Gary and Lila Tomlinson, owners of Agri-Green Biodiesel Inc arrived in Fernie in 2000. Gary says “about 4 years ago we were living in our house which had these beautiful brown shag rugs. Our newborn son was getting huge dark circles under his eyes and a doctor friend of ours said he was having an allergic reaction to the old shag rug so he gave us a prescription for new flooring immediately our son lost the dark circles. While we were doing research on contaminants and allergies we stumbled upon biodiesel. At the same time fuel prices were rising and Gary was driving a diesel truck. Soon enough he was making Biodiesel in the shed. While Gary’s curiosity grew he soon realized that making small batches at home was a money losing proposition, hence the formation of Agri-Green Biodiesel Inc. Gary says the 3 most asked questions he gets are: How do I convert my vehicle to Biodiesel? Why isn’t it cheaper? Bio what??
Converting your vehicle to biodiesel is as simple as making a conscious choice to use a cleaner burning fuel and at this time putting in the effort to get it into your tank. To use biodiesel just pour it into your tank, if you run out put in diesel fuel. Users will not notice any significant change other then the smell; most people think it smells better. While biodiesel is not readily available it is coming. Most people do not realize that the nearest retail pump is in Vancouver and the next closest is in Ontario. Because biodiesel is non-hazardous it can be shipped by common carrier in 1000 Li totes and 205 Li Drums.
Many people think that biodiesel is made from used cooking oil, other wise known as waste vegetable oil (WVO). While it can be made from WVO, the volume of WVO is very small. We would need 700 restaurants to produce 2 million litres per year. So most commercial producers use virgin oil, in North America 95% of biodiesel is made from soybean oil. The soybean farmers in the US have been instrumental in getting the burgeoning US biodiesel manufacturing industry off the ground. Virgin Canola, a superior raw material compared to soy oil, is about $0.80 Li. Using Canola would result in $1.20 Li biodiesel. In the US to overcome the higher price of Virgin oil they have a $1/gal subsidy. Agri-Green Biodiesel can buy finished biodiesel for less then we can buy raw vegetable oil. Some would say “subsidies are bad”, but without them Canada will be an importer of finished biodiesel and an exporter of raw material. In the US by 2015 it is expected to add $24 billion dollars to the economy, even after the $1/gal subsidy is paid out. The US has been doubling production every year for the past three years Biodiesel itself is simple and safe to use, biodegradable, and is a domestically produced renewable fuel. Bio-diesel is a generic name for methyl-esters made from any tri-glyceride oil. Tri-glyceride oils include all plant oils such as Canola, Mustard, Sunflower, Safflower, Soy, Corn oil, etc. used cooking oils, and animal tallow can also be used. A chemical process called “transesterification” is used to “crack” the glycerol molecule and replace it with an alcohol molecule. A catalyst, such as potassium hydroxide (Caustic Potash) and an alcohol, such as methanol, are used along with heat and vigorous agitation. It can be used in any diesel engine without costly modifications to the fuel system. Biodiesel is proven to reduce unhealthy emissions and green house gases associated with petrol-diesel. This renewable fuel offers an immediate opportunity to improve air quality and reduce CO2 emissions. It could also be a boost for Canadian agricultural products.
In 1897 when Rudolph Diesel introduced his engine at the Worlds Fair, it ran on peanut oil. Today’s modern diesel engine’s is designed to run on petroleum-based fuel. While using unprocessed vegetable oils in a modern engine does work, it will result in reduced engine life due to polymerization in the ring belt area and in some cases lubricating oil thickening, reduced bearing life or even sudden catastrophic failure. Vegetable oil will work as a fuel, however without extensive modifications or a very short engine life straight vegetable oil is not a viable alternative. The modern engine is designed to run on petroleum-based fuel. That is it is designed such that the fuel system needs certain physical properties from the fuel. This is the reason for processing raw vegetable oil into biodiesel; it brings the physical properties and characteristics of the fuel inline with diesel fuel.
Two different trends are spurring Biodiesel use. First there are the environmental benefits, from a 78% reduction in CO2 to high flash point of 150°C, compared to 70°C for diesel. Biodiesel is ecologically safe and is an easy to use fuel. Second the raw material biodiesel made from could be produced on Canadian farms and ranches.
· Biodiesel is the only alternative fuel that runs in any conventional, unmodified diesel engine. This allows the user to return to petrol diesel at any time and vice versa.
· Biodiesel is not classified as a hazardous material. It does not require haz-mat training, or more expensive double walled tanks for transport or storage.
· Biodiesel can be used pure or mixed in any ratio with petroleum diesel. A blend of 20% biodiesel and 80% petrol diesel is called B20. Pure biodiesel is called B100.
· Biodiesel can extend the life of diesel engines due to its significantly higher lubricity than petrol-diesel fuel. Power and engine torque are relatively unaffected. Biodiesel has a significantly higher Cetane number that allows the fuel to auto ignite faster and therefore burn more completely. Some users of B5 – B40 blends are reporting better fuel mileage.
· Biodiesel is safe to handle and transport because it is as biodegradable as sugar (pure biodiesel degrades 85% in water within 28 days), 10 times less toxic than table salt (lethal dose is greater than 17.4 g/kg body weight, while for salt (NaCL) fuel, which has a flash point of about 70°C. With such a high flash point it is essentially non-flammable. Biodiesel is considered a Class III B combustible, the same as paper and wood, that is not regulated by the B.C. fire code.
· Biodiesel is a proven fuel with over 20 years of use in Europe and well over 30 million successful US road miles. The US military is largest user of biodiesel in North America.
· Combustion of biodiesel provides over a 75- 90% reduction in environmental pollution and a 90% reduction in cancer risks.
· Biodiesel is the only alternative fuel to meet stringent EPA tier 1 and tier 2 requirements. When the tests were first performed they had to do them twice because the rats did not die the first time.
