me to sit doing secretarial work is simple: it's my Change.

One of the fellows I spoke to today was vehemently against Biodiesel use and said (and this is, I believe, pretty close to verbatim):

"We shoulda blown up **** and **** and all them and put a prison over all of it and sucked them dry, then sold gas for 25 cents a gallon.  If they don't care about us, why should I care about them?"

Ironically, this guy services agricultural equipment like tractors -- and farmers are the ones who stand to benefit perhaps the most from a biofuels industry.

So, casually I said "That sounds like quite a plan, and I can see your point.  But you know what's true about biodiesel is that it's made in America...jobs...economy boost," etc.

He didn't buy it, telling me how good money is paid to thousands of workers to labor for oil overseas.  But he did seem relieved to blow off steam.  Once his kettle is whistled out, I hope it comes clear that the seed was planted.  You never know.  Life is interesting because of guys like this.  There's a deeply jingoistic survival instinct at play -- the kind of instinct that has sometimes made the difference between triumph and defeat.  And yes, I really could see his point: If we're so powerful, and God is on our side, why can't we just take what we need?  

Power, in the strong-arming sense, is (or should be) a thing of the past.  America has so much.  We don't need to bully anybody else into coughing up something we think we deserve.  And the problem with the view above is that just about anyone can justify just about anything with it -- and they have.  *****************************************************************************

Those represent a whole paragraph that was perhaps a little too zealous to post.

But I hope that we're going to see this change.  Well, not 'see'.  Effect.  As I told Erin, I will be sorely disappointed if we don't.  All we can do is our best in the moment...each and every one of us.  

--Nellamity Jane

New Old Curtains and a Moon Follow-up

Here's that stinkin' moon -- and this photo was taken the day before it got really bad.  

Yesterday I decided to finally make some curtains for my south-facing window.  In the process, I discovered an excellent way to passively heat the house with the sun.  I'd had blankets tacked up on those windows most of the year, because folks in neighboring houses can see into them easily and the light entering there causes a glare on the television.  I took the blankets down to measure the windows, and just left them off while I was sewing.  The entire room got so warm...this was a huge deal, because the power bill goes up SO much here in the winter.  The heat diffused into the rest of the house, and it stayed warm even though it was in the low forties outside.  If you have a south/south-west facing window, and you can bear the bright light during the day, give it a try.  I don't know why I didn't think of this before...an Earthship, which is the type of dwelling I plan to build myself in the future, operates on this premise.

Also, I bought my fabric for the curtains at Goodwill.  They often have yards and yards of interesting fabric, and it usually seems to be pretty clean and in good shape.  I've found amazing prints from the seventies that obviously just sat in a trunk for 30 years and were never used.  Sometimes the yardage smells like White Shoulders or Jean Nate (I'm very smell-oriented -- my good friend thinks that's gross, but I can't help it).

After my Goodwill find, I went to the Shop N Kart around the corner, and when I came out with my bags, there was a man standing behind my Jetta writing down (I assume) the web addresses from my Biodiesel bumper stickers.  I asked him if he had a question about Biodiesel, and he seemed surprised to find that the car in front of him belonged to me.

This is what was exciting:  He knew pretty much nothing about this alternative fuel, but he was so genuinely interested to learn.  He used the back of part of my receipt, and wrote down the URLs of sites that would tell him more.  I asked him what kind of a car he drove, and he said a Toyota sedan; his wife has a Camry.  He seemed disappointed when I told him that his vehicles wouldn't be able to run on Bio.  But he responded:

'Oh, we'd need different vehicles, then,' happily, as if he were really considering trading in for a car that would run on an alternative fuel.

He said something like 'It makes so much sense.  Why would we stay the way we are?'

I would like to believe that this man's attitude typifies most Americans' at this point.  They're not all going to be interested in Biodiesel.  But I can't imagine that at some point over last summer most middle class Americans didn't ask themselves at least once "Why do we have to do this?" while we all watched prices soar and some were choosing between a meal and a tank of gas to get to work.  How could the government let this happen?  Actually, I shouldn't place the blame there.  How could WE let this happen?  We fell for it hook, line and sinker. 

 

The beauty of humanity is that we know better now, and we WILL pick ourselves up and move on with solar power, biofuels, hydrogen fuel cell technology, and perhaps alternatives that have not yet been imagined.  The Race to Space of this generation is going to be the Race to Renewable Fuel.  

I imagine complete self-sufficiency in the future.  Not relying on a technological infrastructure that's beyond my control or understanding.  I used to think I was a closeted luddite, but I've come to realize that many complex machines are important and useful for us.  I don't even know how radios really work, but I'm tuning in every day.  My car is necessary...but if it breaks down, I'm helpless.  Biodiesel was my window into a world of understanding and taking responsibility for the gadgetry around me and for the repercussions of using it, both positive and negative. Of course I've got a long way to go.  But I think that this gift of knowledge and intention will enhance all of our lives, as we move into new energy and fuel territories.

--Nellamity

A swift blog to serve as an introduction. I started this because of my new part-time job as a sales representative for Fleet Biodiesel (see links). I have never done sales in my life, excepting a brief stint in retail for a vintage clothing company called "Eye Candy". During the short time I was employed there, my boss took peyote regularly, chained a bed to the ceiling of the shop, and, when a customer was threatening violent revenge for an unknown slight, locked me in with said customer to "Wait for the police!"

Sales in general were not appealing to me after that.

I overcame my deeply embedded fear when I joined Fleet Biodiesel, a company with local offices and international reach, because I believe very strongly in the necessity of diminishing our reliance on foreign oil...and on petroleum in general. I have been using Biodiesel from Rising Phoenix Organics (see links) in a pre-owned '04 VW Jetta since the fall of 2007, while I was working at the Oregon Shakespere Festival. My reasons are environmental as well, although it has been pointed out to me that while Biodiesel has net fewer emissions than regular Diesel #2, it's fluorocarbon output is slightly higher.

It saddens me that Biodiesel has gotten a somewhat bad rap in this country, firstly because it's a strange new world of technology (despite the fact that Rudolph Diesel powered the first engine bearing his name on peanut oil at the 1900 World's Fair in Paris), and secondly because it can become corrupted and cause engine problems; it degrades far more easily than regular petrol. Because of the trouble bad Bio has caused, and because many don't see the production of the oils necessary as viable, it has been relegated to a shady purgatory while fuel opportunists look for that "silver bullet" that will turn the world as easily as petrol has done for the last century.

But I feel strongly that the silver bullet does Not exist. I think it is a hubristic tendency to look for the product that will outsell, outperform, and outrank everything else on the market. In this day and age, there may be more than one good solution.

I talk about Biodiesel and Biodiesel Quality Assurance, because I believe together they are one of those 'good solutions.' Please feel free to comment harshly or gently. I may drop info about Fleet Biodiesel's products from time to time, in an appropriate context, but that will be the extent of my sales pitching here. My hope is to open a community dialogue about Biodiesel in general. Let's talk about this and other fuel alternatives...or just talk.

--NellamityJane