Book Review: Biodiesel America

I must be honest that I have mixed feelings about the author of Biodiesel America, Josh Tickell. He has made himself and and his Veggie Van into the grassroots face of big business biodiesel. His now-famous book From the Fryer to the Fuel Tank was how we all first learned to make biodiesel, but it's terribly outdated, and even the 3rd edition has unsafe techniques. Furthermore, Josh has renounced straight vegetable oil, and although he has videos on how to make biodiesel, he is more well know for his work with the big producer lobbying group the National Biodiesel Board.

But, much of that is behind us now. The NBB is embracing sustainable biodiesel and offers a half-price membership for small producers. Josh's new film Fields of Fuel has received rave reviews, and even Kumar at Yokayo has come around and embraced Josh's efforts. Personally, I'm hoping Josh and Fields of Fuel will come up to Anchorage to help promote the expansion of biodiesel in Alaska (more on this later).

As for the book, Biodiesel America: it's a great read for the end user - the individual or the fleet manager thinking about running biodiesel. It's not a how-to book, but more of a rosy "biodiesel will save the world" kind of book. The entire first half is setting the stage: the history of petroleum, peak oil, Dr. Diesel, and alternative energy. Not enough for one book? Tickell then turns to the benefits for American farmers, and the benefits of burning biodiesel. He gets a little bogged down in describing American politics, the farm bill, and the committees and politicians that are involved in biodiesel regulations and incentives. But, he comes back with a nice section on biodiesel plants, their growth and economics.

It's a fine book to loan to your friends who are interested in running biodiesel, or for the business owner that is considering it for their fleet.

Sustainable Biofuels are Alaska's Best Option.

The Anchorage Daily News reprinted an abbreviated article from the New York Times criticizing biofuels for releasing carbon from the soil when land is converted to Agriculture. This "new" biofuels study is not really new news, and doesn't really apply to the feedstocks we're pursuing in Alaska. But rather a similar argument against tropical Palm biodiesel that we've been hearing for years:

Here's a letter to the editor I sent to the Daily News:

Sustainable Biofuels are Alaska's Best Option.

Your article "Climate may be Harmed by Biofuels" on Friday February 8th ignores Alaska's unique biofuel opportunities. What was missing from the article comes from the Author's own press release:

"Researchers did note that some biofuels do not contribute to climate change because they do not require the conversion of native habitat."

Alaska's biofuels do not destroy native habitat, and I would argue, reduce our impact on climate change.

While the study especially condemns the clearing of tropical lands for agricultural biofuels, Alaska is dumping the equivalent of 13 millions gallons of fish oil and is exporting nearly half a million gallons of used deep fryer oil. In addition to capturing these wasted renewable resources, we need to support the Delta growers planting Canola on existing croplands for fuel to power Alaska's family farms.

Although Alaska biofuels cannot replace all our fossil fuel use, they can displace a significant amount of diesel, save our communities from high fuel prices, reclaim wasted resources, and reduce Alaska's carbon emissions.

They're not a silver bullet, but Alaska biofuels are a part of a sustainable solution.

In fact, the bigwigs at the National Biodiesel Board just announced the formation of a Sustainability Task Force, thanks to the persistent work of folks at the Sustainable Biodiesel Alliance and the Sustainable Biodiesel Summit.

Book Review: Biodiesel Power

Yep, it's winter in Alaska and I'm getting caught up on my reading.

Although Lyle Estill's book Biodiesel Power is over two years old, it is still a very pertinent and inspiring slice of the American biodiesel movement.

Subtitled "The passion, the people and the politics of the next renewable fuel." I found it a great read that covers not only Estill's journey from backyard brewing to becoming a regional producer, but also the quickly evolving American biodiesel scene.

The other biodiesel history book out there is Biodiesel: Growing a New Energy Economy by Greg Pahl, which is also a pretty good read. It focuses on biodiesel in the global context, how biodiesel was developed and encouraged by universities and governments and how business is running with it.

There's almost no overlap between the two books, and frankly, Biodiesel Power is a bit more entertaining. Maybe it's because it targets folks like me: backyard brewers that give a damn, folks that want to create community, inspire, educate and generally make the world a better place. It's really a book about the grassroots biodiesel movement.

It's the first book I've read that is based around a blog. Estill's Energy Blog chronicles his biofuel journey and he uses past enties as a framework to build his book. (Now if only Girl Mark and Kumar Plocher would package their blog archives into a book form, we'd be set!)

One thing I really appreciate about Estill's book is the way he nods to the founders of the scene, and then moves on. He acknowledges Joshua Tickell's small-batch blender method in his first attempts at making biodiesel, and then gently drops the technique. (I, on the other hand, have railed mightily about the dangers of mixing sparking spinning blenders and poisonous explosive chemicals.) Estill even praises the much maligned FuelMeister, not for it's mediocre fuel-making abilities, but for the fact that it brought larger-scale brewing capabilities to the masses. (Today, I'd go for the BioPro if I needed a pre-built processor.)

Another aspect I like is the way Estill takes on the tougher questions, like sustainability, politics, policy, and the 900 pound gorilla of biodiesel: the National Biodiesel Board. The stress between the small commercial producers and the large agribusinesses is an especially good part.

Biodiesel Power is a history of the American biodiesel movement told through a personal history of veg-fueling. Read it! And yes, you can pre-order his new book: Small is Possible.

Veg On!

Biodiesel available in 49 states!

Biodiesel available in all 50, no wait, 49 states!

The National Biodiesel Board on their Guide to Buying Biodiesel claims that "high quality biodiesel is available in all 50 states."

Hmmmm.. I think the key word is "available." I've been promoting biodiesel in Alaska for years, and although there a a number of homebrewers, pilot/demonstration projects and enthusiastic entrepreneurs, I have yet to find biodiesel for sale in Alaska.

I mean no producers, no distributors, and no retailers. It's make it yourself or ship it up from Seattle.

I wrote an email to the Biodiesel Board and left a voice message, they have yet to get back to me. Maybe I should have written it more nicely. Here's what I wrote:

I see on your website and numerous government and biodiesel brochures that biodiesel is "available is all 50 states."

Is there something I'm missing or is this like saying "biodiesel is available in Antarctica" because you can ship it there.

I've been working for years trying to bring biodiesel to Alaska, and unless I want to buy a tote or a container in Seattle and ship it up, which effectively doubles the price, biodiesel is NOT available in Alaska.

The Alaska Energy Authority's test of fish oil biodiesel is not available to the public (and is starting to degrade) and the Alaska Biodiesel Alliance's test of cold weather blends in Juneau is not available to the public either. There is a little co-op in Fairbanks, but they are brewing their own in a hot water heater and it has not undergone the ASTM testing yet. The Delta Canola oil pilot project is working with the Fairbanks co-op to make biodiesel, but as far as I know it hasn't happened yet.

Please, set me straight and let me know where I can send people who ask where they can get biodiesel up here.

Thanks.

More details on what IS going on with Alaska biodiesel in future blogs..

Veg on!