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For the first time in Mountain View, biodiesel fuel can now be purchased at the pump — at the Rotten Robbie station on the corner of Whisman and Middlefield Roads.
For two months the station has been selling a blend of biodiesel designated as “B20” from former kerosene pumps, feeding a steady trickle of dedicated biodiesel users. The station is off the beaten path, but many users may have found it on Web sites like www.biodiesel.org, which lists pump locations. The nearest biodiesel stations are in Redwood City and San Jose.
“We’re still getting the word out,” said owner Tom Robinson, president of Robinson Oil Corporation. “If you don’t happen to drive through there you wouldn’t necessarily know.”
The B20 blend of biodiesel is made up of 20 percent vegetable oil and 80 percent petroleum diesel, and goes for the same price per gallon as regular diesel. Selling a purer blend of biodiesel, such as B80 or B100, is more difficult because it is considered an experimental fuel by the state and sellers must apply for a variance. But with B20, sellers do not have to jump through hoops, and users do not have to sign a waiver acknowledging the risks of using it.
The risk from biodiesel is usually with older cars where rubber gaskets, seals and fuel lines can be damaged by the fuel, and fuel filters can get clogged by the dirt which biodiesel tends to pick up from older fuel tanks. But to dedicated biodiesel users these problems are easily fixed, and a small price to pay for the decrease in tailpipe emissions.
With B20, those problems are much less likely.
“Most engine manufacturers are OK with a B20 blend, so that’s the blend we’re using,” Robinson said. We still tell people that they have to check with the manufacturer.”
Mercedes is the most conservative, telling its customers to use only a 5 percent blend.
Robinson said his company is subsidizing its biodiesel temporarily, selling it for the same price as regular diesel — $3.15 a gallon.
“What we wanted to do was test the water and find out, ‘If a customer had the option, and price was not a consideration, what would they buy?’ So we’re subsidizing the biodiesel just to see how it works,” Robinson said.
As to the company’s motivations, Robinson mentioned the growing interest in alternative fuels. “The folks that want it, really want it,” he said.
More and more biodiesel stations have popped up lately, and one of the more noticeable is the Pacific Biofuel station on Ocean Avenue in Santa Cruz. Robinson said he happened to know the owner there, and that the station may not be a moneymaker in itself but serves to advertise the company’s biodiesel distribution operation.
Many biodiesel customers operate truck fleets, and take delivery of biodiesel in large stationary tanks — which is what the city of Mountain View plans to do soon for its diesel equipment.
When asked why Mountain View was chosen for a pump, Robinson said the company looked at its stations that sold kerosene — since it would be an easy switch when kerosene isn’t used for heating homes in the summer months. Along with two other stations in San Jose, Robinson said, the company is able to cover most of the Valley. However, the four biodiesel pumps the company has in Sonoma have had a bigger draw.
“I think we will definitely continue with it,” Robinson said. “I don’t think we want to get out of the [biodiesel] business. But whether we keep it at a particular location, I don’t know.”
