[biofuels-biz] WVO based Biz Plan

[Dick Carlstein]

in answer to :   From: doctor who To: biofuels-biz@yahoogroups.com Sent: Tuesday, July 17, 2001 7:53 AM Subject: [biofuels-biz] Re: Biz Plan (was)Quiet...   My biggest challenge thus far has....has been finding an adequate WVO oil supply to keep up with my propossed plant size (1000 US Gallons input per 24 hours period).   imho, a 4000 liter/day commercial biodiesel operation will eventually find itself painted into the proverbial corner. here's why:   1) pretty much inelastic supply. people can eat just so much bread, and use just so much oil. so supply in your area will be a function of demographics, more than any single factor.   2) thus, pick-up costs will escalate with volume, as the geographical area expands to meet increased feedstock needs.   3) wvo processing is costlier than vvo ditto. also less effective (biodiesel/wvo). and requires more initial capital input.   4) wvo often has an existing market. present users of same are not simply going to lie down and die.     5) 'cheap is expensive'. getting uniform biodiesel quality from wvo is a lot harder than getting the same quality from vvo.    so what's the bottom line ? i would hazard that in the long run, wvo input costs will go up, as flexible demand meets inflexible supply, pick-up geography expands, and quality requirements go up.    what is certainly an excellent cottage industry might turn out to be difficult to scale up, as you're finding out with your project.    i am aware that fairly large operations are being run on wvo, but these appear to be based on corporate agreements, something like proverbial macd negotiating to sell all of it's propietary wvo (don't know about franchises) to a single buyer, in a given area, on a contractual basis.    established wvo pick-up operators usually have contracts to supply industries such as animal feed, or soap.     personally, i have espoused vvo as the feedstock of choice for our plants, it makes life so much simpler, has smaller fixed capital requirements and process costs, and delivers reliable quality.   and last but not least, obtaining large quantities of vvo, on a regular, programmable, basis, is as easy as a phone call.    two cents is all you get (:-D)   cheers, dick. Yahoo! Groups Sponsor ADVERTISEMENT Biofuels at Journey to Forever http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html Biofuel at WebConX http://www.webconx.com/2000/biofuel/biofuel.htm To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of Service.