Bet on Biodiesel

[Jinglebob]

Allan's Blog
Bet On Biodiesel
Tuesday, 08 May 2007
Have you noticed that gas prices have skyrocketed while crude oil prices have flattened? Have you noticed that diesel is now considerably cheaper than gasoline? As I have previously written, ethanol is a bet on the continued dominance of the gasoline fueled engine. This is a bet that will lose. The future is diesel and diesel/battery vehicles and the oil companies know it. A conversion to European style small diesel cars would reduce our oil imports by the same amount as the President's newly enlarged ethanol program. The reason gasoline prices are skyrocketing is that American oil companies do not want to put any more money into gasoline-oriented refineries. The only new USA refinery on the drawing board is a diesel-only one. Europe, which has almost completely dieselized its auto fleet, has been sending us their surplus unneeded gasoline from their refineries. Now, they are retrofitting their refineries to only produce diesel. The end result will be even less gasoline available to American motorists and even higher gas prices even as oil prices fall. How wide will the spread between gas and diesel have to become for the mass exodus from gasoline motors to occur? I don't know, but it will occur. The bottom line is to bet on biodiesel and not ethanol.

 

[George]

The local truck stop ( Knightstown IN. ) started selling soydiesel about two months ago - - - at the same price as regular diesel but you had to go to special pumps.

I have been using it in my fleet of equipmet and in the dump trucks where you can tract mileage - - - I feel we are getting 5 to 10% better mileage. I'm not sure about this yet as we may be driving better trying to compare. Time will tell but I'm not having any bad effects. FedEx uses this as a regional refueling stop and they are having good reuslts as well.

On the 8th of May the truck stop went totally Soydiesel ( 20% soy 80% diesel) and the Govener and state senators and represenitives all came out in a show of support.

I don't know what will happen this fall when the weather turn but time will tell. Evan Bayh ( one of our State Senators ) was intervied a while back as the moderator gave him hell saying the soydiesel and ethanol would not help the American public but just make the local farmers rich. His reply was if the prices did not lower and the public still had to pay the same it would still be better to help the local farmer instead of the OPEC

 

[katrina]

For our farm tractors this spring and summer we have reduced our diesel to twenty percent(diesel) a tank using sunflower biodiesel... We have found an affordable syntrafuge so production will be alot faster........ As long as there is a fuel heater in the tank like most trucks have nowdays, I would suspect no trouble in the winter with the blends that are sold at the pump..
And for us we have gone up to half and half in the winter and got along fine.... But............ our shed is heated and our tractors do not sit out all night..........

There is some pressure for sunflowers.... Had a guy call and offer us $17.00 a hundred...... When if we got $11.00 before we were doing good.

 

[IL Rancher]

There is a place north of here that sells biodiesel at the pump and I fill up when I am up there.. Milage goes up aboput 2 mpg which is around 15% or so.. If and when the darn tank company gets back to me I can get it delievered but they keep saying they will call me back about it when they have the time.. Time to find a new on I think.