Roadrunner Gas and Liquor has brought alternative fuels to South Lake Tahoe's mainstream with the opening of a public biodiesel pump in Meyers this week.

Although use of the card-locked pump requires registration with the state of California, the application is brief and the card comes in the mail after three to four days, according to the pump's first customer, Geoff Clarke, co-owner of Natural Energy Designs, Inc., a South Lake Tahoe-based green building and remodeling company.

"The beauty is, once you get your card, the pump is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week," said Clarke, who bought 12.5 gallons of biodiesel for his work truck on Monday afternoon.

Roadrunner is currently offering a B99 blend (99 percent Biodiesel, 1 percent petroleum-based diesel) at $3.50 per gallon, with a 20 cents per gallon discount for construction industry professionals.

A B20 blend (20 percent Biodiesel, 80 percent petroleum-based diesel) will be offered during the winter months. The B20 blend is necessary for South Lake Tahoe's winter because pure biodiesel coagulates at approximately 30 degrees Fahrenheit.

"It's about the same price as regular diesel right now, but the environmental benefits are so much better," Clarke said. "I'd pay four or five bucks a gallon."

The price of biodiesel has been driven up in recent years due to cost increases in the vegetable oils and alcohol used in its production, according to Carlo Luri, general manager of Bently Biofuels in Minden.

A vegetable oil derivative, biodiesel is biodegradable, renewable, nontoxic, and its use leads to "substantial reductions" of unburned hydrocarbons, carbon monoxide and particulate matter when compared to emissions from regular diesel, according to the California Energy Commission.

"It looks just like water," said Mike Murphy, owner of the Meyers gas station, "It has very little smell; it's really kind of cool."

Biodiesel can be used in most unmodified diesel engines, although the fuel may damage hoses in older vehicles, according to South Lake Tahoe biodiesel user Cory Hannaford.

The owner of Sierra Sustainable Builders, Hannaford also recommended a gradual switch from traditional diesel to biodiesel blends over a period of weeks to ease engine wear.

Murphy started looking into turning the station's back pump into a biodiesel pump, after he bought the station in October with his wife, Jaqueline Wollman.

"We've always been concerned about renewable fuels and limiting our impact on the environment," Murphy said.

Murphy found a California provider in LC Biofuels, L.L.C., which produces approximately 1,000 gallons of biodiesel a day at its Richmond production plant from 100 percent canola oil.

Applications for cards to operate the Meyers pump can be found at www.lcbiofuels.com.



Biodiesel Sales Volume Estimates in the U.S.

2005 - 75 million gallons

2004 - 25 million gallons

2003 - 20 million gallons

2002 - 15 million gallons

2001 - 5 million gallons

2000 - 2 million gallons

1999 - 500,000 gallons

Source: The National Biodiesel Board



Road to the weekend

High gas prices shouldn't affect the flow of traffic into South Lake Tahoe this Memorial Day weekend, although one survey predicts travelers will be spending less overall.

"It's normal; bookings are about status quo," said Pete MacRoberts, vice president of the South Lake Tahoe Lodging Association. "With this good weather, hopefully we'll get a lot more California people."

MacRoberts' optimism may ring true, according to statistics from the Automobile Association of America.

"Just under five million Californians are expected to travel 50 miles or more this Memorial Day weekend," according to a press statement from the AAA of Northern California. "This represents an overall 1.6 percent increase from last year."

Although the roads to Tahoe may be as busy as ever, the car club predicted consumers would try and spend less on other items over the holiday weekend.

"This year our AAA Travel survey projects that the average household will spend $594 during Memorial Day weekend," said Cynthia Harris, spokesperson for AAA of Northern California, in a press statement. "But with hotel rates up 13 percent from last year, travelers will probably be staying in less expensive hotels and eating in cheaper restaurants."