More Environment, Energy & Transportation Plays

The original diesel engine did not run on petroleum-based diesel fuel at all. When European inventor Rudolph Diesel unveiled it in 1900, the revolutionary new engine ran on peanut oil -- in no small part to make a farsighted social and political point.

"The use of vegetable oils for engine fuels may seem insignificant today," Diesel explained, "but such oils may become in the course of time as important as petroleum and the coal tar products of the present time."

"[Biodiesel] helps reduce our dependence on foreign oil, and it's a boost to our farming industry." -- Delaware Senate Majority Leader Harris B. McDowell III

More than a century later, there are finally signs that Diesel's vision of an alternative bio-fuel supply is coming to fruition. "Biodiesel" -- derived from soybeans, recycled cooking fats, canola, corn, cotton, mustard, peanuts, sunflowers, and numerous other sources (even lard) -- is beginning to serve as an additive or a replacement for petrodiesel.

This is a welcome development. The U.S. economy's heavy reliance on petroleum-based fuels is an increasing national security concern, as we are largely dependent on oil-supplying countries whose interests do not always coincide with our own. The petro-economy is also a pressing environmental concern, because tailpipe exhaust is a major contributor to the degradation of our air quality and to global climate change.

Biodiesel, by contrast, is infinitely renewable, relatively clean burning, and safe to handle. Furthermore, it can be produced in abundance on American soil. It even smells good -- most people compare its fumes to popcorn or french fries. Diesel engines built after 1992 can use it with essentially no modification. It can be used "straight," or blended with petrodiesel. The most common blend, called B20, is 20 percent biodiesel, 80 percent petrodiesel.

The first biodiesel refinery in the mid-Atlantic region is now operational in Delaware. With backing from the state and federal governments, the $8.3 million facility provides a new market for our many soybean farms, while also contributing to a cleaner environment. However, attempts to pass new legislation to support biodiesel have yet to meet with success. Delaware State Sen. Harris B. McDowell introduced legislation (S.B. 321 in 2004 and S.B. 132 in 2006) requiring that all diesel fuel in the state be a 2 percent biodiesel fuel blend by January 2006. The bills, which also required service stations to sell only an 80-20 mix of soydiesel, failed to pass the House. Other biodiesel plants have opened or are in the works in Colorado, Illinois, Indiana, Minnesota, and Mississippi.

Greensboro, N.C., has, meanwhile, converted its 750-vehicle fleet of medium- and heavy-duty trucks and other government vehicles to run on B20. Dozens of other states, cities, counties, government agencies, and businesses have also begun trials with biodiesel or completed the full-scale conversion of their fleets.

In 2005, Minnesota mandated that all diesel fuel sold in the state contain at least 2 percent biodiesel. The state of Ohio also has passed legislation to invigorate the biodiesel market by equipping fuel retail stations to sell diesel blends comprised of 85 percent ethanol (E85). Additionally, Arkansas, Hawaii, Illinois, and North Dakota have cut taxes on biodiesel. Iowa created a revolving fund to enable the state transportation department to buy biodiesel for its vehicles. Arkansas, Illinois, Indiana, and Washington state have created tax breaks and other incentives to jumpstart biodiesel production.

So far, biodiesel has mainly been used in heavy machinery. But that may soon change.

With biodiesel production still in its infancy and demand just beginning to grow, price has been a major obstacle. The B20 blend typically costs about 15 cents to 20 cents more per gallon than conventional diesel. Biodiesel prices also vary widely by region. Several years ago, the Senate has passed a highway bill that would give oil producers a one cent federal excise-tax credit for every percentage point of biodiesel they blend with petrodiesel. Producers typically pass such tax cuts along to consumers at the pump. In coming years, B20 prices at the pump are projected to fall by 20 cents a gallon -- well within the range of conventional diesel.

Resources For Action

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Clean Diesel program
www.epa.gov/cleandiesel/

U.S. Department of Energy's FreedomCAR and Vehicle Technologies program
www.eere.energy.gov/vehiclesandfuels

U.S. Department of Energy's Clean Cities program's biodiesel webpage
http://www.eere.energy.gov/afdc/
fuels/biodiesel_alternative.html

National Biodiesel Board
www.biodiesel.org/

Additional Reading

Biodiesel fact sheets

http://www.epa.gov/smartway/growandgo/documents/
factsheet-biodiesel.htm
www.eere.energy.gov/vehiclesandfuels/pdfs/basics/jtb_biodiesel.pdf
www.biodiesel.org/resources/fuelfactsheets/default.shtm

Kyle Althoff, Cole Ehmke, and Allan W. Gray, "Economic Analysis of Alternative Indiana State Legislation on Biodiesel," Purdue University, July 2003
www.agecon.purdue.edu/staff/gray/Research/biodiesel.pdf

Roger Ballentine and Jan Mazurek, "Clean Cars: Kicking America's Oil Habit," Progressive Policy Institute, March 2004
www.ppionline.org/ppi_ci.cfm?knlgAreaID=116&subsecID=155&contentID=252465

Contacts

Sean Finnigan
Senate Staff
Senator Harris B. McDowell, III, Chair
Delaware State Senate Energy and Transit Committee
411 Legislative Ave, Dover, DE 19901
(302) 577-8718
sean.finnigan@state.de.us