New oil dropoff sites for the public

Do you have 10 gallons of oil you used to deep fry your turkey? Expired olive oil or salad dressing?

Now you can dispose of your vegetable oil responsibly, knowing that it will be turned into cleaner burning fuel!



Please call dropoff sites ahead of time for their hours:

Encore Oils: 503.954.2154
10111 NE 6th Dr, Portland

Salem Keizer Recycling & Transfer Station: 503.588.5169
3250 Deer Park Dr. SE, Salem

North Marion Recycling & Transfer Station: 503.588.5169
17827 Whitney Lane NE, Woodburn

SeQuential Retail: 541.736.5864
86714 McVay Hwy, Eugene

If you are a restaurant or a processing facility and have commercial levels of used cooking oil, Encore Oils will buy your oil from you! Call 503.954.2154 for more information.

Biofuels Northwest - City Club of Eugene 9/8/08

City Club of Eugene 9/8/08 Friday Forum.

Ian Hill of SeQuential & Mark Kendall with the Oregon Department of Energy discuss biofuels in the Northwest. Download from KLCC here.

Ford: Americans don't want fuel efficient cars

On Saturday I tabled at the Muddy Boot Festival in Portland and encountered the same supportive message that I've been hearing on a day to day basis for the four years I've been with SeQuential: "Biodiesel is a great idea, but I don't have a diesel car!"

I thought it fitting, with that in mind, when I read this article from Grist: Ford's Fiesta ECOnetic, which gets 65 mpg with a diesel engine, won't be sold in America. According to Ford America President Mark Fields, "We just don't think North and South America would buy that many diesel cars".

Now granted I know that the people I've talked to (from both sides of the isle) across little old Oregon don't represent the majority of the people in the US, but I don't understand why US automakers are so hesitant to offer reliable, long lasting, fuel efficient, diesel vehicles. Pass by any auto dealership and you'll see advertisements promoting "30+ MPG!", as if this is impressive and notable. If people are making purchase decisions based on mileage, which you would assume they are with the recent higher gas prices, why not offer US consumers the same car that is already in production elsewhere in the world?

All conspiracy theories aside, I'm baffled - the market is ripe for high mileage cars, especially diesel. Just look at the market for used Volkswagen TDIs - they consistently sell above their blue book values, especially older models that have smaller engines (and better mileage).

Grand opening of the new SeQuential-Pacific facility

The newly expanded SeQuential-Pacific Biodiesel (SQPB) facility in Salem opened its doors on August 29th. The grand opening ceremony had SQPB investor Willie Nelson on hand and many local business partners like Kettle Foods, Tyree Oil, DeSantis Landscapes, Burgerville, Portland Greenheat, Star Oilco and Cherriots.

The new facility is a major step forward for biodiesel in Oregon - its capacity is five million gallons a year (up from one million) and uses a new technology to produce biodiesel. Traditional biodiesel production uses water during a cleaning process to "wash" the fuel, resulting in wastewater.

The new SQPB facility uses technology developed in-house based on silica; the only byproducts of our biodiesel production are now fertilizer and animal feed! Coupled with the fact that about 90% of our biodiesel comes from locally collected Used Cooking Oil, and you've got one of the most sustainable biodiesel facilities in the world!

Photos: Karen Rippey

Where does your gas money go?

This chart shows where the cost of gasoline at the pump comes from as a percentage. This is not based on biofuel cost, but odds are that it would look fairly similar, since most costs are fixed. A fixed cost doesn't change when the price of fuel changes. Taxes, production, gas station and distribution costs are all generally fixed numbers. For example:

• In Oregon, every gallon of fuel has $0.484 of State and Federal Road Tax on it, regardless of price.

When the price of fuel at the pump is high, credit card fees and crude prices take a larger slice of the pie.

Not shown: where geographically gas money goes. Oregon has zero oil refineries, but several biofuel production plants. It is very difficult (if not impossible) to track where individual gallons of petrol come from - it all gets pooled together in giant tanks before being distributed. That said, according the the Energy Information Administration, the US imports 55% of all petroleum it uses.

What irrigated crop takes up three times more US landmass than corn?

What irrigated crop takes up three times more US landmass than corn?
Look no farther than your front lawn.

This is a story that was released a few years ago, but is still very relevant: people's lawns are slurping up a huge amount of water, fertilizer and herbicides, but giving very little back.

I'm going to try to keep this post from going too much into the benefits of urban gardens, and I know it leaves out those who live in apartments, but the impact of your (or your landlord's) lawn is something you should consider:

• If you water your lawn, what time of day is it - think of evaporation.
• If you water your lawn, is there runoff onto your driveway or sidewalk?
  
• Could your lawn be doing more? Food, flowers and grass alternatives all make more of a positive impact than a lawn.

This is not to say that you should not have a lawn altogether - it is a very nice luxury - but think about how much water you use (dried out grass doesn't need to be mowed!) and if there are any areas in your yard that would work for flowers, bushes, vegetables or berries.

The world is facing many macro issues and quite honestly sometimes it makes you feel a bit helpless. But, as they say, change starts at home, and your personal water / land usage can make a positive impact on the world.

Other tips for saving water:

• Turn off the faucet while shaving or brushing your teeth
• Wash only full loads of dishes and laundry
• Fix dripping and leaking faucets and toilets
• Take shorter showers
• Wash cars less frequently
• Water lawns and gardens on alternate evenings, not every day
• Raise your lawn mower blade height; longer grass needs less water

Get involved: Growing Gardens Portland
Bonus further reading: Sowing the Seeds of Urban Farming.

Encore Oils

Encore Oils
SeQuential is proud to announce the startup of Encore Oils, a subsidiary of SeQuential-Pacific Biodiesel. Encore Oils collects used cooking oil, serving restaurants and businesses in the Pacific Northwest.

Restaurants used to have to pay to get rid of their used cooking oil – now Encore Oils will buy it by the gallon! All collected oil will be taken to Salem to be processed into high quality Oregon-Made Biodiesel. For more information: www.EncoreOils.com.