{"article":{"id":103361,"heading":"Alert: Report From the California Biodiesel Consumers' Conference","author":"Ross Plesset","created":"2004-02-21 06:40:15","modified":"2004-02-27 22:06:21","last_modified":"Sat, 28 Feb 2004 05:06:21","article":"<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC \"-\/\/W3C\/\/DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional\/\/EN\" \"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/TR\/REC-html40\/loose.dtd\">\n<html><body><table border=\"0\" cellpadding=\"6\" align=\"right\" width=\"30%&gt;&lt;tr\"><td>\r\n<p><b>UPCOMING EVENTS<\/b><\/p>\r\n\r\n<p>* March 7th: \"Biodiesel Mixin' Mixer,\" a demonstration where\r\nbiodiesel will be made. Path to Freedom in Pasaden. \r\n<\/p>\r\n\r\n<p>* March 18 is the birthday of biodiesel pioneer Rudolph\r\nDiesel. Various events are being planned, but nothing concrete has \r\nbeen established. Look for announcements at biodieselcouncil.org.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<p>* Many other events are being planned. Information on them can also\r\nbe found at biodieselcouncil.org.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<p><b>BIODIESEL SITES<\/b><\/p>\r\n\r\n<ul>\r\n<li>Biodieselnow.com<\/li>\r\n<li>Journeytoforever.org<\/li>\r\n<li>Veggieavenger.com<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n\r\n<\/td><\/table>\r\n\r\nParticipants of the California Biodiesel Consumers' Conference\r\ncame from all over California, Colorado, and the east coast. On\r\nthe first day, attendees were brought up to speed on issues\r\nconcerning biodiesel (i.e., 100% biodiesel), and ideas were \r\nbrainstormed. On day two, the focus was on concrete steps to \r\ncreate an infrastructure and community base for widespread \r\nbiodiesel use. It was generally agreed that there should be \r\nan association of biodiesel producers and users, to be called \r\nthe Biodiesel Council of California (see www.biodieselcouncil.org), \r\nbut that excess structure and organization should be avoided. \r\nThe ideal scenario, it was said, would be for the public to \r\npull up to pumps and have a choice between biodiesel and \r\n\"dinodiesel.\" The conference participants also want biodiesel \r\nused in city utilities.\r\n<p>\r\nThe many short-term goals that were discussed included lobbying the\r\nNational Biodiesel Board, which currently discriminates against\r\nsmall biodiesel producers; working with the Sierra Club, the\r\nGreen Party, and Greenpeace; facilitating and encouraging school\r\nbuses to be run on biodiesel (to this end, involvement with\r\nParents, Teachers, and Students Associations would be helpful);\r\nand in the more immediate term, children can be educated with\r\npresentations. One participant, who has given such presentations,\r\nnoted that even rowdy kids become transfixed when biodiesel is\r\ndiscussed. \r\n<\/p><p>\r\n\"I thought it was exhilarating and positive to see the work\r\nthat's been going on,\" remarked Nicole Cousino of Chula Vista, a\r\nparticipant who co-produced the 1994 film Fat \r\nof the Land. \"There's a lot of smart people that are\r\nactively engaged in trying to ensure the viability of small-scale\r\nbiodiesel use, production, and distribution. Those that are\r\nreally committed to this are really well-read and familiar with\r\nquality issues, emissions, EPA [Environmental Protection Agency]\r\nregulations, and so forth.\"\r\n<\/p><p>\r\nShe continued: \"A lot of the debate was: 'Is it better to work\r\nalone, or is it better to work as a group? In my own opinion, it\r\nseems like it would be important to have some kind of association\r\n[with] members that were working on trying to ensure access to\r\nbetter quality control testing, that were developing\r\nrelationships with the EPA, and that I could participate within\r\nthat as a small-scale producer without having to do all of that\r\nwork on my own.