Alternative Fuels

Barbara Miracle | 6/1/2006

When Mark Robinson drives his 2005 Dodge diesel pickup truck around Gainesville, it burns biodiesel, the alternative fuel that uses various types of vegetable oil as its main ingredient. Some call it french-fry power, but Robinson calls it "Freedom Fuel" -- the name of his recently launched company that sells biodiesel to what he calls "the faithful."

Biodiesel isn't a fad for the granola crowd. The University of South Florida, Pinellas County government, Florida Power & Light, Florida Department of Environmental Protection, the city of Coconut Creek and others have turned to biodiesel for both environmental and financial reasons. Biodiesel is made by combining a vegetable oil with an alcohol -- typically methanol. Although it can be used by itself in a form called B100, it is typically mixed with regular diesel. One of the most common mixes is B20 -- 20% biodiesel and 80% regular diesel -- but the mix can be up to B99 -- 99% biodiesel. It produces lower emissions and helps communities meet Environmental Protection Agency standards.

One problem for biodiesel is that it doesn't work well in cold temperatures. "The problem is that when it got to about 40 degrees, it turned into a solid," says Paul McMullen Sr., owner of McMullen Oil in Clearwater. McMullen began selling a blend of 5% palm oil biodiesel imported from Ecuador last September but withdrew from the market in part because of the cold weather issue. He's going back into biodiesel, but this time using soy or peanut oil from the U.S. and including a cold weather additive.

Although recycled cooking oil gets much of the attention, the majority of the 53 biodiesel facilities in the U.S. use soybean oil. Florida's only major biodiesel plant, World Energy Alternatives' Purada Processing in Lakeland, also prefers soy oil over waste cooking oil. "I think it's harder to work with," says Gene Gebolys, CEO of World Energy.

Cooking oil biodiesel also is at a disadvantage because federal tax credits ("Biodiesel Economics," right) for agriculture-based products are double those of cooking oil.

Unless it is homemade, biodiesel isn't cheap. Robinson buys B99 from a Tampa distributor and resells it for $3.50 a gallon.

Coconut Creek began using biodiesel in its 90 diesel vehicles in 2001 but switched back to regular diesel about two years ago when the cost became prohibitive. "The pricing got up to be about 53 cents a gallon more than diesel," says Richard Cascio, manager of public works. Still, he says that after hurricane season, the city will restart its biodiesel program.

Tags: North Central