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Home EcoStore Art Events Biodiesel In the News Shop Contact Us SF Bay Area Biodiesel Autopia is a small, independent, woman owned Green Community Hub with an Eco-Store and Biodiesel Filling Station in San Mateo California that sells locally made and sustainable “green” products and high quality commercial biodiesel that meets B100 ASTM standards. We strive to sell only biodiesel made from recycled vegetable oil.	Diesel Particulate Filters Understanding Diesel Particulate Filters and Biodiesel Warning In a 2008 or 2009 car or light duty truck Biodiesel in any blend will dilute your motor oil The problem is not with the Diesel Particulate Filter (DPF), it is with the way some engine manufacturers handle them. Volkswagen, Audi, Mercedes Benz, Dodge and others use something called a Post Combustion Injection to clean out the DPF. PCI does clean out the DPF and it dilutes the motor oil too. Sometimes in very large quantities. In a VW it will cause your check engine light to go on, but if you change your oil often you will be fine. The problem is more intense when driving a MBZ because it will put your car into “Limp Home Mode” which gives you a max speed of about 20 miles an hour (very dangerous on the freeway). From Biodiesel Magazine, May 2008 issue: A New Understanding of Biodiesel’s Dilution Effect Volkswagen is using post-injection for regeneration and according to Stuart Johnson with the Engineering and Environmental Office of Volkswagen Group of America, the issue of oil dilution from biodiesel is a real concern for the automakers. “We can tolerate up to 50 percent fuel mix in the oil but no more,” he said at the 2008 National Biodiesel Conference. Volkswagen tests using B5 and post-injection showed 45 percent oil dilution after 10,000 miles, but surprisingly no engine damage was evident upon inspection. “Using B10 at 10,000 miles surpasses that 50 percent threshold—and that is unacceptable,” Johnson said. “We want longer oil change intervals as a car company, so it’s hard for us to talk about this.” The implications are that increased fuel dilution due to biodiesel blends could lead to premature engine wear if oil changes are not done more often. Read the whole article: http://www.biodieselmagazine.com/article.jsp?article_id=2290&q=&page=all The National Biodiesel Board says: Biodiesel contains no petroleum, but it can be blended at any level with petroleum diesel to create a biodiesel blend. It can be used in compression ignition (diesel) engines with little or no modifications. Click here to see more from the Co-op America Quarterly article (No. 72 Summer 2007) www.coopamerica.org What is biodiesel? Definition from The National Biodiesel Board Biodiesel is the name of a clean burning alternative fuel produced from domestic, renewable resources. Biodiesel contains no petroleum, but it can be blended at any level with petroleum diesel to create a biodiesel blend. It can be used in a compression ignition (diesel) engines with no major modifications. Biodiesel is simple to use, biodegradable, nontoxic, and essentially free of sulfur and aromatics. Click here to see the 2001 Alternative Fuels Presentation from Harvard University (and Ford Motor Company)	Check out this groovy website with a petition that the women from Dogpatch created: SaveBiodiesel.org WRITE A LETTER! Tell the auto manufacturers to fix this problem! Sample letter (in MS Word format from Kumar at Yokayo Biofuels) Manufacturers names and addresses (in MS Word format) Biodiesel Facts: ● Renewable ● Recycled ● Clean burning ● Non-Toxic ● Domestically Produced ● Any diesel car can run on biodiesel without converting the car ● Chicks dig it Information from the National Biodiesel Board: (Adobe Reader Format) Benefits of Biodiesel Commonly Asked Questions Emissions Energy Security Environmental Safety
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