Biodiesel Alternative Fuels Soybeans Maryland Agriculture
Maryland soybeans help to reduce pollution
While it won’t affect the price the average motorist pays at the pump, even if your car burns diesel, it will reduce pollution and extend the life of your motor.
Maryland Biodiesel, in Berlin, began pumping out virgin soybean oil to blend with diesel oil for use in trucks, busses and heavy equipment at a rate of 500 thousand gallons per year on June 20.
Perdue Farms, perhaps the region’s largest purchaser of soybeans grown in the tri-state area had been crushing beans for use in chicken feed for some time before joining forces with Cropper Gas & Oil. The beans still feed the chickens. Only now, what had been a food-grade byproduct of the feed-manufacturing operation with little use is a valuable commodity.
Brian Warren, of Cropper Gas & Oil, said that the plant expects to be producing a million gallons of B-100, the term for the pure oil before blending, by August.
“We have the capabilities to exceed that [production level]. We’re shooting for 4 million gallons per year eventually.
At present the plant employs only two workers, but as production increases, that number will grow. However, pressing the oil is not a labor-intensive operation. A similar but much larger operation is under development in Delaware where Mid-Altantic Biodiesel is expected to begin manufacturing soon.
Biodiesel fuel has been in use locally for some time. Cropper had been purchasing biodeiel from another company – now they are making their own. Maryland Biodiesel began operation after 18-24 months of research and preplanning. Already they are selling various blends to local customers. Cropper offers B-20, B-20 and B-99 at the pump and also delivers to local businesses – local farmers, construction companies and fleet haulers – that use it to power their fleets.
Two of the firm’s biggest customers are the Maryland State Highway Administration and Worcester County, who uses it in road maintenance equipment and school buses. A number of the county’s school bus contractors also use biodiesel fuel.
Biodiesel can also be burned in your home furnace. Cropper can deliver any blend you want for home heat. Right now biodiesel fuel is about the same price as regular diesel oil, but it will save the user in service costs because it burns cleaner and increases the lubricity of the fuel.
Diesel oil-burning furnaces require servicing once a year but by switching to a blended fuel, it can extend the length of time between service to as much as three years.
“As oil prices rise, blended fuel will be less expensive and it’s safer for the environment,” said Warren. B-100 is biodegradable, less toxic than table salt and dilutes faster than sugar making spills less troublesome.
Environmental regulations that will take effect in 2007 will require cutting the amount of sulfur in diesel fuel. Cutting the sulfur will also reduce lubricity making the engines work harder. Adding soybean oil to the blend not only restores the lubricity lost by removing the sulfur, but actually increases it – a real boost to large engines that traverse many thousands of miles on America’s highways every year. Downtime due to engine trouble is a major cost to any business that relies on diesel-powered vehicles to get their product to market.
