[HoosierRon]

Minnesota Passes Statewide B20 Mandate

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo.– Minnesota has taken another step towards promoting domestic energy security and reducing the state's carbon footprint. Today, Gov. Tim Pawlenty signed a bill that will increase the current 2 percent biodiesel mandate to 20 percent by 2015.

According to the legislation, the current 2 percent biodiesel mandate will increase to 5 percent on May 1, 2009; to 10 percent on May 1, 2012; and to 20 percent on May 1, 2015.

"Implementation of the legislation starting in May of 2009 is timely and workable," said Chuck Neece, Chairman of the Minnesota Biodiesel Council, which championed the legislation. "The supply from the current biodiesel production capacity in Minnesota already exceeds 64 million gallons, more than enough to meet the five percent requirement, which would be 40 million gallons."

 

[Saturn69]

Great. So now the cost of my Thanksgiving Tofurkey is gonna go up. Thanks guys!



I am sooooo kidding.

 

[New_Mexico_Sunset_on_Rt66]

Aww, 'HR' is at it again. Doing nice Google searches on 'biodiesel' and posting the results of the search for all off us to see.

HR, biodiesel is not the panacea.

Converting food to fuel drives up the price of food.

 

[jkennedy293]

Aww, 'HR' is at it again. Doing nice Google searches on 'biodiesel' and posting the results of the search for all off us to see.

HR, biodiesel is not the panacea.

Converting food to fuel drives up the price of food.

Biodiesel is produced from waste cooking oil and soy beans, among other things. The soy bean crop currently being grown is significantly more than we need for food. Therefore, no food is harmed by using crops for fuel.

The reason food prices have gone up is because transportation fuels have gone up.

 

[big swede]

Are we still paying farmers in Minnesota to not grow anything? If that is still happening then they need to start re-introducing them to growing corn or whatever other substance will be the best to help the biodiesel production.

This will be one of the only ways diesel fuel prices will ever be compariable to gas over the course of a year.

 

[HoosierRon]

Aww, 'HR' is at it again. Doing nice Google searches on 'biodiesel' and posting the results of the search for all off us to see.

HR, biodiesel is not the panacea.

Converting food to fuel drives up the price of food.

What makes you think biodiesel comes from food sources?

Greasy Thieves Stealing Biodiesel Bounty

In March, grease bandits in South Bend, Ind., broke bin locks to get to their oozy booty. One collector, Griffin Industries Inc., has two detectives working cases in Kentucky, Texas, Florida, Missouri, and against an entire grease gang in northern Arkansas.

Grease is a traded commodity like gold or pork bellies, and its price has tripled in the past two years – leading to increased theft. The reason: Grease can be used to make bio-diesel and has seen the same price spike as corn and other biofuel inputs.

“We monitor grease theft on a regular basis. Right now it’s a big issue,” says Christopher Griffin, director of legal affairs for Griffin Industries Inc. in Cold Spring, Ky. The company collects raw grease in 20 states and boils and filters it into “yellow grease,” which is what is used to make biodiesel.

Yellow grease is becoming liquid gold. It now trades on US commodities markets for 32 cents per pound, up from a low of 12 cents in 2006, according to data from The Jacobsen website.

“People who were not in the industry in 2006 are seeing this is a moneymaker,” says Mr. Griffin. The trouble for these grease greenhorns, he says, is that there’s no free grease anymore – it’s all under contract. “So those people, if they can’t get the volume of grease they want, then they will just steal it.”

PetroSun's algae-to-biofuels plant to commence operations

PetroSun's initial commercial algae-to-biofuels farm is scheduled to commence operations on April 1, 2008, the company announced last week. The farm, an 1,100 acre salt water open pond system, is located on the Texas Gulf Coast near Harlingen, Texas.

The site currently has 94 five-acre and 63 ten-acre ponds on the 1,831 acres contained within the algae farm operation. The company will extract the algal oil on-site and transport the raw product via barge, rail or truck to company owned or joint ventured biodiesel refineries. The residual algae biomass will be converted into ethanol or other products.

 

[Whitesky]

Are we still paying farmers in Minnesota to not grow anything? If that is still happening then they need to start re-introducing them to growing corn or whatever other substance will be the best to help the biodiesel production.

This will be one of the only ways diesel fuel prices will ever be compariable to gas over the course of a year.

Exactly, this way we can also end ALL farm subsidies and make them earn their money.

 

[Saturn69]

Exactly, this way we can also end ALL farm subsidies and make them earn their money.

What? Then their kids would actually have to pay for college! Blaspheme!

 

[Highlander]

What? Then their kids would actually have to pay for college! Blaspheme!

Please don't generalize too much. I for one grew up on a WI farm, we did not partake in any gov't programs/handouts (in fact, we're against government programs and subsidies). Subsidizing foodstuffs actually artificially deflates the value and the subsidies then in the end do nothing more than deflate the values the farmers would otherwise get paid on the true free market and then the subsidies can't easily end, because the true value is artificially deflated (it's a bit of a circular cause and effect). (cheap food buys votes which is a reason subsidies exist).
And it's a joke that people get paid to be lazy and let land set idle. The same thing is here in WI, and it's frustrating when you're trying to crop every corner of land you can get, but the guy down the road gets paid to do nothing and you could really use that extra land.

Also, I had to pay completely for my way though college because my parents made "too much" and I was taught to pay for my own way (no handouts from the government or mommy and daddy as so many rely on!)