\" \r\n<\/p><p>\r\nDevin O'Keane, a biodiesel producer, consumer, and advocate from\r\nChico, California, remarked: \"I thought it was really exciting\r\nthat we got to meet people from around the country who are doing\r\nthe same kinds of things that we're doing here. It was an\r\nexcellent networking session, where everyone got to place the\r\nnames with the faces. We had been communicating with each other\r\nfor some time, but we never met. . . . I thought it was a really\r\nsolid introduction to the movement. We're starting to see the\r\nformation of a legitimate organization.\"\r\n<\/p><p>\r\n\"I learned quite a bit more about the emissions,\" said Ian\r\nMiller of San Diego, who runs the \r\nSocal \r\nBiodiesel Group \r\n(see http:\/\/auto.groups.yahoo.com\/group\/socalbiodiesel or search\r\n\"socalbiodiesel\" at Yahoo Groups), \"especially as it\r\ncompares to some of the other so-called alternative fuels like\r\nnatural gas. I learned a lot about the EPA guidelines and a lot\r\nof the certifications.\"\r\n<\/p><p>\r\nMembers of the media were present, but Nicole Cousino is\r\nconcerned that too much attention could be placed on one project, \r\na biodiesel Hummer. \"To me [the biodiesel Hummer] suggests:\r\n'We can have our cake and eat it, too. We can still be these\r\ngross consumers, but kind of calm our guilt by using biodiesel.'\r\nHow much friggin' biodiesel is it going to take to run one of\r\nthose things, and why the hell are people driving them anyway?\r\nHow much labor and energy goes into producing one of those\r\nthings? This is just what I think personally.\"\r\n<\/p><p>\r\nShe added: \"Ninety-nine percent of the people [who were] at the\r\nconference are really about doing local production because\r\n[they're] using resources from their local community; because\r\nthey're not paying for a lot of transportation fees or use of\r\nenergy to transport fuel, it stays local; and they have a close\r\nconnection with their customer base: their community. So it\r\nreally works in this more holistic fashion, which is great.\r\n[Biodiesel activists] really are backing up what it means to do\r\nsustainable energy.\"\r\n<\/p><p>\r\nDuring the conference, an inaugural meeting for newly-formed\r\ncouncil was planned for Northern California on March 14. Albeit, \r\nthe community's attention has since shifted to a new regulation that\r\nwill severely restrict biodiesel use in California. \"There's an\r\norganization called ASTM (American Society of Testing and\r\nMeasurement),\" said Kalib Kersh, a biodiesel educator. \"It's\r\nlargely made up of scientists and engineers who decide what the\r\nspecifications for different things are, including what is diesel\r\nand what is biodiesel. When ASTM made the specification for\r\nbiodiesel as fuel, for whatever reasons, they called it a 'blend\r\nstock.' Now, California Weights and Measures, heeding the\r\nrecommendations of Chevron and the Western States Petroleum\r\nAssociation, and ignoring comments of the National Biodiesel\r\nBoard and many, many users of 100% biodiesel in their vehicles,\r\nare saying that the engine manufacturers and Chevron don't agree\r\nthat 100% biodiesel should be used as a fuel because they claim\r\nthe engines aren't designed for it, which is simply untrue.\r\nThere's tons of evidence that shows that biodiesel is a better\r\nfuel, too. It's lower in all categories of emissions except for\r\nNOx. That makes it a much greener, healthier fuel in terms of\r\nemissions, even relative to a so-called 'green' fuel like CNG\r\n(Compressed Natural Gas). As far as lubricity, biodiesel is much \r\nbetter than diesel for engines.\"\r\n<\/p><p>\r\nAt the time of this writing, there was no clear consensus for \r\nwhat the public can do to help this situation. However, the \r\nsubject is being discussed at: \r\nBioDieselNow Forums\r\n (forums.biodieselnow.com\/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=2110(. Also, please \r\nwatch this site for future announcements.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","contact":"","link":"","address":"","phone":"","parent_id":0,"mime_type":"text\/html","summary":"Is it possible to have a community-created, low emissions, automotive fuel source?  