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Strategies & Market Trends : China Warehouse- More Than Crockery -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: RealMuLan who wrote (2128)	12/19/2003 10:36:55 AM
From: RealMuLan	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 6370

China gas station leads way on biofuel By KEITH EDWARDS Staff Writer Copyright © 2003 Blethen Maine Newspapers Inc. CHINA -- A modest gas station and store on Route 3 is the first in the state to offer motorists a blend of diesel and vegetable oil which can power diesel engines year-round without modification. A blend of 20 percent vegetable oil and 80 percent petroleum is available at a pump that was switched on this week at Frontier Village Market. The fuel, Frontier Energy owners and state officials said, can propel diesel-powered cars and trucks without any changes to the vehicles themselves. "Somebody needs to do it --it's the right thing to do at the right time," said Joel Glatz, a partner in the business with Brad Taylor. "And, frankly, it's one more way to bring people into the store." Officials said the fuel burns cleaner than regular diesel and can be made from plants grown in the United States, potentially reducing the nation's dependence on foreign oil. "It's clean, it's renewable and it's produced in the U.S.A.," Sen. Christopher Hall, D-Bristol, chairman of the Utilities and Energy Committee, said. Hall was on hand for a ribbon-cutting ceremony at the pump Thursday. The biodiesel sells for $1.96 per gallon at the store. Regular diesel is $1.69 per gallon. Hall suggested the Legislature pass a bill to reduce taxes on biodiesel by 20 cents per gallon to help make it a more competitive alternative fuel. Glatz and Taylor said they hope the fuel will at least generate enough revenue to pay for the cost of installing a tank and pump next to the store. "There are people who want this," Taylor said. "There is a green market." Solar Market in Arundel sells 100 percent biodiesel, but Glatz said that fuel can't be used in cold temperatures. centralmaine.com