Northpinellas: County to fill truck fleet with food oil

County officials call the vehicle part of an experiment that they hope will eventually save the county millions, reduce air pollution and recycle some of the county's greasiest gunk.

Last November, the truck became the first Pinellas vehicle to get its fuel tank filled with biodiesel fuel -- an alternative fuel made from vegetable oil. Fourteen other vehicles soon followed.

The plan has worked so well that next year, Pinellas plans to start buying converted waste grease -- the leftover oil that local restaurants must save -- as fuel for all its diesel trucks, construction equipment and other vehicles. The county plans to use the fuel, mixed half-and-half with regular diesel, in more than 2,000 vehicles.

It all sounds a little like spinning straw into gold.

"We're pinching ourselves right now," said Jim Rolston, the county utilities operations director. "We can't believe this might actually work."

The fuel pollutes less, should cost less and works better, county officials say.

And it even smells a little like French fries.

Advocates like to point out that biodiesel fuel isn't really new. When Rudolf Diesel invented the first diesel engine in 1895, he fueled it with peanut oil.

But biodiesel didn't resurface commercially until the 1990s. Today the fuel is made by adding methanol and other chemicals to vegetable oil. The chemicals separate into fuel and glycerin, which can be sold separately for soap and other products.

Most biodiesel is made with soybean oil, but about 10 percent is made by recycling used food grease, as Pinellas will do, said Jenna Higgins, spokeswoman for the National Biodiesel Board, the industry's trade group.

The fuel has some definite advantages: it pollutes the air less and is far less toxic than regular diesel. It doesn't require Mideast detente or drilling in the Gulf of Mexico, and it doesn't threaten the habitat of Alaskan caribou.

It generally costs more than diesel. But the county's diesel prices have increased 38 percent during the past year, said Keith Grant, assistant director. Last week, the county was buying diesel at $1.40 a gallon, and biodiesel for slightly less, $1.35 to $1.40. The county hopes to get more of a discount once it's supplying grease.

National advocates say the price change is helping the fuel become more widely used. Last year, the United States used about 5-million gallons of biodiesel, Higgins said. This year, that's expected to quadruple.

"Up until now, probably the thing that's held biodiesel back has been price," she said. So far, few local governments in Florida are using biodiesel. But the Florida Department of Transportation, and Florida Power and Light are putting it in their tanks. Ashley Yelds, an economist with University of South Florida's Center for Urban Transportation Research, said that biodiesel is giving alternative fuels a whole new image.

"Previously, you started to think of tie-dye shirts and Birkenstocks and people driving around with cars with long extension cords," he said. "That ain't the way anymore."

Pinellas' biodiesel adventure began two years ago, when county utilities officials had a problem. Federal regulators had stiffened requirements for disposing of waste grease, which can clog sewer lines and lead to waste leaks. But the county's only grease disposal facility is set to close next year.

What to do with the 10,000 gallons of grease that county restaurants produce every day?

Officials began to search for a company to dispose of the waste -- a rancid product so disgusting that even Rolston, a man who knows his sewage, describes it as "the most vile-smelling thing you've ever encountered."

Eventually, they contacted Ocean Air Environmental in Lakeland and discovered that the company was interested not only in taking the grease, but in turning it into fuel.

Enter county fleet maintenance. They wanted to cut their use of diesel fuel because of tightening environmental rules. And it seemed as if they were paying more for diesel every day. The county uses 750,000 gallons of the fuel each year and had to add $500,000 to next year's proposed budget because of higher fuel costs.

But many alternative fuels, such as liquid propane and compressed natural gas, are expensive and require costly engine conversions before vehicles can use them. The county had experimented with propane-fueled vehicles in the early 1980s and abandoned the effort because the vehicles needed too many repairs, said Peter Hessling, administrator of the county's air quality division.

Biodiesel is different. Diesel vehicles don't have to be converted. It functions so much like diesel that the two can even be mixed in the tank. And if biodiesel isn't available, the regular stuff can go back in.

Last November, Calder's truck tank was filled up with pure biodiesel. About 14 other vehicles got biodiesel meals, too.

Grant was so eager to hear his drivers' honest opinions that he didn't tell them who else was carrying the fuel for two weeks. Then he called an unannounced meeting.

Calder was the first to volunteer his opinion: His baby liked its new diet. Other drivers agreed. The fuel was a hit.

"It has more power," Calder said. "If I'm going up Sand Key bridge, I hold the same speed, the same RPM."

It starts faster, idles smoother and burns less oil. The fuel's lack of sulfur not only makes it cleaner in the air, but easier on the engine.

The biggest problem has been that the fuel starts to gel in cold weather. That's why the county has switched from pure biodiesel to a 50-50 mix.

So far, the county has bought about 6,000 gallons of fuel from Ocean Air, one of a handful of national companies making biodiesel.

To expand the program, the county will put out a formal bid request and evaluate proposals from other companies. It also will require approval from county commissioners.

Yelds called the plan "brilliant." After all, Florida doesn't produce petroleum. "We're the tourist capital of the country. We cook French fries," he said.

Hessling said that switching 2,000 vehicles in a county of 921,000 people won't have a dramatic impact on Pinellas' overall air quality, which has failed federal ozone standards.

"But it's these kind of things that provide an incremental step in the right direction," Hessling said. "Hopefully, it can convince other owners with large truck fleets to take similar steps."

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