I do not speak for Volkswagen…. I’m just a simple car dealer…. who actively advocates for the integration of environmentally sustaibable business practices

Volkswagen is testing blends up to B20. Your blend quote above of B-2.5 is interesting. The recently announced federal RFS (renewable fuel std) is B2.

Looks like onroad demand and production capaicty are well aligned here – yet another “sustainability first” for Nova Scotia.

The current production capacity in Nova Scotia is ~11,000,000 L of Biodiesel. Annual On-road diesel consumption in Nova Scotia is 435,000,000 L. If all the biodiesel were blended with on-road diesel, this would create a B-2.5 blend. In the real world, the most effective application would concentrate on the major population center, Halifax. Local Biodiesel producers have been supplying trucking fleets with B-10 for over 3 winters without ANY cold flow issues.

Is it being suggested that VW won’t support higher blends because of potential cold flow issues? Keep in mind that there are effective cold flow additives on the market for blends of B-20 and less.

The Canadian annual diesel pool is something on the order of 30-billion liters. How many liters of B100 could be made available? How would we manage the temperature issues of blends above B5 in the dead of winter?

B100 is a reality at our retail site in Vancouver. We have a 4200L tank, pump and cardlock set up for 24/7 access for residential and fleet access. As we use ASTM standard tallow-based B100 (waste animal fats), our tank is heated and there is an abundant and constant supply from the rendering industry. We are currently seeking a supply from waste vegetable (yellow) grease for the winter months. It is only a matter of time before algae or some other feedstock (like woodchips) come on line.

So, time for the car manufacturers to get their act together and allow for higher blends!

What this means is that there now exist analytical test methods to assess the blended fuel quality. In the recent past, it had always been assumed that if the pure Biodiesel met specification, the blended fuel should be ‘good to go’.

We now can assess, on a case by case basis (or in this case – a blend by blend basis) whether or not the blended fuel is actually ‘good to go’.

The engine manufacturers were part of this ASTM (American Society for Testing & Materials) group that developed this standard. Perhaps now Volkswagon will increase their allowable biodiesel blend under warentee to B-20????

To argue that there just isn’t enough of a particular alternative fuel to justify the effort falls into the trap of doing nothing. We need to shift away from this perspective. We know that recycling at home really dosent have a significant impact (1-tonne challenge)if industry dosen’t get involved.

What we need to do is raise awareness that we can actually do something – at least on a one by one basis in all aspects of our lives. In my case, developing small-scale renewable fuel production is a start. This follows the ‘think globally – act locally’ idea where at least people are doing something. With this approach, people will be more easilly engaged in greener options as the technology develops – and it will.

As good an idea as B100 appears to be, we simply do not have anywhere near the capacity to produce that much biodiesel with current technology, arable land, waste material, etc.

A significant benefit of the federal renewable fuel standard of B2 is that it will hopefully jump start biodiesel technology development that may lead to solutions like algae production that allow for higher blends of high quality fuel.

I noticed Andrew’s reference to a Diesel engine being 30% more efficient than a Gasoline engine. I have seen this number before and decided to look into this. I went to http://www.fueleconomy.gov and used a side by side compare of the 2009 Jetta Sport Wagon with identical drive trains – only difference was one was a diesel and the other was gas. I won’t get into the different methods of calculating City/Hwy/Combined mileage – I have assumed that the method applied was the same for both vehicles.

What I came up with was the combined miles per gallon for the gasoline powered Jetta was 25 and the diesel was 34. By my calc, the diesel gets 27% more distance per volume of fuel. This difference is in keeping with the idea that the diesel makes more efficient use of the fuel BUT what is missing is the fact that there is more energy in a gallon of diesel than in a gallon of gasoline.

Using http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Energy_density

The energy density in MJ/L (energy/volume):
Gasoline: 34.6
Diesel: 42.3
This shows that there is 18% more energy in a volume of diesel than there is in a volume of gasoline.

If you accept the above to be true, the diesel vehicle should drive 18% further based on the extra energy in the diesel fuel + 30% further because the diesel makes more efficient use of the fuel –> then the diesel powered engine in this case should drive 48% further on the same volume of gasoline – Not the 27% observed. Where is the proported increased efficiency?

While not an ethanol convert, there are some recycled sources of ethanol that present significantly less emissions than the conventional corn feedstock model and yet all ethanol fuel seems to be continually tied to this model.

My view of biodiesel and other alternative fuels is that they provide the opportunity for people to experience that fact that we don’t have to rely exclusively on petroleum for transportation fuel. The acceptance of this concept provides the opportinity to shift away from petroleum.

The cost of alternative fuels continues to be the issue simply because most North Americans do not include the external costs to the environment and health when pricing their petroleum products. Andrew has made the point about different jurisdictions have different tax systems. It is now possible to sell North American biodiesel to Europe and still make a profit over what the biodiesel can be sold for here. Quite the cabon footprint there. The same situation exists with wood pellets. I heard last week that round wood (logs) are being placed in containers and sold to China…