Local regulations needed for processing biodiesel

By Diane Saunders
Staff Writer
Published on Sunday, June 22, 2008 11:58 AM MST

There are no health or planning and zoning rules in Graham County that cover the manufacturing of biodiesel fuel at home, but at least one Graham County official would like to see regulations.

“Given the identified concerns, I believe more regulation may be forthcoming with regard to this issue and especially as more people attempt to get involved due to the current price of gas,” Neil Karnes, director of the Graham County Health Department, wrote in an e-mail to the Courier.

Biodiesel is often made from used cooking oil. The process includes adding lye, methanol and rubbing alcohol to the oil. The end product can be used in vehicles powered by diesel engines.

The Arizona Department of Environmental Quality has no regulations governing the manufacturing of diesel fuel from cooking oil — regulation is left up to Arizona’s counties and municipalities, ADEQ spokesman Mark Shaffer said.

The Arizona Department of Transportation, however, has several regulations that apply to the home manufacture of biodiesel, including taxation and licensing requirements.

Karnes said he would like to see regulations that address issues related to processing biodiesel.

“We have received a couple of complaints recently with regard to backyard biodiesel operations, and we have some environmental concerns about this process,” Karnes said in an e-mail response to questions from the Courier. “The complaints have centered around the noxious odors these operations emit; the distillation process that may involve an open fire; the possible mixture with other fuels, e.g., methanol, and the storage of the final product.”

Recycling used cooking oil to make fuel keeps the substance out of Arizona’s landfills. Shaffer said used cooking oil is considered a solid waste that is allowed in landfills.

Transporters of used cooking oil are not required to have a license or permit, although local jurisdictions have the authority to have more stringent ordinances than state regulations, Shaffer said.

Because restaurant owners are responsible for the proper disposal of used cooking oil, they could be held responsible for the oil collected by individuals who use it to make biodiesel, said Don Herrington, bureau chief for epidemiology and disease control at the Arizona Department of Health Services.

“Solid waste must be recycled in an approved manner,” Herrington said.

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Comments

11 comment(s)

Randt wrote on Aug 31, 2008 1:13 PM:

" What is your PROBLEM?
Are you paid by the oil company's? We need to get our countery to join together to reuse our fuels! you say a odor! Move to Texas City where the odor is unbareable from the refineries! But they continue because they pay the big bucks! The only ones that do not benafit from bio-fuels that are made at home is the OIL companies and the TAX collectors! WE ALL WIN on BIO-FUELS! You need to go out and get a life instead of trying to regulate ours to death!We Do Not Need More Laws! "

Sorry Bud... wrote on Jul 5, 2008 4:16 PM:

" ...but it's not necessary to use sulfuric acid, either for esterification or neutralization. I don't know about "most" backyard setups, but all of my output streams are either reused, recycled, sold, or otherwise usefully applied. I recover methanol and reuse it - it is expensive, aside from its potential pollution. Glycerol is used and sold as a degreaser and, if clean enough, as a soap ingredient. There is no wash water.

We all utilize and transport sulfuric acid, BTW. Look under your vehicle's hood. The little box with battery cables - it's full. "

Dangerous contd. wrote on Jul 5, 2008 3:44 PM:

" ...Maybe it was glycerine/glycerol that got you worked up. Yeah, it bugs me, too, seeing it in toothpaste, soap, K-Y, and every other product in the drugstore. But then I see it turning up the heat (literally!) in my compost pile. The stuff just turbocharges the breakdown of vegetable and animal matter, which is the greatest portion of landfill mass (76% per "Recycle 2000"'s 1998 study.) Compost takes about a tenth of the usual time to be degraded into a usable soil amendment, once glycerol (trashy glycerine from BD production) has been added.
Sorry, Bud. "

Dangerous substances wrote on Jul 5, 2008 3:34 PM:

" ...like methanol, the fuel of choice for some racing series because it can be doused with plain water?
...like KOH (not plain lye,) the same stuff as in no-lye hair relaxers, which Wal-Mart will sell to a child?
...like the possibly non-existent washwater (I use air to wash my BD) which has the same stuff that would be hitting the landfill anyway?
...Or was it internet BS to which you referred, Bill? I hear that kind of thing can blow up in your face. "

Frank N. wrote on Jul 2, 2008 6:43 AM:

" To Bill: If methanol burns with an undetectable flame how could you know it's light blue? "

AZPaul wrote on Jul 1, 2008 10:30 PM:

" I'd also like to see the facts where the 4 people were killed. 4 People died this week in card accidents too!

Muriatic acid for pools and can be very dangerous too. Are you going to ban them from the stores and pools?

Education and proper safety is the key not over regulation. When the governments get involved they over regulate everything!

What local government needs to do is put pressure on the big 5 and get our fuel prices back to reasonable, like $1.50 a gallon and stop these record profits on our account! "

AZPaul wrote on Jul 1, 2008 10:25 PM:

" This is an obvious negative campaign on biodiesel. Before people start slamming the process, have the facts straight. Rubbing alcohol is not used and an open flame is never used. Almost all of the new data on home built apple seed processors talk about a closed loop system which means no vapors. This county has some major issues and the powers to be do not want the people to have any control! Methanol is no more dangerous than gasoline and is handled and stored in the same manner. "

Stephanie wrote on Jun 25, 2008 7:28 AM:

" People - there is a need in this county. Someone needs to step to the plate and fill this need. Government is not going to make this fuel for you. I hope someone take up the challege so this will no longer be an issue. Low cost fuels is a necessity. "

Bud wrote on Jun 23, 2008 8:48 AM:

" Most backyard biodiesel set-ups process used vegetable oil as raw material. In addition to NaOH and Methanol, these use H2SO4 (sulfuric acid) for an initial process and to neutralize the NaOH. Sulfuric acid is highly dangerous and toxic and should not be in the home environment.

The key environmental issue is disposal of biodiesel "wash water" and the glycerol by-product. Industrial biodiesel plants are not allowed to dump these into the sewer. Both cause trouble for the waste water treatment plant. Regulations are needed to prevent backyard biodiesel makers from "flushing wash water and glycerol down the toilet". "

bill wrote on Jun 22, 2008 8:00 PM:

" Biodiesel is made using two of the most dangerous chemical known to man. NaOH is caustic soda and burn skin to bone. Methanol is explosive and burns with a undetectable light blue flame. Four people died doing home brew in the last few years. Local government needs to stop this nonsense as well as "

Jerry wrote on Jun 22, 2008 4:13 PM:

" This article is filled with inaccuracies .

1) Biodiesel is made by mixing an oil (vegetable or animal fat) with methanol in the presence of a catalyst (lye or potassium hydroxide). Rubbing alcohols has nothing to do with biodiesel.

2) There are environmental issues that revolve around the disposal of water used to wash the biodiesel and the glycerol by product. There should be no noxious odors unless used oil is left outdoors; the process produces no noxious fumes.

3) An open fire should never be used for making biodiesel. This would be dangerous. "

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