Homebrewer fire in Maine

I came across an article about a fire associated with biodiesel homebrewing in Brunswick, Maine. This is just the second such incident that I'm aware of, based on monitoring relevant news articles, although a quote from a NFPA official in the article implies that there have been others. The article prompted me to review the blog post Eric wrote a year ago in response to a similar incident here in Arizona; Eric's thoughts, and the insightful comments on the post by Hans Huth, remain quite relevant. It also got me thinking about our meeting the City of Phoenix Biodiesel Task Force. The task force went silent as far as I know -- perhaps for the best, given the heavy-handed approach they appeared to be to adopting. I also was reminded of the quote from the US Fire Administration concerning homebrew biodiesel -- "The overall process is legal and relatively safe when properly performed" -- a useful point for regulators and policymakers to keep in mind.

Waste-based biofuels efforts in AZ

This issue warrants a more expansive post, but the addition of Tuscon-based EDG to the mix (see Biofuels Digest's Feb. 19th article "EDG to launch 1.5 Mgy waste based biodiesel plant in Arizona") makes a total of at least four companies in AZ focused on waste grease-based biofuel production. The others include AZ Biodiesel, Amereco and AZ Green Dining Network. (The website of Mountain Biofuel in Flagstaff reports that it is currently not operating.)

Additionally, the member-driven Dynamite Biofuels Co-op in Cave Creek is going strong.

Waste oil-based biofuels just make sense. We applaud the efforts of all of these organizations. Please give them your support!