New Fuel?

Yesterday I did some research on alternative fuels. After the riding lesson today, we dropped another $75 to slake Clifford's thirst. The good news is that simple reveals an average of 16.75 mpg. Not bad for a husky fella like Clifford. But at $2.29 per gallon, it doesn't take long for a fillup to become a letdown.

A gallon of 2% biodiesel can be had in the Westminster area for $2.19 a gallon. From what I read, there is no adverse effect in performance. The plus is fewer carbon emissions and an excuse to go to McDonalds and Burger King to beg for fryer grease. For $3,000, I can set up a turnkey operation in my garage that will yield as many as 40 gallons of biodiesel each day for a cost of about $1.00 per gallon. I can even attend a biodiesel "home brew" training in Iowa to learn about how to do it.

This trend toward green fuels seems more established on the Eastern Shore, although the Beltsville Ag Research Center is apparently running all their diesel vehicles on it. I haven't done the math to establish how many gallons of fuel I need to "brew" to make such a setup pay for itself, but the idea is intriguing. Then again, so is buying a motorcycle or moving to a place where bicycling is feasible instead of potentially terminal.