I got into biodiesel in the spring of '03 when I went to an Earthday Fair and met Dr. Dan, who sells biodiesel commercially here in Seattle at Dr. Dan's Alternative Fuel Werks.  He had a sample in a plastic water bottle, and I was amazed and excited that such innocuous looking stuff could work as fuel. I also loved the fact that it's so non-toxic and biodegradable.  Also, this was around the time when the Iraq war was starting, which seemed to me to have more to do with protecting US oil interests than anything else. I felt that using biodiesel in my own car was one small thing I could do as a statement that I support a sustainable fuel economy rather than the current corrupt and unsustainable system.

Coincidentally, my trusty old Toyota Tercel wagon had over 200K miles on it, and it was time to look for another car. I looked at similar small wagons, but the lousy mileage kept bugging me. Eventually I discovered the VW Jetta Wagon TDI (turbo direct injection) which has a modern diesel engine (peppy and not stinky like the old diesels). These great cars are a bit hard to find used, since I understand they're only made in one factory in Germany, and their distribution to the US market is very limited. After test driving a new one, I searched around and finally got one on Ebay from a dealer in Florida. I paid an extra $1000 for shipping, but it was still much cheaper than any used ones I'd seen in Seattle. My car is a 2002 and it's been running great on biodiesel since I got it.

I bought biodiesel from Fuelwerks for quite a while, but was attracted to the idea of making it myself.  I met someone at a biodiesel-making workshop who said he was forming a little coop to make it, and welcomed my participation. But they had trouble getting organized, and I finally decided to go ahead and set up to make it in my own garage.  I feel like a kid again and a mad scientist too, as I make my brew. I did have a lab in the basement of my house growing up, where I looked at cells and stuff, and then worked for years in biomedical research. Making biodiesel is a lot easier, and a lot less esoteric.

My partner was used to my "hairbrain" ideas, and let me take over the garage to set up my operation.  Actually, the processor fits in a corner of the garage, but I've taken over the workbench with bottles for test-batches, pH paper, isopropyl acolhol, filters- you get the idea.  The floor of the garage is strewn with 5 gallon plastic jugs filled with either oil, biodiesel, or glycerin.

For the past couple of years, I've managed to bring biodiesel into my work life:

It's a natural, since I work with middle school teachers to help them incorporate environmental health (EH)into their curriculum (see my UW job's website). Biodiesel is a great EH issue, and it's one that kids readily relate to. Most of them ride the bus to school each day, and I'll bet more than a few have experienced breathing problems or asthma attacks as a result of breathing those fumes (see Biodiesel Bus section). I'm hoping to do lots of presentations to kids this year about the wonders of biodiesel.

Also, this year, I've helped to form a new and exciting group called the Breathable Bus Coalition, which aims to influence the school districts in Seattle and surrounding area to use biodiesel in its buses. Several recent studies have shown that children riding the bus are exposed to significant levels of diesel exhaust, which can trigger asthma, and contains many carcinogenic compounds.

I also go to the monthly meetings of the NW Biodiesel Network, which brings all interested biodieselers together at the Phinney Community Center on the last Tuesday of every month from 7 - 8 PM. It's a great way to get connected to others in the area and keep up on the latest biodiesel news and events.

Recently I joined a new group called Centrobiodiesel has formed, which seeks to bring biodiesel to Central America, especially rural areas. It's exciting to think of helping to empower people to make their own fuel!