Q Dan, so what exactly is biodiesel?

A Biodiesel is a complete substitute for diesel fuel, and can be made from any vegetable oil or animal fat. It is the Fatty Acid Methyl-Ester (FAME) that is in animal fats and vegetable oil, which we separate from the glycerin.

Q Are there different kinds of biodiesel?

A Yes. Right now, we make exclusively waste vegetable oil biodiesel. We collect oil and purchase oil from the local collection companies that pick up from the restaurants and other places. Then, we bring it into our plant, pre-filter it, heat it to 150°F, use a chemical called methoxide that separates the fatty acid methyl-ester and the byproduct is glycerin. Glycerin is used locally for dust abatement, which also benefits our air quality. Nothing goes to waste. Soybean biodiesel is currently the most common produced form of biodiesel nationally; however that gets into the "food vs fuel" controversy which is most evident from the ethanol industry and the negative effects of overproducing corn which creates many negative environmental and other issues. Soybean biodiesel also produces less BTU’s and has lower cetane (the octane of diesel fuel), which means slightly less power and mileage than using waste oil to produce biodiesel. With 15 million gallons of waste oil being produced in Maricopa County annually, we don’t see the need to have farmers growing soybeans for fuel until all other available resources are exhausted.

Q What are the environmental benefits and issues associated with biodiesel?

A Biodiesel, when it’s made from a waste product, is claimed by the EPA to be the single greatest environmental impact fuel, with an overall emissions reduction in excess of 80 percent. Any diesel motor, whether it be construction equipment or your on-road vehicle, can run on biodiesel without modifications. It is an absolute substitute for diesel fuel. It is also pure lubrication so it’s better for the motor, and is a natural solvent so it also cleans the fuel system while it runs, lowering your maintenance costs by cleaning the fuel injectors and fuel pumps as it runs.

Q So why haven’t we heard much about biodiesel?

A Biodiesel is new to this country. It’s been in Europe now for about 20 years. This country has been very slow on developing the biodiesel industry and a lot of it is due to regulations that had to be established for it to be a recognized fuel. Opening a new type of facility such as a biodiesel plant presents its own set of regulatory challenges at the federal, state, county, and city level.

Q So what’s the potential future for biodiesel as you see it?

A Biodiesel, the industry, has kind of adopted a motto that’s "Change your fuel, change the world," and that is the absolute truth about the potential of biodiesel in this country. In Europe, 70% of the vehicles on the road are diesel-powered vehicles and this goes back prior to even biodiesel because they get 50-100% better fuel mileage than a comparable gasoline engine. Now that they’re clean burning and with the addition of biodiesel almost eliminating any emissions, the potential for biodiesel is that it’s the only available alternative fuel that in the very near future, with the advance of algae production to use as oil to produce biodiesel, we can take an area the size of 25% of the Sonoran desert and raise enough algae to replace every gallon of fuel used in this country. No other alterna-tive fuel can even come close to biodiesel’s ability or potential as an alternative fuel.

Q Thanks Dan. Where can we go to learn more?

A Check out our website: azbiodiesel.com.