Articles about the City of Monroe's leading bio-diesel efforts

Ahead of the curve: city uses alternative fuel
BY LEE NOLES - MONROE

October 17, 2005

When one thinks of cutting edge, Monroe may follow distantly behind the more trendy metropolitan cities such as Los Angeles or Miami. But when it comes to environmental alternatives, this small Southern town has some big ideas.

The city’s conversion of its entire fleet of diesel vehicles to Biodiesel, a fuel that is based on feed sources similar to vegetable oil and animal fats, has one public manager pleased with the smooth transition, and saying it is proving both cleaner and cheaper.
“It’s been very successful,” said Mike Keziah, the city’s administrative service manager. “We have not had any issues with the conversion. There is no modification to our fleet and we have noticed no ill effects from it. We have been very pleased with it.”

The city’s switch in July of 2004 to the alternative diesel came after what Keziah said was a responsibility for the safety of the environment and a need to cut “American dependency on petroleum based diesel.”

According to the federal government Web site —www.eia.doe.gov— it was estimated that the United States had 11.8 billion barrels of oil imported during a 10-month period in 2004, representing roughly 58 percent of the country’s demand.

Numbers similar to those had Keziah responding in 2002 to a flyer sent by the Centralina Council of Governments calling for a voluntary meeting from local officials.

The council, which is a state supported organization that helps local governments find solutions to problems, conducted a forum in Charlotte for county leaders to address the issue of better environmental choices.

More meetings followed over the next year, resulting in Monroe becoming a member of the Clean Cities Program. Union County is part of a nine-county group that includes Mecklenburg, among others, whose purpose is to help develop alternative fuel choices.

Biodiesel was an option considered, and it had Keziah approaching the Monroe City council in the summer of 2003 about switching to the environmental friendly fuel.

“They were real progressive in this,” said Keziah of the council. “and they were already aware. It had already been presented to managers and mayors, and they were eager to do their part. It just comes back to helping out the public.”

Keziah said that the city had little problem in the transition of its 83 highway vehicles and 74 off road maintenance trucks to the alternative fuel that can also be made from soybeans and blended with regular diesel.

The city uses a B20 fuel that mixes 20 percent Biodiesel with 80 percent petroleum.

According to Keziah, the solution has cut down on carbon dioxide emission by 12.2 percent and is five cents cheaper than the normal prices for diesel.

Keziah said that numbers released this week by the state’s department of administration has prices for diesel set at $2.96 a gallon.

Keziah figures the city is saving nearly $4000 a year on the new gas and because Biodiesel can be made from a natural product, the fuel has even made maintenance easier.

“Being made out of vegetable oil, it provides a whole lot more lubrication in the engine,” Keziah said. “And it runs better and it helps clean the engine, just because of the nature of how its manufactured.”

Monroe also has only one of the eight distributors in the state that offers Biodiesel.

The Monroe Oil Company has made the alternative fuel available for the past year and supplies not only Monroe but also Charlotte’s transportation services.

“It just made sense,” said Olin Furr , President of the Monroe Oil Company. “It’s made from soy beans or what I buy is soy based and so it helps the farming community and it can cut down on foreign use. If we can grow it in our own backyard, then why not use it.”

June 4, 2004

In these days of higher gas prices, many would think paying higher prices for fuel would be out of the question. But as alternative fuels, that are much more environmentally sound, are made available the extra cost is worth the end result.

One such alternative fuel is being distributed by Monroe Oil Company and is catching the eye of environmentally conscious patrons, as well as municipalities.
Monroe Oil is distributing biodiesel to all who will dare to pay the little extra to reduce emissions and use the cleaner burning fuel in their diesel engine vehicles.

"Biodiesel helps with the air quality and is much more environmentally friendly that regular diesel fuel," said Olin Furr, Monroe Oil Company president.

The city of Monroe and the town of Matthew's have signed on to use biodiesel in their vehicles, and Furr said the various state vehicles and buses already use a biodiesel blend.

Biodiesel is the name of a clean burning alternative fuel, produced from domestic, renewable resources and contains no petroleum, but can be blended at any level with petroleum diesel to create a biodiesel blend, used mostly to keep costs down.

With a 2 percent blend of biodiesel, individuals can expect to pay about 3 cents more than petroleum diesel, for a 5 cent blend, roughly 8 cents more and for a 20 percent blend, roughly 25 cents more.

"The city council made the decision some time last year to switch to the Biodiesel because Monroe is part of the Clean City coalition and one of the initiatives outlined was the utilization of Biodiesel and we felt it was a measure we could reach," said Monroe City Manager Doug Spell.

Spell said the city will begin using the biodiesel blend when the city's current supply of petroleum diesel is depleted. He acknowledge the cost of using the biodiesel will be anywhere from 20 to 30 cents higher, but said the environmental benefits are worth it.

He added it will be used on the city's street vehicles and has not been determined if it will be used in the city's heavy machinery. "This is a positive thing that is good for the environment," he said.

The sale of biodiesel has grown from roughly 500,000 gallons in 1999 to an estimated 25 million gallons in 2003.

Aside from being a renewable energy source, the use of biodiesel in a conventional diesel engine results in substantial reduction of unburned hydrocarbons, carbon monoxide, and particulate matter compared to emissions from diesel fuel. In addition, the exhaust emissions of sulfur oxides and sulfates (major components of acid rain) from biodiesel are essentially eliminated compared to diesel.

Furr said he will be installing a pump for the biodiesel at the BP #4 on U.S. 74 at Morgan Mill Road for people in the community to use in their diesel vehicles.

He added the biodiesel acts like a solvent and actually cleans accumulations on tanks and pipes that may clog filters initially.

For more information on biodiesel and possible use in vehicles, contact Furr at Monroe Oil Company at (704) 289-5438. More information on biodiesels can be found on the Internet at www.biodiesel.org.