Biodiesel competes as viable option for drivers
There’s a product on sale at the Chevron gas station on Hawthorne Avenue that one can buy only nine other places in Georgia.
The special green and white pump dispenses a blend of biodiesel — a renewable, alternative fuel made from plant oils and animal fats mixed with traditional petroleum diesel.
From those customers who use it, there are very few complaints, said manager Fateh Mitha, who sells the 20 percent biodiesel, 80 percent petroleum diesel blend for the same price as his regular diesel fuel.
But unlike regular fuel, Mitha said the biodiesel blend improves a car’s performance, is better for the environment and reduces the U.S.’s dependence on foreign-produced oil.
“For all the reasons to use biodiesel, price is still the primary reason in the marketplace,” said Jim Kennedy, vice president of Boswell Oil, the producer of the biodiesel at the Hawthorne Chevron.
As worldwide demand for crude oil steadily increases and the cost of a gallon of gasoline nears $3, drivers, governments and researchers look for other means to power cars.
Enter biodiesel.
In 2004, 25 million gallons of biodiesel were produced in the U.S., said Amber Pearson, a spokeswoman for the National Biodiesel Board. In 2005, that jumped to 75 million. And in 2006, the U.S. is set to produce 150 million gallons of biodiesel.
At the University, researchers are looking for different products, such as chicken fat, that can be turned into the alternative fuel.
While Daniel Geller, a faculty of engineering public service representative, called poultry fat the “low-hanging fruit,” biodiesel makers eventually will run out of animal fat before the demand from automobile drivers is met.
That forces the burden on researchers like Geller and Tom Adams, director of the Engineering Outreach Service, to find alternatives like the oils of crops and wood.
Most crop oils can produce good biodiesel, but University researchers want to optimize the fuel’s processing using a low-cost crop to make biodiesel, Adams said.
“This can happen. We just need to put it into effect,” Geller said.
Adams, for instance, is working on turning wood and other wood-like products into biodiesel that works efficiently in engines and mixes well when combined with petroleum diesel.
“As for the technical hurdles, we’re making really good strides,” Adams said of his work.
Students could soon see the fruits of Adams’ and fellow researchers’ labor, since plans are in the works to eventually run University buses on biodiesel.
“It’s a little more complex than everybody thought it was going to be,” Adams said. “But we’re headed in that direction.”