The California Biodiesel Conusemers' Conference is working toward that goal.","numcomment":4,"fileurl":"\/uploads\/","filesize":null,"article_url":"\/news\/2004\/02\/103361.php"},"attachments":[],"comments":[{"id":103551,"heading":"Good but...","article":"It looks like bio-diesel is better than diesel, but I get disturbed when I see people investing so much effort in making driving possible.  What's wrong with getting onto your bike in beautiful sunny SoCal?\r\n\r\nDon't get me wrong:  if you're going to drive then I'd rather you drove something less polluting, but I worry that this initiative will allow people to kid themselves that they're doing something environmental when they drive their bio-diesel powered van.\r\n\r\nWhen you drive you're not just spewing out particulates and CO2 and bits of Cadmium, Lead and Chromium and other heavy metals (from the engine and tires), you're also creating a hostile environment for cyclists and pedestrians and creating a situation in which there is no public pressure for public transport improvements.\r\n\r\nI have no doubt that there are people with good motives behind this, but given that there aren't enough people agitating for improved cycling conditions and improved public transport I'd argue that it would be better to put the effort into getting cars and vans _off_ the road instead of finding another way of powering them.\r\n\r\n","author":"Helpful Harry the Cyclist","parent_id":103361,"mime_type":"text\/plain","created":"2004-02-22 21:48:31","modified":"2004-02-22 21:48:31","fileurl":""},{"id":103594,"heading":"The Big Picture","article":"Harry's got a good point.  Within LA, the bicycle needs more rights, because traffic around Downtown is a mess.  It's faster getting around on a bicycle.  It's a bit tougher in the burbs, where the commutes are longer, but even there, new urban densities are forming at a good clip.  There's almost a critical mass of shopping destinations to where people west of La Puente can ride a bike to shop.\r\n\r\nOut here, the big issue, I think, will be zoning higher density residential areas.  If they don't densify some areas, we'll end up with an awful situation like Van Nuys, where families started living two and three to a house, causing severe overcrowding.\r\n\r\nJust set up a way to keep building new moderate income apartments and condos, and rents will stay pretty reasonable.","author":"johnk","parent_id":103361,"mime_type":"text\/plain","created":"2004-02-23 06:12:05","modified":"2004-02-23 06:12:05","fileurl":""},{"id":103813,"heading":"dENT","article":"pROBLEM IS BIODIESEL WONT MAKE A DENT IN THE CURRENT NEEDS FOR OIL\/GAS CONSUMPTION IN THE us. ","author":"dAV","parent_id":103361,"mime_type":"text\/plain","created":"2004-02-26 07:29:09","modified":"2004-02-26 07:29:09","fileurl":""},{"id":103923,"heading":"Not necessarily more rights needed","article":"<P>I don't think that cyclists necessarily need more rights to get around LA:  we just need enforcement of the current laws that clearly state that a bicycle is a vehicle under the law.  There's a huge amount of ignorance on the part of motorists as to what the legal and safe method of cycling is and there tends to be an assumption that we're not supposed to be on the road, but instead on the sidewalk.<\/P><P>Of course a large number of cyclists reinforce this misconception and ride on the sidewalk (which is actually more dangerous than riding on the road!)<\/P><P>I agree with what you're saying about density affecting the viability of cycling in the outer suburbs, but in those situations I'd rather see more buses (in utopia they'd be diesel powered and IIRC the video about the biodiesel mentioned above references some city's trial programs to do this) and light rail instead of fleets of biodiesel powered SUVs<\/P><P>Again, sorry if I come off sounding negative but the conversion of private automobiles to biodiesel is something that I have mixed feelings about.<\/P>","author":"Helpful Harry the Cyclist","parent_id":103361,"mime_type":"text\/html","created":"2004-02-27 22:06:21","modified":"2004-02-27 22:06:21","fileurl":""}]}