Tuesday, November 18, 2008

Looking for local biodiesel

Smitty, the mechanic, had given me the name Eudes De Crecy, who had been using biodiesel on many cars, someone who's really knowledgeable about the subject. I called him and asked a few question and got some advice, such as, yes I definitely need to replace the fuel lines with Viton hoses; that in the cold weather I should mix the biodiesel with regular diesel 70/30 or similar, because biodiesel actually thickens. He also mentioned that the fuel filter will have to be changed quite often in the beginning because the biodiesel will clean out the soot from the regular diesel and deposit it in the filter. I hadn't heard that one before. I asked him where to get biofuel locally and he said to call him back in a few days. I'm still not sure why he said that, but I'll call him back on Friday. He said there's one in town, but wouldn't say who. That seemed like a strange way of relaying information. 
I also emailed a local place called Freedomfuels.Inc here in Gainesville again. They had mentioned that soon they'd be able to sell biofuel. Haven't heard back. I am getting a very strange impression that many of the biodiesel resellers in the area actually don't exist, or have stopped production, for various reasons.
I went by a local chinese restaurant and asked them how they get rid of their grease. They said they sell it to someone. If true, it seems the market has already turned from "free" to "pay"; soon people will start stealing the stuff, like in California. Earlier I had asked a different chinese restaurant, but they said they just dump it because they're on the second floor and have no way to put into barrels. I was a little shocked they admitted that. Even though I am nowhere near making biodiesel from grease, I am starting to ask around for it. I am considering just hoarding it, since I predict companies will be snatching up all the local restaurants with contracts. Online people are selling filtered grease for $2.50, very close to the current price of diesel, around $300. One would still have to convert that (or use a converted truck).

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