Promoted by Jeff.
The freshly bankrupt Minneapolis Star Tribune reports: Biodiesel fuel woes close Bloomington schools
All schools in the Bloomington School District will be closed today after state-required biodiesel fuel clogged in school buses Thursday morning and left dozens of students stranded in frigid weather, the district said late Thursday.
Rick Kaufman, the district’s spokesman, said elements in the biodiesel fuel that turn into a gel-like substance at temperatures below 10 degrees clogged about a dozen district buses Thursday morning. Some buses weren’t able to operate at all and others experienced problems while picking up students, he said.
Well, now shouldn’t anyone have considered that before Minnesota passed a huge increase to the state biodiesel mandate? If the school districts are going to have to cancel classes due to a 2-5% biodiesel mix, what is going to happen in 2015 when the mandate is 20% and their fuel turns to slush at 20-30 degrees above zero?
Well, nobody could have foreseen this problem, right? I guess there was this warning back when they first implemented a 2% mandate. But apparently it didn’t concern the state legislature or Governor Pawlenty enough to back off their 20% biodiesel mandate.
There is one way around this problem:
Bloomington staffers tried to get a waiver to bypass the state requirement and use pure diesel fuel, but they weren’t able to do so in enough time, Kaufman said.
Well, that’s quite the work around. So if the government’s own rules are causing problems for units of government, they just look for an exemption. It’s unacceptable that the school district can’t get their buses to run, but it’s just fine and dandy that citizens of the state of Minnesota can’t keep their trucks or other diesel powered equipment running? Where do the taxpayers go for their waiver?
Until the school district’s waiver comes through, at least they got a backup plan:
Kaufman said that some school districts keep their buses in temperature-controlled garages, and that the First Student bus service, which contracts with several metro-area school districts, keeps its buses in garages or idles them through the night.
It’s a small price to pay for saving the earth.
Dan McLaughlin
Moe Lane
Neil Stevens
Steve Maley
Give 'em a break. Who could have predicted it would be cold in MN?
6eorge Jetson (Diary) Friday, January 16th at 5:58PM EST (link)Airplanes testing biodiesal
bobojake (Diary) Friday, January 16th at 6:00PM EST (link)I read that the other day and it just amazes how stupid our Senator and Congressman are.Jjust look at the mandate for mercury filled light bulbs but they don’t worry about the mercury coal fired electric power genators are spewing out. How about going back to something we know something about, nuclear power and drill baby drill. I thank the good Lord every day for being born in America. If i wanted to live like europeans, I would move there. PERIOD
Airplanes testing biodiesal
bobojake (Diary) Friday, January 16th at 6:00PM EST (link)I read that the other day and it just amazes how stupid our Senator and Congressman are.Jjust look at the mandate for mercury filled light bulbs but they don’t worry about the mercury coal fired electric power genators are spewing out. How about going back to something we know something about, nuclear power and drill baby drill. I thank the good Lord every day for being born in America. If i wanted to live like europeans, I would move there. PERIOD
It's all goblity..
Deskpilot (Diary) Friday, January 16th at 6:35PM EST (link)http://www.redstate.com/josh_painter/2009/01/12/the-presidents-new-wings/#comment-2175
If you can read this, thank a teacher. If you can still read it in English, You’re Welcome
Deskpilot, AM(H)1 (AW), USN (Ret)
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(sorry)
Deskpilot (Diary) Friday, January 16th at 6:37PM EST (link)goblity GOOp to me.
Drill Here, Drill NOW, Pay less
(P.S. When drilling through (N.O.W.) be sure to use a sharp drill to go through them)
If you can read this, thank a teacher. If you can still read it in English, You’re Welcome
Deskpilot, AM(H)1 (AW), USN (Ret)
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Maybe Al Franken can fix that for them
Lammo (Diary) Friday, January 16th at 6:51PM EST (link)full of hot air as he is.
Don’t be so open minded that your brains fall out. (John Corapi, The Black Sheep Dog)
All of 'em. I'm surprised it's below freezing in Washington D.C.
Praying (Diary) Friday, January 16th at 6:56PM EST (link)n/t
No!!!11!1!!1!1! The Bilderbergers are coming
Idling all night won't help
Achance (Diary) Friday, January 16th at 6:54PM EST (link)if you don’t have the right diesel fuel. It will congeal in the line and in the tank and never even get to the engine. Even in relatively moderate Juneau,never gets colder than about minus 20, if you have an above ground fuel tank, you have to switch from #2 to #1 diesel in the fall or it will congeal in your tank.
In Vino Veritas
I imagine
zuiko (Diary) Friday, January 16th at 8:52PM EST (link)That the buses have electric fuel heaters and a return line for heated fuel back to the tank, so if it is on the edge of gelling it would probably help to keep them running… but it is not much of a solution, that’s for sure.
Underlying most arguments against the free market is a lack of belief in freedom itself. – Milton Friedman
Here in Minnesota
ConservativeLawStudent Friday, January 16th at 11:18PM EST (link)The state does not think forward far enough forward to realize that a fuel that gels at 10 degrees is a bad idea for MN… I don’t think they are going to invest money in heaters to show that their decision was wrong…
P.S. this is my first post on RS so Hi All!
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Al Gore Probaly wont shut up about Global Warming Either
oklahomajon Friday, January 16th at 10:01PM EST (link)Al Gore probaly wont shutup about Global Warming either maybe someboby send a ticket to Beautiful Downtown Minnapolis but he would not have the gut s to go but i think if shutup about it will affect his pocketbook.
Al Gore
Torture is great when a Democrat orders it! Friday, January 16th at 11:49PM EST (link)Why would he shut up about global warming when you can’t shut up about him? Talk about him more, I’m sure that will get him to go away.
The liberal EcoNazi
1stRichard (Diary) Saturday, January 17th at 10:45AM EST (link)The liberal EcoNazi socialists have a long record of stupidity. It is a fact that steps as simple as improving traffic flow will make a 15 to 20 percent improvement in MPG and emissions but liberal EcoNazis refuse to believe government is the problem. They think government is the solution by restricting individual liberties.
Diesel efficiency has also been around for a long time and 235 MPG diesel cars are a reality, it’s not a Hybrid.
http://gas2.org/2008/05/07/vw-confirms-1l-concept-will-become-reality-in-2010/
But the liberal EcoNazi bans these cars because they “pollute and cause global warming”. There are cars right now that get 60 to 80 MPG and even the best of these clean diesels do not meet the emissions standards in the five states that follow California these ‘clean-air’ regulations. So burning twice as much fuel or more is better? Furthermore these clean-air regulations are likely to be more stringent preventing technology to keep pace with the regulations, and these California ‘clean-air’ regulations are likely to go national with this new administration.
Most Biodiesel is less efficient so we get less MPG and again the savings are minimal. As pointed out we need different grades according to the season thus making some national standard unpractical but that is the way we seem to be headed.
Socialist liberal tree hugging EcoNazis are evil and we need to expose them as such, we need to deregulate with a smaller government making some sensible laws that work, not stifle the individual liberties.