Deseret News | Weary of gas prices, drivers turning to illegal veggie oil

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Weary of gas prices, drivers turning to illegal veggie oil

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Observer | 9:59 a.m. Aug. 18, 2008

RE. Mike R.

What he said.

Paying for gas | 10:03 a.m. Aug. 18, 2008

Paying for gas funds terrorism. Stop funding terrorism!

Mahonri | 10:35 a.m. Aug. 18, 2008

Get a load of oil used to fry Fish and pour it in the tanks of State owned diesel vehicles. They will spend so much time chasng cats away from their vehicles they won't have time to check yours.

Comments continue below

RWW | 2:26 p.m. Aug. 18, 2008

All fuels used in the US must undergo a certification process (per the Clean Air Act) before they are recognized as "legal" fuels by the EPA. This certification process is very expensive and so due to the lack of cooperation/organization of the VO fuel conversion "industry" is unlikely to occur in the foreseeable future.

However, the EPA recognizes it would be nearly impossible to enforce the CAA on the few individuals and businesses that sell or use VO as a fuel. It would certainly not be cost effective. And just as enforcing the legislation that makes producing and selling VO conversion kits questionably legal would probably not be perceived as a "good thing" by the general public during times when "alternative energy research and development" is being encouraged by nearly any politician (that has hopes of being elected/re-elected) the EPA has solved the problem (of having the responsibility of enforcing a law that will discourage development of VO fuel) at least temporarily.

They are expected to enforce the provisions of the Clean Air Act on anything they consider a "fuel" and so have simply stated that they "do not consider VO a fuel".

RWW (continued) | 2:30 p.m. Aug. 18, 2008

It may not make sense to the average person but it works in the legal sense as a completely legitimate loophole that few will consider wise to challenge.

It is possible (but very unlikely) that this will change in the foreseeable future.

This loophole does NOT however work as a defense for not paying fuel tax on any VO that you actually use as a fuel. But only state departments of revenue appear to have any interest in collecting fuel tax on private individuals using VO as fuel. Commercial users/vendors of VO fuel are a different matter. They are wisest to remit taxes on any VO used as fuel to BOTH their state revenue dept AND the IRS. A few states have exempted VO fuel from state road tax so check first if you plan on paying it.

If you pay the tax due on fuel in your state on all VO you use as fuel AND are not a commercial seller/user of VO fuel there is a very...very small chance that you will have any legal repercussions.

Cletus Mc Supersize | 3:05 p.m. Aug. 18, 2008

Let's talk about the gross errors in this article: FIRST, no tax is due unless more than 400 gallons of biodiesel per quarter are produced. It's under the Federal road use tax. Look it up.

SECOND, there are NO EPA 'restrictions' on the production of biodiesel for personal use and especially if done so on a farm. The EPA 'restriction' on biodiesel is anyone SELLING fuel and that's for anyone selling ANY fuel.

THIRD: notice how they start using facts and figures from the National Biodiesel Board. And notice the slant on the use of SOY. More than one bean has vegetable oil...not just soy. However, soy funded the NBB and so it's a hip-pocket deal. The fact that the board's information was presented in this article shows how little true research was put into this article.

Facts are missing, mis-quoted, and misconstrued with regards to biodiesel. Biodiesel is NOT SVO either.

Proof | 3:18 p.m. Aug. 18, 2008

this is just proof that government regulation is the cause of our high gas prices and our waivering economy. If we could just build refineries without all the left wing nuts getting in the way, and if we would let the common man make fuel if he wants. It is that same government regulation that is holding back alternative energy. Let's drill,and refine oil. Let's develop alternative sources. Get out of the way. Stop filing a lawsuit everytime you think a lizard or a rattlesnake in going to die. You folks saying that drilling in not going to lower prices are nuts. The only problem we have is that you are blocking us from building refineries. If we add more oil into the world market prices go down Duh!

Arnold | 3:40 p.m. Aug. 18, 2008

I wonder if anyone has looked into where all this opposition to alternative fuels is comming from. It looks like anyone would be thrilled to have less dependence on foreign oil. Maybe we should look to see who is benifiting from the status quo. Brazil has long since licked this problem by developing alternative sources, mainly bio fuels. Ford Motor Co. long ago developed an automobile that runs efficiently on bio fuels for the Brazilian market. Meaning no disrespect to Brazil, If thay have been able to do this, why can't we. The reason to me seems to be capsulized in three different sources. Namely George Bush, and Dick Cheney who long have been deeply involved with big oil and the oil companies themselves. Also the members from the other side of the aisle are not free from this type of contamination. True, you seldon see the oil companies getting their hands dirty in this struggle They just let their front men do the dirty work for them. To bad we don't have more men like T Boone Pickins who afirm that "I am an American first and an oil man second".

to Arnold from Big Oil | 4:18 p.m. Aug. 18, 2008

No one is trying to subvert this alternative fuel. We've made so much money that we are okay with losing a little. We would *never* resort to tactics used to mislead the public and cause them to stay with our products! You're free to use whatever you'd like in your vehicles. Really! No, I mean it...

