Animal vs. vegetable
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Your mention of fuel from vegetable waste in the feature on Piedmont Biofuels ("8 Days a Week," Dec. 19) gave the impression that its product is entirely plant-based.
According to Piedmont Biofuels leader Lyle Estill, only a small portion ("several hundred gallons a week") comes from waste vegetable oils, produced at the co-op in Moncure. The bulk ("closer to 25,000 gallons/week"), from the industrial facility in Pittsboro, uses waste chicken fat.
Anyone thinking that they're doing the planet a favor by purchasing biodiesel from Piedmont Biofuels should look a little more closely at it. The confusion over biodiesel feedstocks results directly from information presented by Piedmont Biofuels. With repeated references to plant oils on its main Web pages, and without a specific statement otherwise, the term "multi-feedstock" can easily be assumed to mean different plants. While animal fat is mentioned in Piedmont Biofuels' blogs, the theme of the upfront presentation is sustainability of plant-based energy.
For example, the lead paragraph on the "Our Story" page states: "From the beginning, Piedmont Biofuels has focused on small-scale biodiesel production. Our expertise lies in small reactor design for making fuel out of waste vegetable oil."
Then, the "Education" section touts "Vegetable Oil as Alternative Fuel," with reference to it in a separate pdf file. There are many other examples.
The use of animal feedstocks financially aids the producers of them by providing one more revenue stream, allowing them to avoid disposal costs—whether it is the main item produced or incidental to the production of some other. If you purchase a product, you support its production.
Given the energy-intensive (typically petroleum-based) nature of raising meat, and the inefficiencies of conversion of plant protein to animal protein (with the associated waste of water and land), animal-derived biodiesel is not eco-friendly. If Piedmont Biofuels is earnest about promoting alternatives to an unsustainable energy policy, it seems contradictory that it would formulate animal-based biodiesel.
Joe Regan
Raleigh
Editor's note: The Independent article specifically referred to a tour of the Piedmont Biofuels co-op in Moncure, where vegetable-based biodiesel is produced.
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With all due respect Joe, this sounds like what Voltaire was considering when he said that "The perfect is the enemy of the good." As a vegan, I find CAFO's (confined animal feeding operations) reprehensible. As a planetary citizen, I find petroleum reprehensible as well. Poultry farmers have been getting paid for their poultry fat for years, this is not a new revenue stream for them created by biodiesel demand. Poultry fat gets fed to cattle, swine, and poultry, and turned into cosmetics among other uses. Small scale biodiesel producers, who are offering an alternative to petroleum, are trying to stay commercially viable by utilizing the feedstocks that are most cost effective; these usually end up being ones that are found closest to home. A firm like Piedmont Biofuels has two clear choices today - utilize feedstocks that are financially sustainable, or cease operations and send their customers back to petroleum diesel. As you may be aware, biodiesel plants are shuttering their doors nationwide today due to the costs of canola, soy, poultry fat, tallow, and WVO (waste vegetable oil.) I understand that Piedmont Biofuels is actively seeking to grow its collection of locally available waste cooking oil. Any generators of waste cooking oil should give them a call to sign up for their free collection service. In the meantime, they are utilizing a locally available feedstock that was previously going to uses including feeding yet more CAFOs. I, for one, feel that the diversion of this material from the digestive tract of another animal is a good thing. I certainly agree with you that biodiesel made from waste vegetable oil is a much "better: product than biodiesel made from poultry fat, and I look forward to the day when companies like Piedmont Biofuels can get all of their feedstocks from local restaurants. I also understand that every bite of the organic soy based tempeh and tofu that I sustain myself with came from large soy farms that unintentionally killed many animals (insects, rodents, mammals through tilling and distribution.) It's not always easy to know where to draw the line. Respectfully, Bob Armantrout Moncure
Bob, You didn't address one of Joe's main points in his letter. He was saying that Piedmont has failed to make memebers and the public aware of selling chicken fat at the pumps. Sure you can find in tucked away back in a blog somehere. You have made some good points but your no vegan I would like to hang out with. Yes aniamal waste products has been used for alot of things in the past. That is no reason to keep up the same using them in the same way. Many aware people are buying non animal goods in this day and time, I hope that you and other will join in. Regards, A real VEGAN in Raleigh.... Joe
Joe, Fair enough. We have all been working tirelessly with minimal staff all winter, trying to fight the cold and the equally tireless upward trend in feedstock prices. We are, as always, doing the best we can. I believe we've referenced our recycled poultry feedstock several times in our co-op membership e-mails, but I agree we could do a better job at making it clear. Thank you for the tip. On the bright side, we are still displacing mideast imported crude oil, one gallon at a time, with a local waste product. Imagine what might happen if we all stopped complaining about the imperfect, and tried to focus on the good. . . -e.
It's quite easy to complain when you're not the one taking the risks! If you'd like to move completely to vegetable based feedstock, they have a number of investigative projects I'm sure they'd be grateful to have your financial assistance with. Put up or shut up.
Evan, I can understand your frustrations with what Piedmont Biodiesel is going through. I wish Piedmont the best. I agree that our dependency on foreign oil is not good. But one of the imperfects is also what the pig industry does to the enviroment(land waste,water waste as Joe Regan said in the orginal reply) Dale, Piedmont Industral is a business, I have no desire to invest in a bussiness that is not going out of there way to inform everyone what there current feedstock is. You might say Piedmont is getting off on the wrong foot to make me want to buy in. Hopefully with Joe Regans orginal post,some much needed changes will be in the works soon for Piedmont Biodiesel. Best To All Joe H. Raleigh
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