State to educate on biofuels

By COLIN HICKEY
Staff Writer

Copyright © 2006 Blethen Maine Newspapers Inc.

Biofuel is less toxic and more environmentally friendly than regular diesel fuel, but it is also a combustible liquid that needs to comply to regulations regarding its production, distribution and sale, according to the Maine Department of Environmental Protection.

What the DEP does not want to see, DEP environmental engineer Peter Moulton said, is backyard biofuel producers who disregard the necessary licensing.

He sees that potential given the rising awareness and interest in biofuels.

"From a concern point of view, we have been getting people calling up about what to do (to make biofuel legally)," Moulton said. "We are in the process of putting together a fact sheet, or something like that, to let people know the various regulations out there that affect the storage, making or selling of biofuels."

Peter Arnold, renewable energy expert at the Chewonki Foundation, an educational group in Wiscasset, stressed that biofuel should be held to the same safety standards as other fuels.

At the same time, he said biofuel is not nearly as toxic as diesel and naturally biodegrades much more quickly.

Dylan Voorhees, clean-energy director at the Natural Resources Council of Maine, said biofuel emissions don't pose a threat to the atmosphere.

"It is not 100 percent carbon neutral," he said, "but has much, much less carbon emission per gallon than regular diesel, so in terms of greenhouse emissions and global warming it has much less impact."

Through the process of converting waste fryolator oil into biofuel, a byproduct known as glycerin results.

While the glycerin contains methanol and can be used as an energy source, the temperature at which it bursts into flame is quite high, making it less a fire threat than most fuels, Arnold said.

"I don't think it is an environmental concern," he said. "It is more an economic concern. It is basically a benign product that is around a lot."

Randy Bean of Green Bean Bio-Fuel in Vassalboro said he gets about 22 gallons of glycerin for every 50 gallons of biofuel he makes.

Bean said he ships 90 percent of it to a composting facility in Rockland. The rest, he said, is burned either at his plant or by a Massachusetts company that uses it to produce heat for greenhouses.

Colin Hickey -- 861-9205

chickey@centralmaine.com