Indian River Marina to use biodiesel fuel
Marina will sell biodiesel at same price as regular diesel and heat bath houses

By Billy E. Taylor, Jr.
Special to the Coastal Point

“Biodiesel smells more like French fries frying or popcorn popping rather than the traditional diesel fuel,” said Susanne Zilberfarb in her presentation to almost three dozen boat owners, charter captains, farmers, and DNREC employees at a workshop on Wednesday, April 13, to explain the uses and advantages of soy biodiesel fuel.

“We’re converting all heating at the park to biodiesel. We use over 6,000 gallons per month in our 10 bath houses,” said Gary King, manager of the Indian River Marina.

The effort to promote the use of soy biodiesel as an alternative fuel to aid in combating pollution in the state has been a cooperative venture between the Delaware Soybean Board, the United Soybean Board, soybean farmers, the Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control and the Delaware Department of Agriculture.

“With the use of biodiesel, you won’t see the ‘sooting’ effect that regular fuel leaves on the water,” King said. “That’s the particulate emission that comes from diesel fuel, especially when starting your engine.”

According to Mike Shearer, captain of the boat “Yellowfin” out of the marina, the use of soy biodiesel will also keep a boat’s engine more lubricated and help clean out the sludge that typically forms in the bottom of diesel fuel tanks as they go through heating and cooling cycles.

“The first 50 hours you run it in your boat, you have to change your primary [fuel filters] a few times,” Shearer said. “It cleans all the sludge out of your tank, so that wants to go through the system. After that, it runs cleaner and more efficiently.”

Soy biodiesel is an alternative fuel that is compatible with normal diesel machinery without modification. It is made from 100 percent virgin soybean oil and is totally nontoxic. In the environment, pure soy biodiesel biodegrades at the same rate as sugar, and when blended with regular diesel fuels it speeds their degradation.

Biodiesel fuel can be sold in it pure form, termed B100, or can be blended in any percentage with regular diesel fuel. A blend of 20 percent biodiesel fuel with 80 percent regular diesel fuel would have the designation B20, while one with five percent biodiesel and 95 percent regular diesel would be called B5.

It is also more fuel efficient in its manufacture, according to Zilberfarb. For every unit of energy used to create biodiesel fuel, enough fuel is created to make 3.24 units of energy. With regular diesel fuel, it takes 1 unit of energy to make enough fuel to create 0.88 units of energy, an overall energy loss.

Soy biodiesel typically costs about 20 cents more per gallon than regular diesel fuel from the manufacturers. However, a federal program as part of the “American Jobs Creation Act of 2004” created a tax incentive for fuel blenders of one cent per gallon per percent of biodiesel in a blend.

“So if you buy B20 biodiesel the incentive will reduce the cost to us by 20 cents per gallon, and that’s about how much more the biodiesel costs. We pass as much as possible on to our consumers,” said Seth Powell, a wholesale alternative fuels representative for Tri Gas & Oil, a regional fuel distribution company.

“We’ve made the commitment at the marina to sell the biodiesel at the same price as the regular diesel, regardless of the cost to us,” King said. “We feel that it’s worthwhile to investigate. We think it’s a viable alternative.”

The Indian River Marina will start by selling B2, a two percent biodiesel blend. King said the marina will start slowly and use the process to educate boat owners on the need to keep their engines and fuel tanks clean — something they should do anyway, he emphasized.

“When the normal sludge starts dissolving and breaking loose from their tanks, we want to make sure that the owners understand what that means,” said King. “Using biodiesel is just another way we can be kind to Mother Nature, the surrounding bays and the ocean.”

Soybeans are Delaware’s number one crop with more than 4.6 million bushels produced per year valued at over $46 million. Two thirds of all Delaware farmers grow soybeans each year.

“I have never had anyone who’s used biodiesel fuel for a long time come back to me and say they’re not satisfied,” said Jeffery Allen, president of the Delaware Soy Board and a farmer himself. “Soy biodiesel is a terrific product. In marketing this product we’re not only marketing what we produce, but we are also helping to reduce our dependency on foreign oil.”

Gov. Ruth Ann Minner is scheduled to speak at a ceremony celebrating the introduction of soy biodiesel fuel at the Indian River Marina at 1 p.m. on Monday, May 9.