Biodiesel for the diesel car-driving public is available at 16 Sinclair Oil locations in Southern Nevada -albeit in small amounts.
The fuel, called B5, is a blend of 95 percent Type 2 diesel oil with 5 percent biodiesel, which is soybean or vegetable oil converted into fuel, Haycock Petroleum specialist Gary Weinberg said.
For a more detailed account of how biodiesel works, check out this AC article. For a history of biodiesel’s comeuppance in America, go here.
Worried diesel customers might hesitate to use the unusual blend in their vehicles, but Weinberg said that the biodiesel blend is in most ways the same, and in some ways better, than regular diesel.
“It provides better lubrication for the fuel system, and reduces emissions by 5 percent,” Weinberg said.
The emissions reduction is related to how much B100, or pure biodiesel, is in the blend, he said.
Bud Blackmore, spokesman for the Salt Lake City-based oil company, said the company believes the retail customer is ready for biodiesel. Distributor Haycock Petroleum has provided biodiesel for Las Vegas and Clark County’s fleet vehicles since 1999.
“Offering biodiesel for public consumption makes good sense for environmental reasons,” Blackmore said.
It also makes good business sense, since the 2005 Energy Policy Act allows for a $1 tax credit per gallon of B100 fuel.
For instance, Weinberg said, if Haycock Petroleum sells 10,000 gallons of B5 biodiesel, that breaks down to 500 gallons of B100 and therefore $500 for the company. Weinberg said the tax incentive is for companies like Haycock to put into their facilities biodiesel, and to expand and improve to make room for more B100.
Incorporating biodiesel into the diesel gas used by any diesel car is actually quite simple.
The beauty of biodiesel is you don’t have to convert anything,” Las Vegas Regional Clean Cities Coalition coordinator Dan Hyde said.
Any diesel engine can take biodiesel of any percentage, B5 to B100, and accept biodiesel and regular diesel interchangeably.
In other words, if you currently drive a diesel car, you can drive that puppy over to a Sinclair gas station and fill it with the available B5 diesel blend – even if your car has never taken biodiesel before. And, you never have to use biodiesel again (though you should).
