Soy-based biodiesel now available at Teutopolis service station
By BILL GRIMES, Daily News
TEUTOPOLIS - There's a lot of places Roch Koester could get diesel fuel
for his Ford F-350 pickup truck that would be closer to his home in
Wheeler than Wessel's Grocery in Teutopolis.
But Koester, who raises quarter horses, has been faithful to Wessel's
since the combination grocery/filling station started carrying biodiesel
fuel April 1.
"I drive out of my way to get to it," Koester said. "I've been using it
ever since the station started selling it."
While Koester admits the biodiesel blend that includes 11 percent
soybean oil doesn't make his truck perform any better, he said it
doesn't do any worse. There are some side benefits as well, he said.
"The exhaust smell isn't nearly as repulsive," he said.
Koester isn't the only member of his family who gets soy biodiesel at
Wessel's. Son Pete, who lives between Sigel and Neoga, swings through
Teutopolis to get his fuel.
Store owner John Wessel said he hopes the soy biodiesel trend catches
on, though his store is still the only place in Effingham County where
biodiesel is available.
"You see on TV how dependent the United States is on foreign oil,"
Wessel said. "But this fuel helps our local farmers, because we have so
many people in this area who grow soybeans."
Wessel said several customers had asked him this winter if he might
consider selling soy biodiesel. But he said other customers weren't so
sure about the merits of the blended fuel.
"People were a little skeptical at first," he said. "But when they
started using it, they saw so many good things about it.
"One of my customers uses it to drive about 1,500 miles a week and
reported saving about 2 1/2 miles per gallon.
"I haven't heard any complaints - not one," Wessel added.
Soy biodiesel is distributed locally by Effingham-Clay Service Co.
Marketing manager Gerald Witges said Effingham-Clay has been marketing
the blended fuel for about three years. While Wessel's is the first
station to offer the blend on the retail level, soy biodiesel has been
available to area farmers since Effingham-Clay began marketing.
Witges said there are many advantages to choosing biodiesel fuel over
regular No. 2 diesel.
"It's a locally grown product," he said. "Those soybeans used in this
fuel are raised by producers right here in Effingham and surrounding
counties.
"Also, it meets all the requirements of the Clean Air Act to clean up
vehicle pollution."
Witges said other advantages of the blended fuel include the fact that
it improved the lubricity of truck engines up to 66 percent and extends
the life of fuel pumps and injectors. But the fuel has other advantages
in that it: contains no sulfur, lowers emissions of carbon dioxide,
produces less odor, reduces particulate matter by 47 percent, is
biodegradable and non-toxic.
There's also economic advantages involved with the use of soy biodiesel,
thanks to a tax incentive bill passed last year by the Illinois General
Assembly that became effective Jan. 1.
Bill Grimes can be reached at 217-347-7151 ext. 132 or
[EMAIL PROTECTED] <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]>.
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