--Olio Grande

Terri Dance Salisbury MO | 8:49 p.m. Aug. 18, 2008

To Gretzky,
My thoughts exactly, poor sod... I'll be looking for the story where the thugs from the civil service at our National Vegetable Oil Board and affiliated freedom restricting bureaucracies have come and taken him away, seized his property, frozen his accounts, et cetera.
How can Church owned Deseret News print this article?
Global Warming fill happen when "the earth shall melt with fervent heat"... until then let's all please remember that the actual Mr. Diesel who invented the original terrific plant oil fuel nearly a century ago was found MURDERED for his efforts and then not too long after the world was given something called "diesel" fuel made from.....guess?

Graydon Blair | 8:49 p.m. Aug. 18, 2008

As someone already stated, there is NOTHING illegal about converting waste veggie into Biodiesel. The way the article reads makes it sound like burning Biodiesel is against the clean air act. HOGWASH! She twisted my words!

What is illegal is MAKING and SELLING a fuel that has not been certified by the EPA. The issue is that Biodiesel HAS BEEN certified by the EPA. The National Biodiesel Board paid the big bucks to have it done. SVO is the one they haven't tested yet.

As long as Biodiesel produced meets the ASTM Standard that the EPA and IRS agreed to (ASTM D 6751), then it's Biodiesel and meets the clean air act.

Also, according to Utah Tax Code, burning ANY fuel in a vehicle on a public road creates the liability for taxes. The article made it sound like only SVO and Biodiesel were up for that.

SVO hasn't been analyzed by the EPA, but lumping Biodiesel into the same camp and calling it illegal to use is going a bit far.

Graydon Blair
Utah Biodiesel Supply
Last interview I ever do for the Deseret News....

just wondering | 11:07 p.m. Aug. 18, 2008

Are granola bars bio-fuels and do cyclists give off fumes? I think the EPA better get on this one too.

Too Goo Too Be True | 12:54 p.m. Aug. 21, 2008

I have been hearing about biodiesel for years and it sounded like it was so wonderful that everyone should do it. It turns out it is cheap if you avoid taxes, health concerns, and work for free. If this stuff is to wonderful how come we never heard of it when gas was $1.20.

Mike Watson | 9:36 a.m. Aug. 26, 2008

The individual doing things out of his/her garage is what made this country the way it was. People worked together for the common good, instead of thier own good, as they do today. When we go the way that big bussiness and big brother would like us to, selection becomes more forced and there are no more options. If the man making his own fuel is deviant, than deviance is what we need.

Just Run Grease! | 4:39 p.m. Sept. 4, 2008

I have been running "Greasil" in my truck for almost a year now with no problems. Greasil is different than biodiesel, mainly in the fact that there is no byproduct to get rid of. Making biodiesel is a chemical reaction between the oil and the different additives. What I use is still vegetable oil with a few additives that have already been taxed with road, state, and government taxes.
There is a comment from someone on this about food prices going up, -understand that the oil is "used", and will either go to the land fill, or in some cases end up being mixed into the feed for the cattle, pigs, and other livestock we eat to make them fatter.
I heard somewhere in the neighborhood of 40,000 tons (959,232 gallons aaprox.) of waste oil from restaurants end up in the land fills every year. I have nothing to back this other than hear-say, but i believe it, we throw everything away!

My truck runs on what "we as a society" consider trash or waste!

"Fried Chicken anyone?"

Biodiesel Educator | 12:18 p.m. Dec. 1, 2008

This article confuses veggie oil and biodiesel, which aren't the same. There should be a correction published for this article, it's so bad.

It is not illegal for individuals to make or use biodiesel. Just pay your taxes.

If you want to sell or have a biodiesel business, there are a lot of regulations. EPA, IRS, local, state and county.

Good luck sorting through the misinformation folks, but the truth is out there.

Brad | 1:40 p.m. Dec. 2, 2008

This article is total sensationalist garbage. there is nothing illegal or clandestine about the home production of biodiesel. I make biodiesel and have spoken regularly to my state's EPA officer about my project. He said that I am completely within the law and at my scale.

Maud | 5:33 a.m. Dec. 3, 2008

The editor needs to print corrections on this article, which incorrectly states that it is illegal to make biodiesel at home and also confuses WVO/SVO and biodiesel.

Any alternative fuel is illegal until the EPA tests it and says it's legal. The EPA has tested biodiesel and deems it legal so commercial biodiesel can be sold at the pump. WVO/SVO has *not* been tested as a fuel and is therefore *not* a legal fuel.

Making biodiesel at home for personal use is *not* "illegal, according to federal law." It is, however, illegal to *sell* non-commercial biodiesel.

Biodiesel and WVO/SVO are two different chemicals; biodiesel is a fatty acid methyl ester, and WVO/SVO is a triglyceride and one of the ingredients (along with alcohol and lye) used to make biodiesel.

Biodiesel fuels unmodified diesel vehicles. WVO/SVO can only fuel modified diesel vehicles converted to use heat to reduce its viscosity.

Fuel hobbyists owe Federal Excise Tax but Motor Fuel Tax regulations vary by state. Depending on where a hobbyist lives, s/he may owe state Motor Fuel Tax for each gallon produced, for each gallon after a certain threshold, or not at all.

I've been making my own biodiesel since 2004.

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