Peanut oil is what fueled Dr. Rudolph Diesel's motor at the 1900 World's Fair in Paris. Today the by-product of gasoline distillation is diesel fuel which is what modern motors are designed to use for their operation. Vegetable oil, converted to bio-diesel can and does run today's motors. Vegetable oil is fueling motors around the world today, commonly with a mix of both bio-diesel and petroleum diesel. Most users mix 20% bio-diesel to 80% petro-diesel (designated B20). We have been making our own bio-diesel and using it at up to 100% in our cars, farm tractors, and I have also made a successful test burn in an oil furnace.

Bio-diesel is a renewable fuel. Local crops can be grown as the renewable source of this fuel. Rapeseed, also known as canola, soybeans, and sunflower seeds are all useful in the production of bio-diesel. Canola has received extensive research due to its high oil content and it is known to produce well as far north as Canada. Harvested seed is squeezed to produce the vegetable oil leaving the "meal" or oil cake as a by-product. This "meal" may also have a great value as animal feed for Washington County's agricultural industry.

Another benefit of bio-diesel fuel is that the exhaust emissions are significantly lower than those from petroleum baased diesel products. To me, the quality of life here in Washington County is based in part on the quality of the air we breathe. Carbon-dioxide and sulfur-dioxide are not emitted at all from bio-diesel fuel! Several other reductions in automobile emissions are listed in the book "from the Fryer to the Fuel Tank". Emission reduction from space heaters, both boilers and forced air, are the same or better.

Bio-diesel can be produced on any scale, small to large, backyard to industrial. The equipment and chemicals required are readily available. Small scale users can start with a simple kit or make their own. Larger scale manufacturers can assemble their production from off-the-shelf parts available from current technology. None of this is new. There are several industrial plants in the U.S. which produce bio-diesel and many more around the world.

My goal in sharing this information is to spread the word about the feasibility of bio-diesel production in Washington County. I hope to develop an interest among local farmers as potential seed producers as well as agricultural consumers. But it is not just the farmer who can use this; anyone with a diesel vehicle or an oil burner can take advantage of this clean, renewable fuel. I would like to see increased production and manufacture of bil-diesel fuel in Washington County and beyond.

"Even in its infancy, the bio-diesel industry will create jobs, increase farm income, and stimulate economic growth while simultaneously lessening the national trade deficit." Joshua Tickell

Sources of more Information:

The Book

• From the Fryer to the Fuel Tank (3rd edition), by Joshua Tickell. Available through Bookmasters - phone 800 266-5564.

An article

• Bio-diesel Blends in Space Heating Equipment, by C. R. Krishna, 2001, prepared for National Renewable Energy Lab, U. S. Department of Energy.

Internet Sites:

• National Bio-diesel Board
• National Renewable Energy Lab
• Canadian Renewable Fuels Association