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THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
FUEL ALTERNATIVES
WEDNESDAY, JULY 7, 2004
Biodiesel decreases pollution, gas usage
By Abby Tillery
atlery@kansan.com
Kansan staff writer
Although the concept is not new, the location is.
For more than three years the biodiesel industry has provided the public with an alternative fuel at retail pumps. Kansas has more than 10 retail biodiesel stations, the closest one now in Topeka, according to the National Biodiesel Board's Web site, www.biodiesel.org.
"Alternative fuels in general are here to stay and we need to figure out a way to adapt," said Kyle McNorton, manager of Capital City Oil, Inc., 911 S.E. Adams St., Topeka, the new biodiesel site.
One-hundred percent biodiesel costs about $2.85 per gallon. When B20 is blended with regular diesel fuel, it runs about 25 cents more per gallon than straight petroleum diesel. That would make the average price $1.83 per gallon, McNorton said.
Not only is the price comparable to gas and diesel prices, but the consumer has to do little or no adjustments to the vehicle, said Jenna Higgins, communications director for the National Biodiesel Board.
Dennis Hupe, field service director of the Kansas Soybean Commission, fills a government truck with biodiesel fuel at Capital City Oil, Inc., 911 S.E. Adams St, Topeka. Hupe said the truck was mainly used to promote the cleaner burning, renewable fuel, which reduces the amount of carbon and particulate matter emitted from vehicles.
Courtney Kuhlen/Kansan
McNorton said the original diesel engine was built to run on peanut oil and not petroleum diesel, so it made sense that biodiesel would become a viable source for fuel. The Web site said there was a 20 million-gallon increase in biodiesel usage between 1999 and 2003.
Biodiesel, which is only used in diesel running engines, is a byproduct that develops from animal fats or vegetable oils through chemical processes. Vegetable oil can't be poured straight into a tank, but through the proper steps it can be made into biodiesel, meeting Environmental Protection Agency standards.
Biodiesel can be mixed at different percentages with regular diesel fuel. B20 is 20 percent biodiesel and 80 percent petroleum diesel. The Topeka station will sell B20 at the pumps, but it will also sell pure biodiesel, or B100, in bulk when requested.
Scott White, assistant scientist for the Kansas Geological Survey, agreed that using a biodiesel mixture would help to decrease pollution, but wasn't convinced that biodiesel would sell on a large scale.
"We have to grow crops that we have to produce and it is energy intensive," White said. "But I think it is great to use as a byproduct."
McNorton said that biodiesel was popular with area farmers because they provided the soybeans used to produce the biodiesel. "By buying the biodiesel they
are essentially putting money back into their own pocket," he said.
Higgins said efficiency wasn't an issue either. People who use B100 reported about a 10 percent loss in fuel efficiency, but with B20 there was hardly any
reported loss, she said.
The National Biodiesel Board plans to get a tax incentive adopted into the legislature for biodiesel users, Higgins said.
Edited by Julie Jones