City Halts Use of Pure Biodiesel Fuel
- From: d.086@xxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Sat, 26 Apr 2008 15:08:36 -0700 (PDT)
People who like to worry badly need more things to worry about. By
definition biodiesel is bio-degradable. To a lesser extent so is
petroleum. Microbial evolution and symbiosis can exceed our rate of
adaption. Hence we die of disease. What are you going to do when the
contents of your fuel tank turns into pond scum?
City Halts Use of Pure Biodiesel Fuel,
Citing Build-Up of Bacteria Mold
MATTHEW ARTZ / Berkeley Daily Planet v.6, i.99, 18mar2005
Responding to the engine failure of two city trucks last year, city
leaders in January scrapped its two-year-old program to power its
fleet of nearly 200 trucks entirely on a derivative of vegetable oil.
The move, Public Works Director Renee Cardinaux said, came after
consultant Randall Von Weder determined bacteria mold found in the
cleaner burning fuel had clogged engine filters and fuel injection
pipes.
Von Weder, of Point Richmond-based CytoCulture, said despite the
city’s troubles with biodiesel, he never recommended that the city
return to diesel, and said the best solution would be for the city use
a 50-50 blend of biodiesel and a clean burning regular diesel.
In January 2003 Berkeley won much acclaim by becoming the first U.S.
city to convert its fleet to 100 percent biodiesel, which emits 50
percent fewer cancer and asthma-causing particulate emissions than
regular diesel oil. Last year the federal Environmental Protection
Agency awarded Berkeley the Environmental Award for Outstanding
Achievement for the program.
But after smooth sailing for the first year, Cardinaux said the city
started receiving fuel of degraded quality from its vendor Golden Gate
Petroleum.
“Unfortunately, we haven’t been able to get a biodiesel fuel recently
that is consistently clean,” Cardinaux said. Presently, he added, the
city has returned to using a blend of 80 percent diesel and 20 percent
biodiesel.
For next year, Cardinaux has proposed switching the city’s fleet to
ultra-low sulfur diesel, a move he said would save the city $160,000
on fuel cost as compared to 100 percent biodiesel.
Any switch away from biodiesel would meet opposition from the Ecology
Center, which has operated the city’s recycling program with trucks
powered on 100 percent biodiesel since 2001.
“We’re still committed to it,” said David Williamson [at right - photo
by Penni Gladstone/SF Chronicle], the Center’s assistant director.
Because the Ecology Center uses the same pump as the city, Williamson
said that its trucks are now also running on a blend of mostly regular
diesel.
Biodiesel and ultra-low sulfur diesel each have their deficiencies,
said Mark Jacobson, an associate professor of civil and environmental
engineering at Stanford University. He said biodiesel emits up to 10
percent more nitrogen oxide, which produces ozone and contributes to
smog, while ultra-low sulfur emits more hydrocarbons which contribute
to global warming and have been shown to cause cancer.
“The bottom line is that they’re both polluters,” he said.
Ultra-low sulfur’s competitive advantage comes both from its lower
price and its support from the California Air Resources Board. Next
year all commercial diesel pumps in the state will have to switch to
the fuel, said CARB spokesperson Gennet Paauwe.
Biodiesel will still be permitted for sale and use in California, she
added, but institutional users like Berkeley will run the risk of a
penalty if their biodiesel doesn’t meet ultra-low sulfur emission
standards.
“If we find consistent problems with an individual fleet, the owner
will get slapped with a fine,” she said.
Because of biodiesel’s higher nitrogen oxide emissions, Paauwe said,
the CARB still doesn’t distinguish biodiesel from regular diesel.
Algae-like bacteria that have sidelined Berkeley trucks also live in
regular diesel fuel, Williamson said, but are more common in
biodiesel.
“Since biodiesel is so close to vegetable oil, the microbes just eat
it,” he said.
Since converting to biodiesel, city trucks have experienced high
instances of sludge build-up under their engine valves and fungus
growth affecting fuel pumps, said Ed Silva, the city’s senior
equipment supervisor. He added that the two trucks to experience
engine failure were 18-wheel hauling rigs and that the city has had to
upgrade the fuel line systems in its garbage trucks to make them
impermeable to the corrosive effects of the fuel.
“We never had these problems when we were using regular diesel,” Silva
said.
Williamson said the Ecology Center recently had trouble with one of
its recycling trucks attributable to biodiesel bacteria growth.
Williamson though said the Ecology Center still favored biodiesel,
because unlike ultra-low sulfur the fuel is not refined nor does it
require energy to be extracted from the earth.
Von Wedel, Berkeley’s biodiesel consultant, said that bigger city
trucks had experienced problems with 100 percent biodiesel and that
the fuel appeared to decompose a lot of their rubber components. He
attributed the problems to a lack of quality fuel and the overall
youth of the industry. Although European cities use biodiesel, he
said, Berkeley was the first city worldwide to use the fuel for its
entire fleet.
Golden Gate Petroleum Operations Manager Claude Brown said his company
was working to address Berkeley’s concerns, but contended that
biodiesel sold to the city was top quality. He said the city’s problem
could stem from the presence of water in their storage tanks, which
promotes algae growth.
Since Berkeley became the first city to go 100 percent biodiesel, two
cities, Telluride, Colo. and Coconut Creek, Fla. have followed suit,
said Jenna Higgins of the National Biodiesel Board.
source: http://www.berkeleydailyplanet.com/article.cfm?issue=03-18-05&storyID=20958
18mar2005
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