As Gas Prices Surge, Cape Cod, Mass.-Area Firms Get Poised to Sell Biodiesel

By Christie Smythe, Cape Cod Times, Hyannis, Mass.

Apr. 26–As public rancor brews over the latest spike in gas prices, two local businesses are preparing to reap big rewards from a growing interest in alternative fuels.

East Falmouth oil company Loud Fuel Co. and a wholesale firm recently organized by an Osterville resident are establishing themselves as the Cape’s primary supply channel for biodiesel, a cleaner-burning alternative to regular diesel fuel. Biodiesel is made from plant or animal fats, but most often soybean oil.

“We want to be the big guys in biodiesel on the Cape,” said Loud Fuel owner Kabraul Tasha.

Biodiesel, or blends of biodiesel with regular diesel, can readily be used in most diesel engines without modifications, but biodiesel has traditionally been more expensive.

However, soaring oil prices have made diesel costs about neck-and-neck with some biodiesel blends in much of the country, according to the Jefferson City, Mo.-based National Biodiesel Board.

That also makes biodiesel blends in some areas potentially less expensive than gasoline. According the U.S. Energy Information Administration, regular gas is averaging about 4 cents less per gallon than diesel across the country, although diesel prices are higher than gas prices in New England.

While biodiesel is still pricier than regular diesel on the Cape, Tasha said he expects that to change soon.

“Down the road, it could be a cheaper thing, and we’d have a good supply of it,” he said. “We’ve been doing this for years, so a lot of people wouldn’t even know how to go about getting ‘bio’ except for me.”

Loud Fuel sells biodiesel directly to the public in the form of blended heating oil and diesel engine fuel. It also supplies Cape Cod Oil in Provincetown and Packer Oil in Tisbury with biodiesel.

Those companies, in turn, supply the only gas stations that sell biodiesel on the Cape and Islands — a North Truro Citgo and two stations on Martha’s Vineyard.

Over the past year, Tasha has been working with Osterville resident Allen Giles, whose company Lifeguard Biofuels is acting as Loud Fuel’s primary wholesaler. Giles hoped to drastically lower the cost of biodiesel on the Cape by building a processing facility in Bourne.

But fearing the potential for a long, costly review by the Cape Cod Commission, Giles dropped those plans in November. Instead, he shaved costs by negotiating with biodiesel producers in the Southeast and Midwest.

New tax incentives for blending biodiesel is also pushing down the cost, he said.

Tasha and Giles have been on a campaign to broaden the appeal of biodiesel on the Cape, focusing mainly on commercial users, especially in marine businesses, and the market for home-heating oil, which is a form of diesel.

“People don’t understand biodiesel,” Giles said. “And because there’s a lack of education, there’s a risk associated with it.”

When it comes to fueling automobiles, however, business is limited in Massachusetts because there are strict emissions standards that limit sales of new diesel vehicles.

Tasha said he’s supplying a growing number of small commercial customers, such as bus services, and one marina.

The Cape Cod Commercial Hook Fishermen’s Association is also taking interest in the alternative fuel, and will host a national biodiesel expert at its annual meeting tomorrow .

The Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution is also considering using biodiesel as a heating oil, according to a spokeswoman.

Giles is also appealing to the Steamship Authority, he said.

One business that is planning to use a biodiesel blend in the coming season is Viking Princess Harbor Cruises in Provincetown. Owner Peter Whitlock is planning to obtain supplies from Cape Cod Oil.

Whitlock operates a single 40-foot tour boat, but is switching to biodiesel because of environmental concerns.

“I’m looking forward to producing cleaner emissions and reducing my dependence on fossil fuels,” he said.

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Copyright (c) 2006, Cape Cod Times, Hyannis, Mass.

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