Big Joe

Hello again, I did a search, and couldn't get the answer I was looking for, is Biodiesel very good, and where can you purchase some in the state of oregon.
I know this has probably been talked up, and down, but I am very curious, I did see an episode of Trucks, on that episode Stacey made, and ran some Biodiesel, and had good result, I am looking for some testamonials to this.
Anyone have some good input, I would sure appreciate it.
Thanks in advance --Joe

P.J

www.biodiesel.org

There is a map and list of retailers.

Big Joe

Thanks for the link, is anyone running it, and can tell me how they like it, and maybe how much they pay for it as oppossed to regular diesel

mestdagh

I'm running about 5-7% Bio. I cut B100 w/ regular diesel to do this. Price of Bio in Boulder was 2.89 last time I filled up my cans. Denver is cheaper. Performance wise it feels the same. Seems like it smells a little different though. Mileage is the same.

JHardwick

$0.05/gal more than regular diesel here .............. for 2% I'll pass.

codered

bio might be a better alternative. if it was cheaper i would run it

Eric Psolla

What PJSnyder76 said, BioDiesel.Org. Take everything on the retailer lists with a grain of salt and make sure to call or email first. Some are Co-ops and you can’t buy their fuel unless you have their fueling card or belong to the Co-op. The list isn’t always up to date either. I went to a station listed there in Portland and it was boarded up and it looked as if the tanks had been pulled out. Closed? Remodeling? Just wish I had called first because I was running on fumes and had to find another station.

I've run several tanks (12 or so) of B20 (80% diesel fuel, 20% veggy oil) through my truck. There doesn't seem to be a noticeable difference in power or economy between B20 and No.2. One thing that may mask this some; regardless of fuel type I'm adding either Power Service (white bottle) or Stanadyne Performance Formula to every tank. Overkill? Maybe. There is a slight difference in smoke with the B20, not that my stock 05' smokes much to speak of, just the rear fender and bumper stay cleaner, longer. And the engine is noticeably quieter.

I've used two retailers for buying these fuels both are on the Biodiesel.Org list: Pacific Pride fuel depot on Harbor Island in Seattle and the "Fuel Depot" run by McWherter Petroleum in Delaware, Ohio (close to Columbus). McWherter says that his bio-diesel is blended with BP Diesel Supreme and they've been running it in their delivery trucks for over 5 years now. Don’t know about how or with what Pacific Pride’s bio-diesel is blended.

Expensive, yeah I guess so, you could argue this many ways. Can you put a price on principles (i.e. utilizing a home grown fuel source, lowering reliance on foreign oil)? A week ago I bought bio-diesel in Delaware, Ohio and it was $2.55 a gallon. The local truck stop had No.2 for $2.33. Is it worth any more to have premium diesel vs. No.2? The typical difference in regular gas (87 octane) and premium gas (91-93 octane) is 20 cents in Ohio. Is premium diesel worth 20 cents more? Then there’s the added bonus of getting the lower emissions and greater lubricity from burning the blend of veggy oil. Seattle’s bio-diesel pricing that I remember was 15-20 cents higher than the going rate for No.2 as well.

I’ve thought about putting a toolbox/tank in the bed of the truck so I can buy 100% veggy oil (B100) and do my own blending. 2% gives enough lubricity to replace the sulfur that’s being removed now in every diesel fuel. At 5% there’s a measurable decrease in emissions. At 20% there’s a significant reduction in emissions without a significant loss in power/energy. Beyond 20% there’s a greater potential for lowered power because the veggy oil doesn’t contain the same energy per volume as diesel fuel. If fuel prices continue to climb I’ve even considered distilling my own bio-diesel from used vegetable oil. Probably easier to start riding the motorcycle everywhere though. Three times the fuel efficiency and about four times more fun. But that’s only because I haven’t bom’d anything yet.

Ripper406

I made my own batch at the shop, about 30 gallons of homebrew Biodiesel were put into my dads 95 3 axle Volvo Semi with a Detroit 60 series engine. It has about 850,000 miles on it and the mixture came to about 30% or so Biodiesel to dino diesel. I seen it first hand and My Father also tells me the engine is quiter, smoother, a little bit more powerful and milage improved and EGT's went down just a little. However, I think the only reason biodiesel did this was because the ability for the biodiesel to clean up all the gum in the fuel system. So basically it probably cleaned everything up and because of that the engine improved in so many ways. I'm not 100% sure, but they say biodiesel has a lower BTU then Dino diesel so running 100% would decrease power supposedly.

Timinva

I agree biodiesel is a good thing but it cost me about 25hp. I was running b20 in april and dynoed a best of 592hp, 10 days later no changes but pure diesel it went 617hp. Pretty much the same weather conditions. I could not tell by seat of the pants but the dyno told me the loss. My biodiesel was a little older but was in a airtight container and was commercial made. I think biodiesel is a important thing for our economy and farmers but it is not the hot ticket for dynos or competition. For what its worth. Tim

Big Joe

So I guess it is safe to say that it isn't worth it performance, and/or price wise.

MikeyB

There are other benefits to biodiesel you may not realize. For one, biodiesel is an excellent lubricant and cleaner. So no need to run additives with bio, even at 2% biodiesel. Burns cleaner, so better for the enviroment. And it's home grown, so it decreases the reliance on foreign oil.

MikeyB