(I'm crossposting this, read the rest of the thread below if you didnt get this through the biofuel list... The thread started with a new person asking why there aren't more small biodiesel producer businesses since it seems so easy, and continued with Keith Addison pointing out that some of the regulatory red tape is sudenly gone but there hasn't been much of a test case of that yet)
One piece of the 'red tape' involved in small scale biodiesel production- the NBB stranglehold on the EPA Tier II health effects testing results- seems to have been cleared. Though a lot of people don't know that- I think the Blue Sun Biodiesel folks I talked to a few weeks ago didn't know about that (can't remember if it was the Blue Sun rep or another large-scale biodiesel advocacy guy who was with the Blue Sun guy, sorry if I get this wrong guys). Seems to me that, like with many victories where big business loses a legal battle, the NBB and whomever didn't make a very loud stink about their loss, and biodiesel people who weren't on these lists don't seem to be very aware of that. But there's still plenty more red tape and obstacles, of the local and state-level and zoning and regulations variety. I'm watching a few people go through varying levels of interaction with the government and blundering in red tape- one for a business and one for a bulk buying coop, in two different cities, and our coop is no doubt going to go through the same thing. The small producer business is finding that Oakland would require a site to be zoned 'heavy industrial' - a huge obstacle to a small business trying to break into biodiesel production here. There is far more more warehouse and industrial real estate in this city (and most of them I imagine) that is zoned light industrial, than heavy industrial. There is sometimes little difference between the types of facilities, and we all of course feel that a small producer would do fine in a light industrial warehouse, and have little impact on the immediate environment or neighborhood. Yet they're yet to convince the city otherwise of course- (changes to zoning regulations are a hellish process if you're not a real estate developer or otherwise well connected politically). Other would-be small producers are finding insurance to be unavailable or prohibitive. This pretty much kills a business like this, or makes it impossible to find certain kinds of investment or funding, and nonprofit status doesn't help in the cases I know about. Keith mentioned 'various kinds of coops' below. The bulk buying coop I;ve got in mind (not us in Berkeley, a coop in another city) wants to purchase some bulk biodiesel and put it into a tank to dispense to members. They are trying to go about all of this as legitimately as possible (some coops are not organized this way, and personally I think the most practical thing at this point in time is to do city-based coop work 'under the radar' and on a very, very small scale) anyway they got a donated small aboveground diesel storage tank like that used on farms and by businesses that use generators, and cleaned out the sludge using some biodiesel. One member called the fire department to find out where to take the wastes (in the US we have local household hazardous wastes disposal facilities that accept stuff like this). The fire department immediately 'freaked out' and wanted to know where the tank was and how it was set up (the member didn't tell them the exact location). The upshot of their conversation is that for them to do this, biodiesel or not, they would have to buy an expensive doublewalled tank (too bad "they" didn't have those regulations in effect for the oil tanker that crashed off of Spain this winter!), with a bunch of other safety devices on it- and they wouldn't be able to do it in city limits without spending a huge pile of money, if at all (sorry I unfortunately don't remember all the details beyond the 'containment' and the 'doublewalled tank' part. I hope I got that one right). The irony is that the city they're in is surrounded by an agricultural county- and if they were just out on someone's farm right outside town, that kind of very common and safe diesel tank would have been just fine the way that they'd set it up. But that defeats the purpose of having a coop centrally located where members can come work on it easily and don't necessarily have to drive to get there to do their volunteer work, among other issues (like them perhaps not having a member with a farm nearby). So with this and other problems they're finding that they may not even be able to do the MOST basic part of a coop legitimately- buying some fuel in bulk and dispensing it to each other (taxes are all paid in this scenario, and everyone involved wants to 'play by the rules' and do this legitimately). the problems facing a city-based coop trying to actually MAKE fuel for themselves 'above ground'- ie in full knowledge of local authorities- are insurmountable in my opinion. No one's gonna insure amateurs playing with flammable chemicals, for instance. It seems to me that the obstacles facing small producers in a city are going to be similarly expensive and painful. It also seems that if you leave city limits it becomes easier. I would be interested in hearing anecdotes from others- small producers, coops, whatever- who have successfully or unsuccessfully interacted with the authorities. It seems to me that we focused so much on the NBB-controlled process for access to the EPA Tier II health effects data as an obstacle that we haven't talked much about the local issues. We talk a lot about the great potential of biodiesel for revolutionizing and decentralizing energy production. It's been really interesting to me to see it play out in real life over the past year- lots of people trying to start coops, few of them are any kind of blazing success- and with the EPA regs lifted, many people starting to contemplate becoming small producers. What 'decentralized energy production' looks like is anyone;s guess- there are so many different ways to organize it and so few recent models (you can't look at past solar stuff for this one, nor to farm wastes ethanol- WVO biodiesel is unique in that the energy already comes to you in the decentralized form of waste). Given also that September 11th has galvanized many people into making the connection between power, oil, and American foreign policy, there is also a huge amount of idealism and a lot of desire (at least here) to make 'decentralized energy production' work out. I'm seeing lots of that idealism dashed somewhat by the realities such as those anecdotes above, realities of insurance, etc. Again, like Keith in the post below, I'm interested in hearing more of the stories of people in other areas who have had successful or unsuccessful interactions with the regulations surrounding all of this. mark At 03:03 AM 2/8/2003 +0900, you wrote: > >commercially, the road is fraught with red tape and government interference. > >This is why we make it ourselves, for ourselves, and teach others to do the > >same. > >Steve Spence > >It seems as lot of the red tape and pure obstruction to small-scale >operators may have been cleared away, largely as a result of work >done by various list members here and at Biofuels-Biz. Lots of info >in the archives about all this - really lots. Check out "EPA hassle" >in both archives. However, it still needed a test case, and I haven't >heard of one. > >Bill Clark, if you're listening, any news for us on this? Or anyone else? > >There are also other options - various kinds of coops, fuel for >off-road use, etc. Actually, from what I hear and enquiries I get, >there seems to be a large number of people at various stages of >starting biodiesel and biofuels operations in the US (since you're >talking about the US), and also elsewhere, in Britain, India, >Thailand... > >Let's have some news about what's going on out there, you good folks >who're doing it. Tell us your plans, progress, problems and >constraints, if you can, without giving too much away. It would be >good to try to get some sort of view of how it's all developing at >that level. > >Best wishes > >Keith > > > >Subscribe to the Renewable Energy Newsletter > >& Discussion Boards. Read about Sustainable Technology: > ><http://www.green-trust.org>http://www.green-trust.org > >[EMAIL PROTECTED] > >----- Original Message ----- > >From: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > >To: <biofuel@yahoogroups.com> > >Sent: Friday, February 07, 2003 2:57 AM > >Subject: [biofuel] so i got one more ? > > > > > > > and i read many archives i just searched for the wrong phrases i > > > guess, and way the question is, how come people aren't opening > > > biodiesel fuel operations, like for home heating, or cars even?, it > > > seems being so cheap and easy it would have caught on a lot faster?, > > > maybe you guys can explain this to me > > >Biofuel at Journey to Forever: ><http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html>http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html > >Biofuels list archives: ><http://archive.nnytech.net/>http://archive.nnytech.net/ > >Please do NOT send Unsubscribe messages to the list address. >To unsubscribe, send an email to: >[EMAIL PROTECTED] > >Your use of Yahoo! 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