February 18 2008

The Great Crisco Debacle: Baltimore 2007

The fall/winter of 2007 was a trying time for the Baltimore Biodiesel Co-op. Started just one year earlier as a way to help the biodiesel fans of Baltimore find a fuel source, the group had experienced no major problems and membership was booming! (in biodiesel terms) Things are reported to have gone smoothly within the co-op until November 8th 2007 when the temperatures in Baltimore hit nearly freezing temperatures. That day vehicles stalled, others wouldn't start, and the co-op found that all 10,000 gallons of biodiesel in its main storage tank had congealed into a gigantic stick of Crisco.

The Great Crisco Debacle of 2007 is a tremendously interesting for a number of reasons. First it exposed me to the novel concept of using biodiesel to fuel vehicles and that such groups were not isolated to fringe hippie populations around southern Oregon of the mountains of Colorado. Secondly it underscores the surge in popularity of alternative fuel sources (in 2004 there were 25 million gallons of biodiesel used in the USA / in 2006 there were 400 million gallons used). Third it describes many of the practical problems facing alternative fuel users such as filling locations, vehicle technology, and cost. Last and most significantly for me however is the real story behind the Crisco Debacle. That because of a surge in commodity prices for corn (hence soybean, wheat, and most other crops) biodiesel manufacturers are having to look to non-locally sourced ingredients. In the case of the Baltimore Co-op equatorial palm oil that congeals below 52°F. Global implications even with biodiesel! It is wonderful to see alternative fuel sources being developed. Conversely it is disheartening to hear that even they are subject to sourcing problems that they initially were able to avoid because of their small scale use.

For the whole and very entertaining story please visit the original Baltimore Urbanite article.

For more info on using biodiesel please visit the Baltimore Biodiesel Co-op website or wikipedia.

February 18th, 2008 at 1:05 AM. Posted in Industry + Practice. Share this post.