Why is bio-diesel so much too?

Question

I see a savings of about $.25 a gallon, but still... why isn't it like $2-$3 a gallon? We have a station here in Houston I would love to go to... I have to be able to justify the travel though...

Answer 1

Bio-diesel is actually mostly diesel, so you are really paying for diesel.  The percent of the "bio" is extremely small, that is why many environmentalists don't recommend people drive diesel cars, unless they put all vegetable oil into them, but if you do that on many new diesel cars you will void the warranty if you do.

Answer 2

The US commerce commission says you can not undercut your competitors by more than 6%. That is why The US has a problem with Venasuala selling heating oil in the northern states for 1/3 less to low income, poor and elderly than the other suppliers.

Answer 3

A local (homeschooled) kid has built his own bio-diesel refinery and he is going to build me one.

He says that he can make a gallon of bio-diesel for about .80 cents with used cooking oil.

With a big operation I'm sure the cost per gallon is much higher because of overhead (employees, fueling station, insurance and other costs).  Still it doesn't seem that it should add up to what you say.  Seems they are pricing based on market demand not cost + desired profit margin.

Answer 4

i was invited to go to a meeting about building a biodiesel plant in our area. these people have already built other plants in the u.s. and wanted to locate one close to the feedstock source{soybeans} and close to an area that is centrally located in the deep south part of the u.s. we were told when they priced biodiesel above the price of diesel, sales dropped, except in calif., where they will pay more for it because it reduces pollution in the cities. if they priced it below diesel, sales also dropped because people thought it was an inferior product. when it was priced the same as diesel, sales increased. go figure? oil companies are using biofuels to reduce the cost of diesel and gasoline because they are cheaper and when blended and sold they increase oil companies profits and they can brag about helping the environment.

Answer 5

Because they are a holes just like the Oil Barons.

Answer 6

Oil will be sold for a price that makes its energy cost close to what one would pay for petroleum diesel.

Not all biodiesel is from reclaimed cooking oil. A lot is from new cooking oil, straight from crops like soy or rapeseed. You should not expect a bargain price if demand is high.