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Biodiesel * USA - California: the danger of DIY
State laws create pitfalls for enterprising biodiesel users
Sacramento,CA,USA -The Sacramento News & Review, by Meredith J. Cooper -10 July 2008: -- Converting your car or truck to run on biodiesel instead of petroleum cuts emissions and minimizes our reliance on oil. Plus, it’s supposed to be cheap. Picking up used grease at local restaurants, running it through a machine and making your own fuel can’t cost nearly as much as the $4.50 or so gas stations are now charging per gallon. Or so you’d think... It’s difficult because the state makes biodiesel do-it-your-selfers jump through all sorts of hoops before their grease burners are deemed street-legal... For example, to recycle used cooking oil from a neighborhood restaurant, you are expected to get a grease-hauling license from the California Department of Food and Agriculture. Then you need to get registered as a “fuel supplier” through the state Board of Equalization, so the state can tax you for every gallon of biodiesel you make, buy or “borrow”... Just registering as a grease hauler costs $100. Then the California Department of Food and Agriculture, specifically the Meat and Poultry Inspection Branch, charges $300 per vehicle. Before you even apply, though, you must be insured on that vehicle for at least $1 million in liability in case of a spill. Not surprisingly, there are only 14 registered grease haulers in Sacramento County... There is hope on the horizon for the DIY biodiesel folks, though. A bill going through the state Assembly (Assembly Bill 2240) would make biodiesel exempt from the diesel road tax. Another piece of legislation, an amendment to the Food and Agricultural Code (Assembly Bill 1846), would waive the $300 per-vehicle hauling registration charge for individuals carrying not more than 50 gallons of used kitchen grease for their own use... (Photo by DOMINICK PORRAS - Dave Vennel at Black Rock Auto pumps a VW full of biodiesel. Black Rock is one of the biodiesel supply sites for the Sacramento Biofuels Network) Labels: biodiesel
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