I adore biodieselSMARTER

All the information you need to home-brew biodiesel is floating somewhere out there on the internet. It's finding the right information with the angle you want that's difficult.

Issue number 6 of biodieselSMARTER showed up in my mailbox yesterday and I couldn't put it down. First of all, it's written by folks with sustainability in mind. The full-page ad inside the front cover reads "The greenest car you own? Mass transit. Try not to drive at all. Icebergs will float in your honor... Respect the Biodiesel." Nice.

In addition to the regular columns, this edition includes glycerin composting trials and horror stories of illegal glycerin dumping. There are articles on desert thriving moringa and snow-planted camelina as feedstock crops. Also in the mix are a couple of farm-scale case studies, a bicycle-powered reactor built by high school students, and a piece on PrairieFire Biofuels, which serves both the SVO and biodiesel scene in Madison, Wisconsin.

The camelina article is especially pertinent for us Alaskans. In fact, Hans Geier - the Delta Canola biodiesel farmer - sent me a small packet of camelina for a little test plot I've got going in the orchard. Much to my chagrin, Hans and some other local farmers have been really keen on blending unheated oils with diesel and/or other thinners. Interestingly, these Albertan farmers are doing exactly that, with locally grown and crushed off-spec canola. Although in general I'm not a proponent of blending, I'm glad to see biodieselSMARTER embracing the larger sustainable biodiesel-vegoil community.

Don't have a subscription yet? It's a little 'zine, but filled with quality information, and it's only TEN BUCKS for a year-long subscription.

Veg On!

Revolution Green DVD

Revolution Green is an independent, well produced film about community-based biodiesel. It tells the story of Bob and Kelly King, and their journey from diverting cooking grease from a Maui landfill to a partnership with Willie Nelson, and the truckers and farmers that have been brought into the fold by the now famous BioWillie.

Narrated by Woody Harrelson, it tells an amazing story of the people that have gathered around Bob as he has spread his expertise from Hawaii to Texas, Oregon and beyond. His plants are commercial, yes, but focused on sustainable biodiesel. These biodiesel facilities are relatively small in size, and located to complement the community, whether it be near waste grease or cottonseed crops.

There is a big focus on Willie Nelson's impact on the acceptance of biodiesel by the trucking community, and the struggles of American farmers. The film is refreshing in its ability to balance the professional, business side of the industry with the personal, family side of truckers, farmers, and celebrities' lives.

Overall, I enjoyed Revolution Green and its ability to tell the story of a few key American biodiesel pioneers, and their ability to keep biodiesel a renewable and sustainable fuel.

For $20, it's a good addition to any biofuel enthusiast's collection.

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.