If you’re on the road this weekend, I hope you were assigned a trip with lots of miles so you can spend time driving – not parked and idling in some hot truck stop somewhere. I know there are many of you empty sitting out the weekend. Some of you are on your 34-hour recharge of hours. Other drivers, I’m sure, are glad for the down-time, even though they’re not at home, and are taking an overdue shower and doing laundry.
I’m with you all in spirit having spent many years back in the bunk trying to pass the time over holiday’s. For those of you who are short on money, with no more cash advances available, hang in there. Drivers, not having an APU, trying to keep your idle time down in the 100 degree heat because you were given a hard time by some fuel supervisor, who is at home with his family poolside, please do what you need to keep yourself comfortable – screw the safety department. Don’t overeat, but certainly treat yourself – get some delicious French fries.
How is that for a segue? Our trucking news item today is related to what we all love to eat. We have to look to our trucking brethren off our shores, over in the United Arab Emirates, the UAB, where there are also McDonald’s restaurants – 37 of them. The menu is very similar to what is offered here in the US. The breakfast is real popular. They also have trucks stops there. A driver can order a McRoyale, a Big Tasty, a McArabia Kofta (a Middle Eastern meatball made of lamb or beef) or any of the other popular items that are offered in this country, including fries.
There is an interesting and innovative twist here – the UAB McDonald’s are using their used vegetable oil and converting it into 100% biodiesel to power the fast food’s giant delivery trucks. This is being reported in a piece by Michael Casey for the Associated Press – AP. The firm – partner – with McDonald’s – Neutral Fuels LLC – that is undertaking this process says: “It’s the first time we are doing it with a fuel that burns 50% cleaner than normal diesel and has a lower carbon footprint because it’s coming from a waste vegetable product.”
“The McDonald’s trucks are being fueling with pure biodiesel – not a mix – as used in the US and England. It is the first time any company has tried to do it in the Middle East, a region where the incentives are lower to use alternative fuel because oil is so cheap and plentiful. One of reasons to do this is prove to people that you don’t have to modify your vehicle to run biodiesel. The technology is so good and McDonald’s oil of such good quality that we can produce biodiesel for the same price that you can buy normal diesel on the street.”
The use of biodiesel in trucks here in the US – I hear they’re even trying algae as a substitute fuel – is covered quite well over at BIODIESEL MAGAZINE. More so than trucking, there is significant action on the use of biodiesel in the airline sector. For example, reported on by Ben LeFebvre of Dow Jones Newswires -Biofuel production in the U.S. has a mixed track record.”
“But for the aerospace sector, it is a dead serious business. Fuel represents about 40% of airline carriers’ total cost – and oil that costs (+/-) $100 a barrel is a major incentive for airlines and aviation companies to find an alternative. Companies such as Boeing Co., US Airways Group and Alaska Airlines are aggressively pursuing renewable jet fuel, or "biojet," made from waste grease and vegetable oil to replace some of the 17 billion gallons of petroleum-based fuel the aviation industry consumes every year in the U.S.”
LeFebvre goes on to make this important distinction between the airline industry and that of cars and trucks – “The aviation sector’s keen interest in biofuels contrasts with that of the greater consumer market, where renewable fuels seem to have stalled.”
“Corn ethanol, which represents 10% of fuel consumption in the U.S., has been criticized for having a dubious environmental record, and auto makers and refiners are resisting U.S. government attempts to increase the amount of ethanol blended into gasoline. “Biodiesel production, a hot industry in 2007, has ground to a halt. Some point to electric cars as being a better alternative than biofuels to reduce fossil-fuel consumption in the U.S.”
The link to his article can be found here Fox/Dow Jones/LeFebvre LOTR Biodiesel. For the record, I went to Feet Owner magazine and searched “biodiesel”. The results were disappointing – I saw 463 items, the most recent of which was August of ’08. Willie Nelson has been associated with the biodiesel effort, but I found nothing recent, exciting or interesting, other than this – Willie Nelson/Biodiesel/LOTR.
Listen, this holiday weekend, enjoy your fries. I don’t think McDonald’s fries are as good as they used to be. On the road, I found Wendy’s has better fries seasoned with sea salt. A place called Checker’s here in Florida has awesome fries. Chick fil-A has delicious waffle fries. I’m sure you have your own favorite place.
The photo is not of the Emerald City where the Wizard resides – it is Abu Dubai in the UAE.
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