A34-Lancaatar Farming, Saturday, September 18,1993
Soy Diesel
(ConlinuMl from Pago
At the start of the trip, the Pen
nsylvania Energy Office marked
the occasion by granting its Alter
native Fuels Pioneer Award to
Soy Diesel, the first vegetable oil
based fuel to receive the award.
While a first for Pennsylvania,
this event joins dozens of testing
and large-scale demonstration pro
jects now underway in the U.S.
Soy Diesel is a biodegradable, non
toxic, soybean-based alternative
fuel. Ken Peters of the National
Soy Diesel Development Board in
Missouri was on the trip and pro
vided much of the background of
the new fuel for reporters.
Peters said that in 1900, Dr.
Rudolph Diesel showed his diesel
engine at the Paris World’s Fair. At
the time it ran on 100 percent veg
etable oil. Actually, the engine
came before diesel fuel as we know
it today.
The Soybean Board, funded by
farmer’s check-off moneys, cur
rently is working with the U.S.
Bureau of Mines where air is a real
problem, and any spills or leakages become a
real problem. Transit systems are finding that
20 to 30 percent blends are optimum. A
demonstration boat uses 100 percent Soy-
Diesel. Officials believe about five percent of
the market will eventually go to Soy Diesel.
Beam said the motor in the tractor that was
running on Soy Diesel had not been changed
to accommodate the new fuel. “I drained out
the diesel fuel and pouted in the Soy Diesel,
Beam said. “I bailed hay yesterday, and the
tractor worked well.”
“I want to grow soybeans because it breaks
the cycle of weeds and insects in the com. I
can often save the expense of using insecti
cides for rootworm and other insects. This
protects the environment, and it saves me
money. Unfortunately, the soybean price is
not always what it should be, so I am very
interested in finding new markets to turn the
bottom line and make a profit”
Sara Nichols, staff attorney for the Dele
ware Valley Clean Air Council, said the new
fuel was “just fantastic.”
“When you consider the issues that this fuel
is going to positively impact, I am standing
here thinking this is almost a miracle.”
“It’s easy to focus on pollution problems
that are most obvious, but the most harmful
from almost every point of view is air pollu
tion,” Nichols said. “Yet air pollution is the
one you can’t see. But it is creating long term
harm to us, the animals, the earth, the water,
crops and everything. So anything we can do
is fabulous.
“It amazes me that very few people really
understand the dramatic effect die air has on
public health, the economy and on agricul
ture. Most people don’t know that motor vehi
cles generate pollution that causes $5 million
in crop loss to America’s farmers and adds
$94 billion to health care costs. The number
one cause of water pollution comes from the
air. sulfur dioxide is one of the major causes
of acid rain, and Pennsylvania is the most acid
affected state in the country.”
Representative Art Hershey (R-13) said as
a farmer, legislator and a citizen with concern
for the environment that he was pleased to be
involved in the demonstration of the effec
tiveness and efficiency of Soy Diesel. Hershey
said the cleaner burning fuel made it easier to
comply with the increasing environmental
protection.laws and standards.
Credit is given to Soy Diesel for reducing
exhaust smoke by 70 percent and reducing
engine wear. “The economic impact from
new markets will increase the demand for
crops and be good news for farmers and the
communities in which they live,” Hershey
said. “The issue of farmland preservation and
open space dovetail into this exciting
development”
Spurred by EPA Clean Air standards, Soy-
Diesel has recently become a competitive
player in the alternative fuels arena. The fuel
is virtually free of sulfur emissions (a major
cause of acid rain), produces fewer particu
lates, comes from a renewable domestic sour
ce and can be used in existing diesel engines
Proclaimed Good
with no modifications. (Mercedes-
Benz. for example, warranties
their heavy duty engines on bio
diesel.) Biodiesel is therefore an
attractive option for many cities
coping with tougher clean air stan
dards, because it delivers emis
sions reductions while maintain
ing a city’s current bus fleet,
refueling stations, spare parts
inventories and skilled diesel
mechanics.
