From the Albert Lea Tribune

The diesel technology program at Riverland Community College is working to bring its students up to speed on new trends toward biofuels. These fuel blends require slightly different ways of managing diesel engines.

With new technology comes changes. Many companies are starting to use biofuels in their vehicles and machines. In turn, this affects how these vehicles and machines are operated and maintained, changing the curriculum needed to educate those who service the vehicles.

“There’s definitely a governmental push to using more renewal and crop-based fuels. I just think it’s terrific,” said diesel technology instructor Mike Bute.

In 2005, the Minnesota Legislature required the use of B2 in the state’s diesel fuel. This means 2 percent of the fuel needs to be biodiesel and 98 percent can be conventional diesel, according to the Minnesota Department of Agriculture. Some distributors use more than 2 percent of biodiesel fuels.

Biofuels are a blend of petroleum and soy diesel. Because of the blend, the fuels need to be treated differently and the vehicles and machines that use the alternative fuels also need to be serviced differently.

“They (the students) need to understand so the people they end up working with do a better job managing,” said Bute.

Bute and his fellow instructors have added to their curriculum to make sure the students are aware of the fuels and how they differ from regular petroleum and diesel. He wants students to be able to inform their customers and drivers about the new technology.

Last fall the department took 36 students to tour Fleetguard and Norsemen Trucking facilities, both in Iowa, and locally EXOL and Soy Mor to see how the industry changing fuels are produced.

Nick Lieding, a student in the program who works on his family farm in Mapleton, said he hasn’t seen a difference in using biodiesel fuels. Lieding said his family has used biofuels since they were offered, before the state mandate to use a blend.

He said farmers like the use of biodiesel because it influences crop price and their goods are used in a new way, thus creating a higher demand in the market and creating a slight rise in prices.

Bute said Lieding’s story is typical, most consumers don’t have too many issues with the new blended fuel and like the idea of its renewable qualities.

However, there is one problem with the new fuel. Biodiesel is more sensitive to the cold weather and will gel or thicken at a warmer temperature than traditional fuels. This may cause the engine to stall, but the problem is manageable.

Pure soy diesel can’t be used in Minnesota because the gelling temperature hovers around the freezing point of water, which is why many distributors use a blend, maxing out at about 20 percent soy diesel.

Cal Benedix, another student in the program, had problems with biodiesel clogging up one of his engines on his family farm. Biodiesel has a cleaning aspect to it and when many consumers add them to their older engines the deposit comes out dark, simply because the biofuel is cleaning out the engine.

Bute said biodiesel has many positives that outweigh the negatives. Soy diesel is a better lubricant, it burns cleaner and has almost as much energy as regular diesel. The fuel economy difference is not noticeable by most consumers, he said.

Plus, “Every gallon of soy diesel that can be used lowers the country’s dependence on foreign oils,” Bute said. “It’s using a renewable resource that is produced here locally.”

Student Ryan Schroeder of Racine said he plans to use more biofuels on his farm, but only in new vehicles. He said he worries about ruining a good thing, if something works why mess with it. Only one vehicle on his family farm currently uses biodiesel and he said he felt the grain truck had more power.

The diesel technology program has been at Riverland for 35 years. It is one of the few programs like it in southern Minnesota. Students learn how to service commercial vehicles, such as mid-range to heavy trucks and buses, along with agriculture and industrial equipment that use diesel fuels.