Sorry about the off-topic rant, but this topic was swinging to an extreme that needed addressing

 

[drew630]

Ok, question. The new D-Max's are B5 biodiesel (http://www.chevrolet.com/silverado/specifications/) compatible. Does that mean it can run any Bio-Diesel at either B5 or higher (like B20)?

 

[Saturn69]

Please don't generalize too much. I for one grew up on a WI farm, we did not partake in any gov't programs/handouts (in fact, we're against government programs and subsidies). Subsidizing foodstuffs actually artificially deflates the value and the subsidies then in the end do nothing more than deflate the values the farmers would otherwise get paid on the true free market and then the subsidies can't easily end, because the true value is artificially deflated (it's a bit of a circular cause and effect). (cheap food buys votes which is a reason subsidies exist).
And it's a joke that people get paid to be lazy and let land set idle. The same thing is here in WI, and it's frustrating when you're trying to crop every corner of land you can get, but the guy down the road gets paid to do nothing and you could really use that extra land.

Also, I had to pay completely for my way though college because my parents made "too much" and I was taught to pay for my own way (no handouts from the government or mommy and daddy as so many rely on!)

Sorry about the off-topic rant, but this topic was swinging to an extreme that needed addressing

I was a farm kid, too. I put the because I was trying to be sarcastic, not because I believe it. I should have made that clearer. A lot of people here think that that's what happens all the time, that farm kids are poor kids who get to go to college free...which just ain't true at all.

 

[tgagneguam]

For what it's worth, while I may not always agree with HoosierRon's posts, overall I am happy that he posts here. I think he easily adds more to the site than he detracts from it.

It will be nice when the phrase "carbon footprint" becomes passe. It's tired already. It's like people who live in "green homes" that occupy 7,000 square feet and required the clearing of a forest to prepare the land for its construction. Wouldn't it have been more "green" to build a more appropriately-sized home in the first place?

Are we still paying farmers in Minnesota to not grow anything? If that is still happening then they need to start re-introducing them to growing corn or whatever other substance will be the best to help the biodiesel production.

This will be one of the only ways diesel fuel prices will ever be compariable to gas over the course of a year.

Competition fosters some great things; fostering dependency does not. I agree with you, big swede.

...A lot of people here think that that's what happens all the time, that farm kids are poor kids who get to go to college free...which just ain't true at all.

Funny, I can tell you I have never held this impression of farmers or their children, Saturn69. To the contrary, and in light of watching the farmers in the town in which I live, I think they're pretty amazing people: they never seem to stop working; their kids seem to have great work ethics; they're amazingly well-mannered; they're generally salt-of-the-earth people. I rather like my farming neighbors. Perhaps I am submitting to generalizations, but my impression of farmers is actually quite positive.

 

[CaptainDan]

......Converting food to fuel drives up the price of food.

Not if you produce more of it. If you produce more than is needed, wouldn't food prices go DOWN?

Except that using oil for fuel drives up the price of food too. I don't know if you've noticed, but the price of fuel (oil based) is up a wee bit lately. That has GOT to drive up the price of food! Unless you think you can till, plant, grow, harvest, store, process, and ship food without fuel.

 

[rlchv70]

Ok, question. The new D-Max's are B5 biodiesel (http://www.chevrolet.com/silverado/specifications/) compatible. Does that mean it can run any Bio-Diesel at either B5 or higher (like B20)?

NO!! It means that it is only certified on blends UP TO B5. If you run higher, then you risk voiding your warranty. However, note that a lot of states allow up to B10, B12, or higher without labeling it as such on the pump.

 

[SUPERBADD75]

so if they mandate the 20% and many car warranties can be void for using it, then what?

 

[HoosierRon]

so if they mandate the 20% and many car warranties can be void for using it, then what?

Nothing.

Car makers started "approving" biodiesel content because in the early days of biodiesel, it was anything goes. Home brewers would cook up who-knew-what, so manufacturers set a limit of 5%. Today, commercial manufacturers of biodiesel make their product so that it passes the ASTM standard. The biodiesel will not harm the vehicle, and manufactures are not allowed to arbitrarily void a warranty if the owner did not actually do something to harm the car.

 

[logansowner]

so if they mandate the 20% and many car warranties can be void for using it, then what?

WTF I was under the impression that these people making biodiesel from cooking oil were putting it in regular diesel vehicles...?

Sounds like a oil company ploy to me. Or maybe it does void warranties, but doesn't cause any harm? If it was causing damage, we'd have heard about it now.

 

[New_Mexico_Sunset_on_Rt66]

What makes you think biodiesel comes from food sources?

I dunno, just shows my ignorance. I just lump them all into one. OK, if its a logical alternative without having the harmful affects of increasing food prices, then OK

The reason food prices have gone up is because transportation fuels have gone up.

In part. But farmers shifting to more lucrative crops for use as fuel is also a contributor.

As with most things. It ain't simple.

People who seek simple solutions to complex problems are kidding themselves. But, it does make you feel better. A little research reveals that many of these issues don't have a "one-size-fits-all" fix.

 

[gardnet1]

This is great, it's going to jack up the cost of tofu and pisz off the vegetarians. I'm all for it. 2011 Silveradado HD Powered by Tofu!

 

[Neanderthal]

Exactly, this way we can also end ALL farm subsidies and make them earn their money.

Do you mean to include the great Long Island faahmah David Letterman in that statement?