I get asked all the time what it'd take to sell Biodiesel.
My canned answer is "It ain't worth it!".
But, some are persistent and continue to want to know why I
feel the way I do.
Well, let's start from the top...
When I first got into this glorious fuel, I had big dreams of
making and selling Biodiesel to people and getting stinking
rich (me and every other person that gets into it probably
thinks the same thing....)
Well, I spent literally MONTHS researching the possibility of
selling bio and in my quest to do so figured I'd be much
happier teaching people how to make it themselves and selling
them the supplies to do it instead.
Here's why...
1) Competition.
Everyone AND THEIR DOG wants to sell Biodiesel. As soon as
someone discovers they can make the stuff, out come the dollar
signs in their eyes and they start wanting to sell the stuff.
For about every 100 people that think it, 1 of them does. And,
the ones that do have to fork out a lot of time, money and
investment.
Let's put it this way. The competition is stiff and getting
stiffer each day
2) Going Legal is a nightmare!
If you're going to sell Biodiesel and do it legally (which is
the ONLY way I propose you should do it), then my friend, you
are up for one heck of a big surprise.
Here's a few reasons why.
A- Permitting....
So, ya think you wanna make Biodiesel in a residence eh? Well,
I bet your zoning and health department don't want you doing
that. The water department would also want to talk to you and,
oh yeah, how ya gonna measure out the biodiesel to sell it
accurately? In comes the Standard & Weights folks.
How ya gonna tax it? The feds & the state ALWAYS want
their fair share of what you sell and Biodiesel is no
different.
How bout certifying you're making ASTM Bio? That ain't cheap!
Oh yeah, what about registering your fuel with the EPA? You
know, because IT'S THE LAW!!! Yep. That's painful too. Why?
Because to do so you'll be forced to join the National
Biodiesel Board because they were the ones that did all the
Health & Human Testing on the stuff and hold the
proprietary information on it...and because I bet you ain't
got the millions of dollars that it cost them to do the
testing yourself.
Now, how about selling it & distributing it? Did you know
that your trucks have to be certified? Do you have a DOT
Drivers license? Whip out that Drug Screen Test! It's
mandatory folks! So is a DOT physical!
And the list goes on and on and on....
For a view of what Piedmont Biofuels had to do, check out
their nightmare...
http://energy.biofuels.coop/2007/01/05/the-permits/
Now, once you have all THAT done, how will you market the
fuel? How will you distribute it? How will you ensure that you
have enough feedstock and that the feedstock you get will
always be consistent?
How will you dispose of all that glycerin? What about storing
all that lye and methanol? I bet the fire marshal will have a
few things to say about that....
And the list just goes on and on and on.....
So, if you think you're really up to the task and really want
to give it a go, more power to you! But remember, I warned
you!
...ok, seriously, if you do want to go legal and want to sell
the stuff, I highly recommend a book on how to do it.
It's called Building a Successful Biodiesel Business and is
published by the absolute authorities in Biodiesel in the
United States.
Here's the link to it:
Biodiesel
Basics
I highly recommend it.
So, if you're still seeing those dollar signs in your eyes, go
for it! Just be sure to give me a ring when you need
equipment! I'd be happy to hook you up!
-Graydon
