Biodiesel Power : The Passion, the People, and the Politics of the Next Renewable Fuel

by Estill, Lyle

• ISBN13: 9780865715417
• ISBN10: 0865715416
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2005-10-01
• Publisher: Consortium Book Sales & Dist

Summary

Whether we are nearing the end of oil or merely nearing the end of inexpensive oil, it is becoming increasingly clear that we need to find alternative ways to meet our energy needs. Biodiesel is one such alternative-and is one of the fastest-growing sectors of the US economy. Biodiesel in North America is in its infancy. As air quality deteriorates in major centers, governments are scrambling for ways to reduce emissions and are embracing biodiesel in their fleets. Conferences on biodiesel are often "inaugural" as society begins discussing this fuel in earnest. Biodiesel Power is a chronicle of this emerging industry. Lightly touching on the technical aspects of the fuel, its qualities, and specifications, the book is largely about the people and stories of the biodiesel movement. It explores the tensions between Grass-roots activists and their altruistic co-ops The profit-minded commercial producers and the voices of agribusiness The current administration-or "the coalition of the drilling" Far from a third-party account, Biodiesel Power comes from one who has experienced it from the grease dumpster to the boardroom. Lyle Estill has made the journey from backyard brewing, to being part of a producer and distributor cooperative, to commercial production. Compelling and timely, Biodiesel Power is the history of biodiesel in the making. It will appeal to a wide audience, including farmers, truckers, backyarders, and commercial producers, investors, politicians, and all those concerned about the end of oil. Lyle Estill is vice president of Piedmont Biofuels Industrial in Chatham County, North Carolina. He has published an important Weblog-Energy Blog-about the biodiesel movement for several years and has received numerous awards for his environmentalism and outreach on biodiesel, including Educator of the Year for 2004 from Environmental Educators of North Carolina.

Author Biography

Lyle Estill is V.P. of Stuff for Piedmont Biofuels in Chatham County, North Carolina

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments	xi
Preface	xiii
Introduction	1	(4)
Chapter 1: Stinky Kitchen	5	(8)
Chapter 2: Off to College	13	(10)
Chapter 3: Breaking the Blender Barrier	23	(16)
Chapter 4: Do-It-Yourself Ghetto	39	(10)
Chapter 5: Straight Vegetable Oil	49	(10)
Chapter 6: Used Veggie Collection	59	(16)
Chapter 7: Feedstocks	75	(12)
Chapter 8: Birth of a Co-op	87	(10)
Chapter 9: The Shadow and Grassroots Conferences	97	(12)
Chapter 10: The National Biodiesel Board	109	(8)
Chapter 11: Two Professors	117	(8)
Chapter 12: The Renewables Establishment	125	(16)
Chapter 13: The Lure of the Producer	141	(16)
Chapter 14: Sidestreams	157	(8)
Chapter 15: The Regulatory Layer	165	(10)
Chapter 16: Quality Control and Analytics	175	(18)
Chapter 17: Biodiesel Economics	193	(16)
Chapter 18: Microenterprise	209	(8)
Chapter 19: Fuel Distribution	217	(10)
Chapter 20: The Policy Layer	227	(20)
Chapter 21: The End of Oil	247	(6)
Chapter 22: The Road Ahead	253	(6)
Epilogue	259	(2)
Bibliography	261	(3)
Index	264	(9)
About the Author	273