But we can get away with using B20, can't we? "You can have a good experience using B20," concedes Baker. "You can also have a very bad experience. It depends on the situation." Because manufacturers can't know ahead of time whether you're getting good or bad fuel, they have to err on the side of caution. "We need tighter standards around what the product is going to be so we don't get surprises," says Baker. "What can be perceived as reluctance on the manufacturer's part is really a question of getting the standards in place."
Where does that leave us if we do try it? Is our warranty void? Here, the manufacturers hem and haw. Most don't support use of B20 (except the Chrysler Group, approved use of military-grade B20 in 2007 Dodge Rams), but admit that it would be tough to deny claims for much other than a vehicle littered with fuel receipts from the local soybean grower's co-op, with a clogged filter or corroded fuel pump. In any case, the warranty on non-fuel-system parts should be unaffected.
When is the industry going to get its collective act together and provide standardized, fully or mostly renewable fuel and the vehicles built with the necessary fuel-system components to use it without problems? It'll be at least five years before manufacturers will sell vehicles approved for B20 industrywide, even if an agreeable B20 specification is approved this year, says Baker, because of the need for durability testing of the new parts with the fuel.
Meanwhile, the NBB predicts biodiesel production will accelerate from the 25 million gallons sold nationally in 2004 and approximately 75 million gallons sold in 2005 to a billion gallons a year by 2015.
To find the certified biodiesel source nearest to you, check the NBB's Web site at www.NBB.org. And buy some spare fuel filters.