As employees of Mountain Biofuel pump 800 gallons of fuel into a semi-truck and three tours buses, they might hear “Bring Me Some Water” being played nearby.
As the new Biofuel distribution business opens this week, one of their first customers
will be Melissa Etheridge, who is currently on a Southwest tour and will pass through Flagstaff. The rocker intends to buy hundreds of gallons for her fleet of tour vehicles.
Mountain Biofuel’s President Rand Anderson, who is also a local Flagstaff musician, said their service will help the community reduce dependence on foreign oil and support American farmers.
“Burning Mountain Biofuel’s biodiesel is a positive step diesel owners can take to make our air cleaner and our world safer,” said Andy Bessler, Mountain Biofuel’s Vice President.
According to Mountain Biofuel officials, the current cost of the vegetable-based fuel is $3.10 a gallon, which is very close to the statewide average of $3.08 a gallon.
The company does not have a station to pump your own gas and instead offers home delivery with their 2,500-gallon delivery truck.
Mountain Biofuel sells high-quality B99, a mixture of 99 percent virgin soybean oil-based biodiesel and one percent petrol diesel, although they plan to offer another blend, called B-20, to be used in cold weather conditions.
Customers can put blended biodiesel in their tanks straight or mix with any blend of diesel with no engine modification.
Jonathan Kohen, conservation manager for the city, said he is thrilled to see a local biodiesel provider.
“Since 2003, the city has realized incredible benefits from running city vehicles on biodiesel,” said Kohen.
“As the benefits of reduced emissions, domestically produced fuel and driver stewardship become more evident; biodiesel will continue to increase in popularity. Mountain Biofuels is responding the community’s needs and will play an important role in Flagstaff’s future.”
The city has demonstrated a preference to purchase vehicles which can run on biodiesel or are hybrid-vehicles like the popular Toyota Prius.
All city vehicles which run on diesel switched to using biodiesel in 2003.
The city has added an additional $70,000 to its budget next year to purchase seven hybrid/flex-fuel vehicles upgrading them rather than conventional vehicles.
The Mountain Line Transit system and Flagstaff Unified School District both used diesel-powered buses, which could convert their fleets to biodiesel in the future.
Local contractor Matt Robinson of Western Strawbale is already burning Mountain Biofuel’s biodiesel.
“Western Strawbale is proud to use Mountain Biofuel biodiesel for transportation and to operate electricity on our job sites,” said Robinson. “Having biodiesel available at the retail level is an extremely positive step for Flagstaff.”
J. Ferguson can be reached at jferguson@azdailysun.com or 556-2253.
If you go: The press conference will be held on Monday, at 11 am at Heritage Square in downtown Flagstaff.
More information on Mountain Biofuels can be found at: http://mountainbiofuel“>http://mountainbiofuel or by calling (928) 380-1644.