A 1)
Independent research shows
that biodiesel in a 1:5 blend with
petroleum diesel, along with use of
a catalytic converter, reduces par
ticulate matter by 31%, carbon
monoxide by 21% and total hydro
carbons by 47%. Yet biodiesel per
forms the same as petroleum diesel
in terms of torque, horsepower and
miles-per-gallon. Soy Diesel is
also an efficient fuel to produce:
while soybean oil requires about
5,200 BTUs per pound to produce*
crush and refine, the same amount
of oil contains 17,000 BTUs.
Soy Diesel is currently in use in
large-scale demonstrations in sev-
oral U.S. cities. The greater St
Louis transit authority has now
logged over 200,000 miles on Soy-
Diesel, with tests showing perfor
mance, mileage and drivability die
same as with conventional diesel,
but with a 30% opacity reduction
and significantly improved
exhaust odor.
The fuel is made from soybean
oil through a simple refining pro
cess called “transcsterification.”
This involves mixing methanol
and sodium hydroxide with soy oil
and letting the glycerine settle out
The resulting products are methyl
soyate (Soy Diesel) and glycerine
both considered safe by EPA
with no restrictions to their use or
disposal. The glycerine has over
1,600 existing commercial appli
cations, from toothpaste and cough
syrup to environmentally friendly
antifreeze. Research is also under
way to substitute ethanol for
methanol in the process, but it cur
rently costs up to three times as
much as has a lower conversion
rate (80% compared to 98%).
While currently most popular in
Europe due to tax exemptions and
even some mandated used, Soy-
Diesel is also immediately avail-
DATE: Octobers 1993
PLACE: Hawk Valley Golf Club, Denver, PA
TIME: 11:00 am. -12:00 p.m. Registration
12:30 p.m. - Shotgun Start
6:00 p.m. - Dlnner/Auction
ENTRY FEE: $75.00
(Includes lunch, dinner, cart & greens fee)
DINNER ONLY: $50.00
Call now to make your reservations by VISA or Mastercard
at (215) 648-0674
SP 0 "
More Thai
Locatk
In Pennsyl
Waiting to
You
4
Benefiting the Pennsylvania
FFA Foundation, Inc.
Steak and Sea House •
able in the U.S. and already *° y . >te ™n «l»ut $2.50 per gallon,
exceeds early demand projections w,t ** projections of $1.50 to $2.00
by nearly 10 times. Manufactured , production increases. Cost is
by Proctor and Gamble, the fuel is furthw reduced by using bipdiesel
marketed in Interchem Environ- “ a , 1:5 with conventional
mental in Kansas and can be pur- while still achieving all
chased in quantities from five- ma j° r emissions reductions,
gallon drums to semi and rail tank- e Pennsylvania Soy Diesel
er loads. It is registered and ® us ®*de was landed in part
certified with EPA as an altcma- throu g h a national soybean check
tive fuel. It also meets all relevant fund, a special fanner effort
ASTM (American Society for since 1991 to support research and
Testing and Materials) criteria for development of new and improved
diesel fuel. soybean products and to help deve-
Current costs for pure methyl
Highland Cattle Sale At KILE
HILTON, N.Y. The North
East Highland Cattle Association
is sponsoring its first ever High
land cattle auction, “Showcase
93."
The sale will be held in con
junction with the Keystone Inter
national Livestock Exposition in
Harrisburg on Oct 2. Highland
activities begin at 12:30 p.m. with
the NEHCA annual show follow
ed by the “Showcase 93” sale
starting at 8 p.m.
“Showcase 93” is to feature 22
lots of the finest Highland females
FIRST ANNUAL
FORE FFA
GOLF
TOURNAMENT
lop and expand maikets for Ameri
can agricultural commodities.
in North America. Consignors
horn across the Eastern United
States and Canada are bringing
top females to showcase their
herds in this sale.
Convention activities include
business and educational meet
ings. a farm tour, a banquet .and
plenty of time to socialize and en
joy the show.
For further information on the
“Showcase 93” sale or the High
land breed contact Roger Jestel
(716) 392-9062.