Is the use of WVO or other alternate fuels legal?

[weedeater]

I was listening to the local news on the radio during the drive in the other day. There was a 30-sec blurb about the use of WVO (pros/cons/etc). Listening to it, most of it was something like "yeah, you can do it, but you need to be careful" or sumsuch. But the last 5 seconds a statement was made to the effect of "the use of these fuels may be illegal. The EPA is investigating the usage of waste vegetable oil conversions..."

And that got me thinking. Is it legal strictly from the emissions perspective to used a fuel in a vehicle that has not been approved for street use by the EPA?

PS: I'm not trying to start a long winded argument about the pros and cons of bio fuels. I just want to know about this aspect.

 

[philngrayce]

Most likely not legal. For the time being, the EPA seems to be looking the other way. At least one EPA employee is driving a greasecar.

The other issue is taxes, and the vast majority of folks running WVO, and probably also homemade biodiesel, are not paying them.

 

[aja8888]

ANY automobile fuel or fuel additive in the US has to pass strict EPA testing to get approved for sale to the public. This has to do with meeting air emissions requirements on tailpipe exhaust and some human health effects criteria.

I was at a plant recently that made a fuel injector cleaning additive. They had to go through about a year of testing by a third party hired by EPA to get approvals to sell their product.

All motor fuel must meet federal and sometimes state specifications for a number of criteria. Then there is the tax issue....

So, WVO may be a problem going forward if the gov elects to enforce the Clean Air Act and the 1990 amendements to it.

 

[vgmnstr]

You raise a very interesting question about the environmental legality of the use of this fuel. To my knowledge, wvo and biodiesel use have have a more positive impact. Both fuels are sulfur free, which is now an important issue. Petrol diesel has significantly reduced its sulfur content in the last 5 years. Lower sulfur means less sulfur-dioxide emissions from the cars, and less acid rain formation. There is also the "carbon-neutral" aspect of both fuels. The fuel is organic, and the plants that are turned into fuel absorb equal if not more carbon-dioxide than emitted as exhaust. The only negative impact is the NOx emissions that are generated from these fuels. Even with petrol diesel, the new diesel designs are incorporating cat-converters and urea injection systems to try and burn off most of the NOx emissions. There is little we can do to cut down on that emission in the wvo and biodiesel, but the new emission control systems on newer cars should combat that. For the future, I don't for see the EPA raising much of a stink over the use of biofuels.

As for the tax issue... this will vary from state to state. Some states have adapted a policy of tax exemption for those use less than a specific amount. What that number is, I have no idea, but it is geared towards the home user like us. In other states, you are required to pay a fuel tax. Here in Iowa, it is a "road use" tax. A certain amount of pump fuel is considered a road use tax, and is just part of buying fuel. It's only 20 cents per gallon for either wvo, svo or biodiesel. Sure, I wish the government would be forgiving and wvo use should be free, but 20 cents per gallon is tremendously better than 400 cents per gallon.

 

[93FryGuy]

Yes, technically, the EPA does not recognize WVO as a motor fuel. Although it is being done, it is not a pressing concern for the EPA.
I pay $.28/gal for my usage which goes for road use here in OH, so I am legelized with the state of OH, but on the federal level, I really do not know. However, I know that it is a good fuel to be used, even if EPA cannot see it

 

[lupin..the..3rd]

It's kind of like installing the popular E-code headlamps. They give better light for you as the driver, AND they emit less glare for others on the road, plus they're made of glass (not plastic) so they won't cloud and yellow with age. All positives, no negatives. Although technically, they're illegal because they're not DOT approved. However, no one else is really gonna know unless you go around announcing it, so everyone gets away with it.

Just don't cover your car with stupid wvo signs and stickers and no one will be the wiser.

 

[Chasee]

No, not technically legal. Here's why, in its current form, WVO can never be approved:

Far too many variables like feedstock and contaminants to ever be able to get an accurate emissions profile.

It is conceivable that a standard could be created, but that's not even been done in Germany, where they have a standard for SVO as a road fuel.

 

[kcfoxie]

If you dig around, someone (I hope they chime in here) listed a federal statute about fuel taxes. If you consume less than 200 gallons or some such of self-produced fuel, taxes are not to be paid. This applied to any road used fuel.

In North Carolina if you use WVO or Biodiesel and consume/produce less than 2000 gallons per year, you pay no state taxes.

If you're buying Biodiesel from a cooperative or commercial retailer, fed and state taxes are already paid and reflected in the price (or should be).

Biodiesel is regulated by the EPA, but they don't have a "standard" set for what the output of B100 should be. Regardless, it's a legal road fuel -- else you'd have a lot of truck an TDI owners in Iowa up in arms. With Whole Foods operating their fleet on B80-B100, and WalMart going B20, I find it very hard for anyone to say that biodiesel isn't regulated by the EPA.

 

[diarchangel]

The feds are coming very close to recognizing WVO although they won't call it that. They are very proactive about encouraging people to use alt. fuels. Visit this very informative and helpful site:
http://www.eere.energy.gov/afdc/about.html

 

[aja8888]

It's going to be itnteresting to see what transpires with alternative energy for use in motor vehicles. As I mentioned in a post above earlier this month, the EPA has fuel additive people going nuts trying to meet tailpipe emissions for things like injection cleaners, etc. They also are requiring health effects studies on those additive compounds. I personally have seen this process in action.

This stuff relates to the commercial market right now as that is what EPA can easily regulate. Since the diesel manufacturers (VW, MB, BMW, etc) have to jump through so many hoops to get their cars passed using USLD, doesn't it follow that if the cars were to use "other" fuel, the testing would apply to those situations?

It's going to be interesting if a commercial supplier of WVO comes into the market and has to meet the same standards as other regulated fuel suppliers.

 

[evangelos]

all biodiesel and wvo as fuel is legal in quebec canada!!

the article is listed on the quebec side of this website.

 

[dbeag]

I cuarntly pay $.28 state tax.

When I contacted the Fed I was told " We have no tracking form for alternative fuel, you just keep track of your production and send a check per quater to (this address ) at a rate of $.23 per gallon. We are working on that though." I laughed and asked, do I make the check payable to you?. He didnt find the humor I did in that. I politly thanked him, hung up and went on with brewing!

 

[dieseldorf]

Is the use of WVO or other alternate fuels legal?

WE, this is tantamount to asking Bill Clinton if he had sex with Monica

 

[BioDiesel]

It is not strictly legal. However several emissions tests have shown that SVO and WVO emissions are equal to or lower than LSD and ULSD in the same vehicle. The EPA would have to use scare tactics. OTOH, the Govenor of California drives a WVO HumVee on the advice of on of his state secretaries.