Farmers in Washington State are experimenting with canola for biodiesel production as a new cash crop to supplement existing diary or vegetable crop income. Conditions in Snohomish County, which boasts cool temperatures, moist sea air and good soils, are proving to be so ideal for canola growing that yields are vastly outpacing European norms. Last year Snohomish County farmers averaged 158 gallons / 598 L of biodiesel per acre of planted canola compared to just 84 gallons / 318 L of biodiesel per acre in Europe.

Snohomish County, looking to power its 325 diesel vehicles and generators from B20 canola biodiesel, put up $30,000 last year to help fund the experiment and will contribute a further $125,000 over the next two years. Canola biodiesel is about 30-40 cents per gallon more expensive than soy biodiesel but rising fuel prices over the northern Summer could see this issue dissolve if diesel is more expensive than both.

Analysis: Washington state has a mandatory B2 policy in place and has already discussed increasing the blend to five percent in the future. Ideally the state would like to produce its entire biodiesel needs from locally grown feedstocks to bolster their local farming economy.

Related:

• Biodiesel startup Planetary Fuels set for lift off
• NEVs may get more speed in Washington State
• Canola biodiesel crops could damage seed crops in Washington state

[Source: Herald Net]

Click on the photo for a high res gallery from the AEV factory tour

Here are AutoblogGreen, we've done several reports on various neighborhood electric vehicles such as the various models from GEM and a factory visit to American Electric Vehicle that included a drive in their Kurrent. These NEVs typically have very limited performance and in most places are legally limited to no more than 25mph. Now that some of these NEVs are getting more safety features like hydraulic brakes, seat belts, lights and full bodywork, the state of Washington is considering bumping the speed limit to 35mph. If the new legislation goes through, it could definitely increase the popularity of these vehicles in urban environments like Seattle, where drivers don't necessarily need to go very far or fast.

[Source: Seattle Times]

When you’re driving around in certain biodiesel vehicles, one of the strongest emissions is the smell of fried food. While biodiesel vehicles themselves don’t put out as many nasty pollutants as regular diesel or gasoline engines, the biodiesel production process is not as clean, as a large-scale biodiesel producer in Washington State discovered this week.
The Seattle Times reported that a company owned by Air Energy is operating a biodiesel-crushing plant in Creston, WA and has emitted methanol vapors without a permit and spilled vegetable oil or biodiesel on the ground. The plant’s landlord has ordered the plant to stop production.
It’s good that inspectors are cracking down on this plant. If producers want the publicity benefits of producing a more environmentally sound fuel, they need to operate using environmentally sound production standards. Thankfully, a vegetable oil spill is much tastier than a petroleum spill. [Source: Seattle Times]