Hey, someone’s on the right track! Arora just pointed out this article about Harvard University installing a Biodiesel station in Cambridge. This is pretty cool, though it looks like it’s not a public station.
Why is this important to me? Well, I drive a VW Golf with a TDI (Turbo Diesel Injection) engine in it. It’s a wonderful car, and I get obscene miles on it (about 45mpg)… this is great for a car that has a heckuva lot of torque for only a 93hp engine.
What we need now is a general station or two in the Boston area so I can switch over to using biodiesel fulltime. This ladies webpage has a lot of interesting tidbits about her and her son switching to TDI engines running Biodiesel fulltime, including the problem of going 100% biodiesel (it tends to clog the fuel filter right after you switch, since the biodiesel will clean out a lot of the deposits already in the engine and fuel system).
There’s apparently a couple of Biodiesel dealers here in Boston. The forums seem to say that you should buy it in 55gallon drums and store it locally, topping off your own tank as needed. Better than driving to Chelsea every couple weeks, I have to admit.
Maybe I’ll call them up and find out how much they’re charging (prices seem to range between $1.85 and $3 per gallon for B100 (100%) biodiesel fuel.
Still, paying a little extra, in a car that gets extraordinary mileage, for something that is immensely cleaner than normal diesel, sure makes it tempting.
