[Sustainable-biodiesel] Your feedback requested - warning, long response!

[jennifer]

All great points!  I would like to emphasize two:

1. The tax credit should be the same for all
feedstocks (i.e. not half as much for recycled veg
oil).  Not only would this be more sustainable but it
would mean far less paperwork to get the tax credit.

2. The excise tax credit should include B100 (and not
be for B99.9 and below).

The grassroots people run B100 and want to have access
to B100.  The NBB has repeatedly ignored B100 (and
blends above B20).  If they want to keep the
grassroots and sustainable biodiesel on their side,
they need to be inclusive of B100 and fight for that
as well... in emissions testings, in tax credits, with
the car manufacturers, etc.

Thanks Emily for giving this talk.  You will do an
amazing job.  -Jennifer

Jennifer Radtke
BioFuel Oasis


--- Kimber Holmes <paxfuel at willitsonline.com> wrote:

> Jason,
> This is an excellent response, and as a distributor
> of biodiesel it speaks
> very effectively of my own experience. Bravo!
> 
> I would like to add two more points...
> 
> The importance of moving away from the centralized
> model, and localize
> feedstock procurement, production, and distribution
> based on what that
> bioregion can maintain utilizing sustainable
> practices. 
> 
> That as we educate about appropriate renewable fuels
> & energy sources
> conservation be a big part of that education, if we
> as a nation truly want
> to solve our collective energy challenge.   
> 
> Kimber Holmes
> Biofuel Station
> Laytonville, Ca 95454
> 707 984-6818
> www.paxfuel.com
> 
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: sustainable-biodiesel-bounces at lists.emji.net
>
[mailto:sustainable-biodiesel-bounces at lists.emji.net]
> On Behalf Of Jason
> Burroughs
> Sent: Monday, January 14, 2008 11:55 PM
> To: emily at sustainable-biodiesel.org;
> sustainable-biodiesel at lists.emji.net
> Subject: Re: [Sustainable-biodiesel] Your feedback
> requested - warning, long
> response!
> 
> Hi Emily,
> 
> A couple of key points to make with the
> sustainability discussion:
> 
> Europe is ahead of us on this. The EU is poised to
> ban unsustainable 
> palm oil.
> Waste oil is probably the most sustainable feedstock
> available today. 
> The rendering industry should be encouraged, and be
> getting the same 
> subsidy as the virgin oil producers - period.
> Lobbying efforts should 
> push governmental support for biofuels in direct
> relation to their 
> sustainability. Just as the Renewable Fuel Standard
> credits on a sliding 
> scale (poorly, mind you), subsidies and "kudos"
> should go to sustainably 
> produced fuel of all types. The first step is to
> establish a working 
> group for the purpose of establishing
> sustainability. The first round 
> can be a simple energy return formula, with later
> tweaks to cover full 
> lifecycle emissions.
> 
> The NBB needs to support the grassroots community
> better. Companies like 
> mine (biodiesel distributor, renderer, etc) are out
> there giving blood 
> sweat and tears to an industry that appears to care
> little for us. There 
> needs to be a much more fleshed out 'small business'
> membership and a 
> seat at the table.
> 
> Personal anecdote: with input from a single informed
> citizen (me), my 
> city government changed their biodiesel bidding
> process to exclude 
> unsustainable palm - over 5 million gallons would
> have been imported 
> this year if I had not intervened. Once customers
> really understand the 
> issue, they WILL act responsibly.
> 
> Company anecdote: Texas' environmental regulator has
> effectively banned 
> the sale of blends of biodiesel over B20 in most of
> the state for 
> environmental reasons. They are cutting off their
> nose to spite their 
> face by implementing a heavy handed approach to NOx
> reduction. If we 
> comply, we go out of business. If we don't, we face
> huge fines and other 
> sanctions. The NBB needs to work harder to educate
> regulators in local 
> regions, possibly by establishing regional or state
> chapters with 
> responsible parties to engage these agencies in
> meaningful (ie without 
> lawyers) dialog.
> 
> 
> My top 3 daily issues (had to put in 4):
> 
> -demand. There is simply not enough demand for
> biodiesel at a 
> distribution or retail level to support a real
> business in many markets.
> -funding. It takes a lot of money for permits, rent,
> insurance, and 
> equipment. Adequate funding for the extended period
> of time it takes to 
> build a market is hard to come by without selling
> your soul. We spend 
> over $1000 per month on what we call "shop supplies"
> - random plumbing 
> parts, filters, small equipment, etc that we can't
> depreciate and will 
> probably last a year or two tops.
> -talent. There are very few people that have the
> combination of talent, 
> ambition, business acumen, and experience to make a
> business like ours 
> work.
> -time. Trying to hold down a 50 hour a week day job
> AND run a business, 
> while trying to have a family life (forget about a
> social life) can be 
> very draining. Ask my wife about my 3 week
> "honeymoon" that I spent all 
> but 5 days at the shop...
> 
> 
> My top 3 big picture issues:
> 
> -the public does not understand biodiesel. Let's
> spend some of that big 
> soy money and put some commercials on TV and do some
> cross country 
> tours. Promote the nomads traveling the country on
> biofuels with 
> sponsorships.
> -regulatory people do not understand biodiesel.
> Establish a rendering 
> standard that does not allow for selling into the
> feed market, 
> eliminating a ton of red tape for those of us
> exclusively in the 
> biofuels industry. Carry the federal rebate to B100,
> eliminating all B99 
> blends from the market (and all it's associated
> headaches).
> -vehicle manufactures do not understand biodiesel.
> Put R&D folks from 
> major car manufacturers in a room and make them say
> why they
> wouldn't warranty their vehicles when used with pure
> biodiesel. Push for 
> specialty dealers that are trained on biofuels.
> 
> [bonus personal anecdote: A customer called upset
> because their 2005 
> Jeep Liberty CRD had died on the highway, putting
> their life in 
> jeopardy. After her frantic call, I took the day off
> work to talk to the 
> dealer about what was going wrong and try to help.
> The dealer's mechanic 
> said "it smells like rancid oil and has fat globules
> in it. We need to 
> drain the tank and flush all the lines, for $1000".
> I went to the dealer 
> and found that the smell was good B100 from WVO
> feedstock, and the "fat 
> globules" were just the glue dots holding the paper
> filter together (we 
> took it apart with a saw to confirm). The dealer
> conceded, changed the 
> fuel filter, and the customer was on her way. The
> truth was, it had been 
> 12,000 miles since her last fuel filter change, and
> Jeep recommends 
> every 10k for that vehicle.]
> 
> 
> On a somewhat somber note, the reality is that there
> is not nearly 
> enough sustainably produce-able biodiesel in the
> world to meet the 
> global demand. We are in a catch-22, in the sense
> that while we want to 
> displace as much petroleum as possible, the
> technology to do so in an 
> environmentally friendly manner is simply not here
> yet. With 300 billion 
> gallons of diesel consumed anually worldwide, but
> only 30 billion 
> 
=== message truncated ===



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