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May 12, 2015

STOP MANDATE * USA - Engine damage caused by BIODIESEL: Grungy, gummed up parts, filters and engine blocks

* Minnesota - Car and truck groups gear up to stop  biofuel mandate


-- Minnesota has long been considered part of Midwestern flyover country. Now the North Star state is becoming drive-over country, among truckers and other drivers of diesel vehicles... The state’s 10 percent biodiesel mandate is propelling some to go out of their way to refuel in bordering states — and a federal lawsuit to eliminate the nation’s highest required bio-diesel blend... “I think biodiesel is good for America, but it’s bad for my car. I just spent all this money on this car,” said Chris Winger... Winger’s concerns are part of a lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in Minneapolis by a broad coalition of state and national transportation groups from the Minnesota Trucking Association to the American Petroleum Institute...  Automobile dealers, truckers, refineries and car manufacturers seek to eliminate the nation’s highest biodiesel mandate that stipulates only B-10 can be sold from April to October... The case claims B-10 harms both consumers and businesses through increased maintenance costs and legal liability for damage to vehicles. The mandate also undercuts the flexibility given to producers in blending biodiesel under the national renewable fuels standard, according to court documents... Several photos submitted by Mercedes-Benz Research and Development for North America depict alleged engine damage caused by biodiesel — grungy, gummed up parts, filters and engine blocks... Several industries receive an exemption from the biodiesel mandate, including nuclear plants, trains, mining, logging and some boats... As for diesel truck and car drivers? They’re already looking down the pike to 2018, when Minnesota plans to double down and impose a B-20 mandate — unless the federal court orders a detour...
(Photo from MN Automobile Dealers Association - DOWN AND DIRTY: Several photos in the court file show the impact on vehicles, which are mostly designed and warranted to run on up to 5 percent biodiesel)   --  Minneapolis, MINN, USA - Watchdog Minnesota Bureau, by Tom Steward - May 11, 2015

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May 17, 2010

BIODIESEL DISCUSSIONS * Canada - Envirocan's own study undercuts national biodiesel plan

Doubts on the net benefits of biodiesel. Adds credence to concerns that such a policy is really a boost to the farming industry masked as an environmental initiative

Ottawa,ONT,CAN -Today's Trucking -14 May 2010: ... This one it's a government study in Canada -- and a group of carriers are using it to question Ottawa's plan to implement a biodiesel mandate in this country... According to the Canadian Trucking Alliance, a study conducted in 2009 by EcoRessources Consultants (ERC) for Environment Canada, takes some of the wind out of the national biodiesel proposal. The study, concludes that the societal costs of a proposed federal two-per cent biodiesel (B2) mandate would outweigh the benefits by a factor of five... There have been several studies in recent years that show the environmental impact of producing biodiesel -- by clearing crop land and forestry and shifting food supply to the fuel market -- would undercut most, if not all, of biodiesel's carbon reduction benefits... David Bradley, CTA’s president and CEO, says "the study only adds to the questions that exist over why the federal government would pursue a biodiesel mandate"... (Photo from mercadoenergia: biodiesel)

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May 14, 2010

ALTERNATIVE FUEL * USA - Test shows raising ethanol blend to E15 could damage engines

Washington,DC,USA -
Autobloggreen, by Eric Loveday -May 7, 2010: -- The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) will be faced with a decision on the future of ethanol soon and no matter what choice is made, it won't be a popular one. Ethanol producers are pushing the EPA to raise the blend level in gasoline to 15 percent (E15), but automakers and oil companies are pushing back with hopes of keeping the current 10 percent level (E10)... Up until now, automakers speculated that damage to this component or failure of that part would occur with the move to E15. Without concrete evidence that E15 could prove damaging to vehicles, it seems quite likely that the EPA will move forward and raise levels...The two sides, the auto industry and ethanol producers, have pushed back and forth for some time now. The auto industry wants the changeover to E15 to be delayed until further testing is complete, ethanol producers need the switch to be immediate or they risk losing a lot of cash...


* What has 18 wheels and employs 600,000 people? This is a win-win-win

Washington,DC,USA -The Christian Science Monitor, by Joshua M. Brown -May 14, 2010: -- The American Power Act subsidizes natural gas for the trucking industry. A well-executed green conversion for the some three million trucks on road right now would not only reduce carbon emissions but add more than half-a-million green jobs to the economy... The Senate's new climate bill could revolutionize the trucking industry... The good news is that this bill doubles the subsidy for buyers of nat gas trucks to $64,000. Combined with the $1 per gallon difference between diesel and nat gas fuel, this brings the payback on buying a cng or lng truck down to a one year time frame. We're talking Tipping Point with those economics, not to mention the positive impact on the environment as nat gas burns cleaner... (Photo by Ben Garvin/The Christian Science Monitor: A few of the more than three million 18-wheelers on the road today are shown parked at a truck stop off the Massachusetts I-90 Turnpike)

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Apr 23, 2010

BIODIESEL * Europe - Study questions biodiesel benefit claims

This time in Europe, where biodiesel and ethanol are heavily subsidized

Brussels,Belgium -Reuters/TruckingInfo/Today's Trucking -22 April 2010: ... A European Union document shows that greenhouse gas emissions generated by the production of biodiesel can be up to four times greater than diesel or gasoline... According Reuters, the EU has found that clearing and burning forest land results in carbon dioxide emissions that cancel out the benefits of biofuels... The document states that soybean-based biodiesel, the most popular form of the alternative fuel, can indirectly produce 339.9 kilograms of carbon dioxide emissions per gigajoule -- which is said to be four times the amount of emissions of standard diesel... Other studies in recent years have made similar "carbon debt" claims... In response, the National Biodiesel Board -- an association of biodiesel producers in the U.S. -- claims the EU study's estimates were biased to European products, and did not follow proper lifecycle analysis for U.S. products... (Photo from ecologiaverde: biodiesel pump with flowers)


* Iowa Fines Corn Ethanol Producer for Emissions of Nitrogen Oxides

Nevada,IO,USA -Environmental Leader -April 14, 2010: -- State of Iowa fined biofuel producer Lincolnway Energy $176,750 for pollution offenses. Suit also alleged producer discharged wastewater into creek that resulted in excessive effluent limits for iron, suspended solids, and total residual chlorine... Fine stems from emissions of particulates and nitrogen oxides that exceed limits at ethanol plant... Lincolnway Energy agreed to consent decree and related civil penalty after lawsuit was filed by Iowa Attorney General’s office... Lincolnway has since corrected wastewater effluent problems... Lincolnway Energy plant can produce up to 55M gallons of ethanol a year... (Photo from jbholland: Lincolnway-Energy)

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